Spaceflight

Materials that are self-healing or have chemicals implanted to protect against atomic oxygen could be incorporated in spacecraft, according to initial results from an international project being conducted on board the International Space Station.

The 1kg (2.2lb) Southampton Transient Oxygen and Radiation Monitor instrument was launched by Space Shuttle in February and forms part of the European Materials Exposure and Degradation Experiment that is located on the European exposed facility attached to the Columbus laboratory.

It is designed to measure how x-rays, ultra violet radiation, atomic oxgen and debris such as micrometeroids in the hostile environment of space affect materials, such as polymers in the thermal blanket used to construct spacecraft.

On 27 May 2006 Columbus was loaded into a Beluga Airbus at Bremen airport and began its journey to Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Credit: NASA.

"This work will lead to materials that enhance the performance of satellites," says the UK University of Southampton's aeronautics and astronautics senior lecturer Graham Roberts.