The ECSS‐Q‐ST‐70‐02 standard describes the thermal vacuum outgassing test for screening of space materials, as well as, the specifications of the Micro-VCM equipment used for this task. During the test, material specimens are warmed up and a fraction of the outgassed matter may deposit on collector plates that are maintained at a specific temperature. The collected volatile condensable materials (CVCMs) are measured ex-situ using a balance, resulting in only one value. However, the standard test doesn't provide information regarding the remaining outgassing potential of the material, that could simply be judged by measuring the rate of deposition.
This poster describes an improvement of the standard test, that provides in-situ monitoring of the CVCM curves by the use of quartz crystal microbalances (QCMs) inside the Micro-VCM facility and the experimental data obtained following it.