oast-2

Determine the arcing and current collection behavior of different types, sizes and shapes of solar cells, solar modules and spacecraft materials. The Solar Array Module Plasma Interaction Experiment (SAMPIE) investigated the plasma interactions of high voltage space power systems with the space plasma in low Earth orbit (LEO).

STS-62 was a Space Shuttle program mission flown aboard Space Shuttle Columbia. The primary payloads were the USMP-02 microgravity experiments package and the OAST-2 engineering and technology payload, both in the orbiter's cargo bay. The two-week mission also featured a number of biomedical experiments focusing on the effects of long duration spaceflight. The landing was chronicled by the 1994 Discovery Channel special about the Space Shuttle Program and serves as the show's opening. A C.F. Martin backpacker guitar was on the shuttle during the mission.

The Thermal Energy Storage (TES) experiments are designed to provide data for understanding the long-duration microgravity behavior of thermal energy storage fluoride salts that undergo repeated melting and freezing. Such data have never been obtained before and have direct applicaiton to using on-orbit solar dynamic power systems. Flown as a part of OAST-2 on STS-62 and STS-72

Experimental Investigation of Spacecraft Glow (EISG)/ Spacecraft Kinetic Infrared Test (SKIRT) consists of two
complementary experiment assemblies. Both are designed to measure spacecraft glow, which occurs when the rapidly
moving orbiter rams into atoms of oxygen and molecules of nitrogen in low Earth orbit, causing them to give off light. When
the orbiter passes in and out of darkness and light as ft circles the Earth, its surface temperature changes, thus affecting the
illumination range of the atomic particles. The EISG and SKIRT sensors will measure spacecraft glow as a function of
temperature.