Corona and breakdown voltage in helium-oxygen atmospheres

Present manned space vehicles use low pressure oxygen without diluents for the breathing atmosphere. Future manned space vehicles may use atmospheres composed either of pure oxygen or oxygen with various inert gas diluents. Some proposed diluents are helium, neon, and nitrogen. Neon, as a diluent, has been used successfully in diving work by the Royal Navy and in experimental space chambers (Reference 1). This paper presents data on the breakdown voltage and corona onset voltage in helium-oxygen mixtures. Corona onset voltage may be a consideration in selecting the optimum mixture ratio, because in general corona onset voltage in gas mixtures is a function of the mixture ratio.