Materials International Space Station

Any use of novel responsive polymer components in space applications requires ground testing and ultimately space qualification to accommodate the complex LEO environment and better understand synergistic materials degradation. We have therefore participated in MISSE-6 (Materials International Space Station Experiment) with a combination of active and passive sample exposures that have been selected as a first flight experiment of piezoelectric polymers in LEO for space qualification. Two exposure conditions were available, the VUV backside and the VUV+AO ram direction of the MISSE assembly. Our experimental strategies for sample selection, exposure conditions and in-situ performance measurements are presented here. 

Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE-6)... 

Aboard the International Space Station, the fire alarm has sounded twice, erroneously on both occasions. On September 18, 2006, a bit of solid material found its way into the oxygen supply system and eaused the false alarm. On June 14, 2007, the eventnal cause was a eomputer error. 

On a more benign level, explosives also play an unseen role in very common items. Small explosives charges, for instance, cause the rapid inflation of an automobile s air bag in case of a collision. On the scientific frontier, explosives in the form of propellants are the only means of lifting large cargoes into space, and heavy rockets consume tons of explosive material to maintain the International Space Station and the array of satellites in orbit. 

S. Beland, B. Shaver, C. Chapman, and S. Desjardins, Non destructive inspection and mechanical testing of composite arm booms for the space station remote manipulator system. In Proc. 10th International Conference on Composite Materials, A. Poursartip and K. Street, eds., Woodhead Publ. Ltd., Abington-Cambridge, UK, Vol. 111,661-668(1995). 

Leger,L.,Visentine, J. and Santos-Mason, B. (1986), Selected material issues associated with space station 18th International SAMPE Technical Conference, held at Seattle, Washington, USA, 7-9 October, pp. 1015-1026. 

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