LDEF (Flight), AO178 : A High-Resolution Study of Ultra-heavy Cosmic-Ray Nuclei, Tray D01 EL-1994-00134 LDEF (Flight), AO178 : A High-Resolution Study of Ultra-heavy Cosmic-Ray Nuclei, Tray D01 The flight photograph of the Ultra Heavy Cosmic Ray Experiment (UHCRE) was taken while the LDEF was attached to the Orbiter's RMS arm prior to berthing in the Orbiter's cargo bay. The paint dot , originally white, on the experiment tray clamp block located at the center of the trays lower flange appears to be discolored by a brown stain. The experiment trays lower flange also appears to be coated but with a much lighter stain. The paint dots on clamp blocks at each end of the trays upper flange appear to be discolored very little. The UHCRE detectors were contained in 16 peripheral LDEF trays with at least one UHCRE tray located on each row of the LDEF except row 3, row 9 and row 12. Each tray contains three cylindrical aluminum pressure vessels with an integral aluminum support structure. Each cylinder is filled with an Eccofoam insert that houses 4 UHCRE detector stacks. Each stack consist of layers of Lexan polycarbonate sheets (approximately 70) interleaved with several thin sheets of lead. Forty-seven of the 48 pressure vessels were pressurized to 1.0 bar of a dry gas mixture (oxygen, nitrogen and helium) and sealed. One of the units was left unsealed in order to investigate the effects of the vacuum environment on the detector materials. Thermal control was accomplished by attaching an aluminized Kapton thermal cover on the tray bottom (the Kapton facing the LDEF interior), placing the aluminum cylinder support structure on thermal isolators and covering the experiment with a thin (5 mil) silvered TEFLON_ thermal cover. The silvered TEFLON_ cover was supported by an aluminum frame, an integral part of the experiment structure, and held in place by Velcro pads selectively located on the frame and on the back of the cover. The copper colored strip extending over the trays lower flange is a copper coated pressure sensitive tape used to provide an electrical ground between the experiments thermal cover and the LDEF structure. The UHCRE thermal cover appears to be intact with no apparent damage but is stretched more taut than in the prelaunch photograph. The glossy blue appearance of the thermal cover in this photograph is apparently due to lighting conditions and not a change in the material optical properties. The white dots and circular indentations on the cover surface are probable impact locations. The oblong indentations in the thermal cover are indicative of where Velcro pads are bonded to the backside of the cover. The scalloped edge effect around the periphery of the thermal cover occurs between attach points. The ground strap appears to be in place with no visible damage however the color has darkened significantly.
