Yates - with my regards to Kenneth, I have copied his posting from thread 404-32366 and added a star to it for you:
From Kenneth:
NASA SPACE VEHICLE DESIGN CRITERIA LUBRICATION, FRICTION, AND WEAR
NASA SP-8063:
(See Section 2.4.2.1 and Table VI) Excerpt: "There are bonded solid lubricants ... which combine relatively small quantities of graphite with major portions of MoS2. There behavior in vacuum is dominated by MoS2, and they perform satisfactorily with respect to friction."
NASA/TM-1999-107249, Chapter 7
Aerospace Mechanisms and Tribology Technology:
Case Studies:
(See Sections 7.2.3.2 and 7.2.3.3)
NASA/TM-1999-209088/PART1
Friction and Wear Properties of Selected Solid Lubricating Films
Part 1: Bonded and Magnetron-Sputtered Molybdenum Disulfied and Ion-Plated Silver Films
(See Conclusions)
NASA/TM-2000-107249/Chapter 6
Solid Lubrication Fundamentals and Applications Friction and Wear Properties of Selected Solid
Lubricating Films: Case Studies:
(See Table 6.2)
NASA/TM-2001-210360
Durability Evaluation of Selected Solid Lubricating Films
(See Experimental Results and Discussion)
Metals Handbook, Volume 18: Friction, Lubrication, and Wear Technology:
"In spite of its desirable crystal structure, graphite is not an intrinsic solid lubricant. It lubricates in are but fails to lubricate at high temperatures or in vacuum. Savage (Ref 21) reported convincing experimental evidence that graphite must absorb moisture or other condensable vapor such as hydrocarbons in order to be lubricative. The model appeared to be substantiated by the observation that, even in the presence of condensable vapors, graphite failed to lubricate above the desorption temperature.
However, Peterson and Johnson (Ref 10) observed that graphite again becomes lubricative at high temperatures when the lubricated metal becomes visibly oxidized... The authors postulate that restoration of lubrication ... was due to interaction of graphite with oxides of the metal. The surface oxides were thought to promote adhesion of the graphite to the lubricated surfaces. The maximum temperature for lubrication with graphite films is limited by oxidation to about 550°C (1020°F)."