Bacteria already won. Try cleaning that stuff off satellites and interstellar probes. Just found a great article in science news about it from a while back, which is worth digesting.
If bacteria band together, they can survive for years in space
Not a new material but is likely to be used for countless applications in the future. Great ideas will come out of these buckyball sheets I guess. Bring it on.
Cool. “Our biggest current challenge is embedding these smart sensors into a flexible and compliant material that can expand as the modules are inflated in space,” Kim says.
Sensors in Space: Keeping Astronauts Safe in Inflatable Habitats
At first, inflatable habitats in orbit around Earth may sound like a dangerous idea, given that the vacuum of space is littered with, as NASA says, “millions of pieces of human-made debris or space junk consisting mainly of fragmented rocket bodies and spacecraft parts created by 50 years of explo... Read more
Now that sounds like a good application for buckypaper. According to this it can be used as a lightweight heat shield that can stand up to the impact of hypersonic speeds.
Carbon nanotubes key to next-gen heat shields for hypersonic aircraft
A team of scientists at Florida State University’s High-Performance Materials Institute is using advanced nanomaterials to produce lightweight heat shields that can stand up to the impact of hypersonic speeds. Based on sheets of carbon nanotubes called “buckypaper,” the new experimental shield... Read more
pmsl. looks like exposure to space destroys moustache hairs pretty quickly.
Bacteria already won. Try cleaning that stuff off satellites and interstellar probes. Just found a great article in science news about it from a while back, which is worth digesting.
Here’s the winner so far. RUSSIANS! And no it isn’t those 2 merican military clones with the round red heads or happy Peggy.
Tardigrades went to space before most nations did. They will be there long after we perish if they get their way, little blighters.
Not a new material but is likely to be used for countless applications in the future. Great ideas will come out of these buckyball sheets I guess. Bring it on.
Cool. “Our biggest current challenge is embedding these smart sensors into a flexible and compliant material that can expand as the modules are inflated in space,” Kim says.
Now that sounds like a good application for buckypaper. According to this it can be used as a lightweight heat shield that can stand up to the impact of hypersonic speeds.