Practical Applications of a Space Station (1984) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Pages 72-83
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 72... ...
community to the possible availability at some future time of an unmanned space platform or manned space station. How might it benefit the materials science and engineering community to have access to the space environment, specifically via a space platform or manned space station, for research and for eventual applications?
|
From page 73... ...
NASA, in an attempt to find new and broadly based purposes following the culmination of the Apollo program in the mid-l970s, heralded the potential of MPS as an activity that would eventually create new business ventures and profits for the private sector. There were hopes of exotic alloys, nearly perfect crystals, and new drugs that would cure disease, each so rare and unique that the high cost of space flight and extraterrestrial processing would be warranted.
|
From page 74... ...
The committee had "not discovered any examples of economically justifiable processes for producing materials in space." The program should emphasize the use of the space environment for the scientific study of materials phenomena in an effort to gain new knowledge and possibly improve materials processing on earth. Following the report of the STAMPS committee, there was significant improvement in the MPS program.
|
From page 75... ...
The areas currently funded by the MPS program include: Containerless technology, which involves development of techniques and construction of hardware for using acoustic, electrostatic, and electromagnetic fields to position material under microgravity conditions Containerless science, which includes experimental and theoretical studies of the behavior of materials, especially in the molten state, when removed from physical contact with confining walls. Such studies include nucleation, glass formation in undercooled systems, thermophysical measurements on levitated samples, and buoyancy and convection in levitated systems.
|
From page 76... ...
Extraterrestrial materials processing, which involves identification, acquisition, and processing of lunar, asteroidal, and meteoritic materials, including studies of the chemical extraction of useful materials from simulated extraterrestrial matter Combustion science, which studies kinetics of flame propagation and reactions in combustion systems under terrestrial and orbital conditions The program is monitored by a system of six science working groups (SWGs) formed under the auspices of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA)
|
From page 77... ...
. The purpose of the JEA is to provide easier access to space flight opportunities for organizations that have an interest in developing commercially viable products and processes and that are willing to assume an appropriate financial risk.
|
From page 78... ...
Electrophoresis Operations in the Space Program In July l982, on the fourth flight of the Space Shuttle, McDonnell Douglas Corporation and Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation (a division of Johnson & Johnson) carried out one phase of their Electrophoresis Operations in Space (EOS)
|
From page 79... ...
A variety of facilities are now available for conducting experiments in a microgravity environment. Following is a list of examples: Drop towers provide a microgravity environment for up to 6 seconds.
|
From page 80... ...
To meet the needs and exploit the full potential of materials research, a space station would have to provide a laboratory that significantly alleviated the restrictions of experimentation in currently available space facilities. A space station could diminish the constraints on the equipment used, could provide more electrical power and cooling capability, and make possible much longer continuous periods of experiment time in microgravity.
|
From page 81... ...
MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING REQUIREMENTS FOR A SPACE STATION This section describes the characteristics and requirements of a space station for optimal use to the MSE community. The development of specific MSE experiments to be conducted on a space station is hampered by rapid evolution of the materials technology industries and the limited MSE flight experience.
|
From page 82... ...
Most materials processing experiments impose a specific thermal geometry on a sample for a period of time -- hours and sometimes days. The temperature and scale of an experiment will determine the power requirements, and the time at temperature determines the energy required.
|
From page 83... ...
However, the style or mode of MSE experiment that might be conducted aboard a manned space station would have distinct advantages over that which can be conducted in other microgravity facilities; the advantages would result largely from the potential for real-time adaptive interaction by humans.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.