2025 NESC Technical Update

Annual Report of NESC Technical Activities On behalf of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC), I am pleased to provide you with the 2025 NESC Technical Update. This annual report summarizes the technical work, engineering advancements, and knowledge capture efforts we made in FY25. With support provided by members of our NASA community from […]

The Need to Bake Out Silicone Based Thermal Control Coatings

BackgroundThe NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) has reviewed flight, ground test, and published data on ultraviolet-induced degradation of silicone based thermal control coatings. Analysis has shown, for at least one silicone coating, that bake-out plays an important role in ultraviolet (UV) degradation, indicating that UV interaction with paint volatiles, and not the structural material, […]