Overview of the space environmental effects observed on the retrieved Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF)

The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), which encompassed 57 experiments with more than 10,000 test specimens, spent 69 months in low Earth orbit (LEO) before it was retrieved by the Space Shuttle in January 1990. Hundreds of LDEF investigators, after studying for over two years these retrieved test specimens and the onboard recorded data and systems hardware, have generated a unique first-hand view of the long term synergistic effects that the LEO environment can have on spacecraft. These studies have also contributed significantly toward more accurate models of the LEO radiation, meteoroid, manmade debris and atomic oxygen environments. This paper provides an overview of some of the many LDEF observations and the implications these can have on future spacecraft such as Space Station Freedom.