The International Space Station in 2022 in outer space with Earth at night. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. (dimazel for Adobe Stock)
A team of FAMU-FSU College of Engineering graduate students led by Brandon Krick, an associate mechanical engineering professor, participated in a historic mission with NASA’s Materials International Space Experiment (MISSE) program.
The researchers sent samples of novel materials from the Surface Interfaces and Materials Tribology Laboratory at the joint college to fly on NASA’s latest SpaceX CRS-30 mission to the International Space Station. The samples are being tested to see how well they perform in the low-earth orbit (LEO) space environment.
“It was really exciting to watch the launch knowing our samples were on board,” Kylie Van Meter, a graduate student involved in the mission, said. “I am glad the mission was a success, and I look forward to seeing how the samples fair over time in LEO.”
Krick’s team worked with Sandia National Laboratories as part of the MISSE-19 experiment to understand the effect of low-earth orbit environments on the chemical, mechanical and tribological (friction and wear) behavior of new low-friction and wear-resistant coating formulations.
Besides the exciting research, the graduate students also got important value from working with national lab researchers.
“It was rewarding working with the scientists at Sandia and NASA,” said Adam Delong. “Getting the chance to collaborate on this mission is something I will never forget.”
The MISSE program uses spaceflight missions to send experiments to space. Tests are placed on the exterior of the space station in the MISSE platform to be evaluated for their performance and endurance when exposed to the LEO space environment. The idea is to test samples and specimens to demonstrate their durability in the unforgiving environment of outer space. The researchers work with two types of materials.
“We are interested in two coatings that will give us a framework to create new coating materials and processes with improved performance and environmental tolerance,” Krick continued.
We asked the team about their work and its future impacts.
Why is NASA interested in these materials?
All moving components need some lubrication, but the uniqueness of space imposes material constraints. Space is a harsh environment. There is no opportunity for maintenance, making typical lubricants like oil and grease a poor choice. According to the researchers, other coatings have been used for decades with instances of failure, so the aerospace community may adopt new material options that perform well in the future.
What’s involved in sending a sample to space?
The team is specifically interested in testing Physical Vapor-Deposited (PVD) Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2) and Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) coatings. Before sending the coatings to space, they undergo rigorous preflight testing for their baseline performance. While in space, the samples are held in a case outside the space station, where they are exposed to the environment.
“In one year, NASA will return the samples to Earth and we will re-test them to gauge their tribological behavior,” Van Meter said.
“Our research will give us new tools to make new MoS2 coatings. Exposure to the DLC coatings is unknown, so our mission will give us insight into how the coating behaves after low-earth orbit exposure and the changes to the material properties of the films that occur.”
Who is involved?
The project is a collaborative effort between students in the Surface Interfaces and Materials Tribology Laboratory at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the Mechanics of Materials & Tribology and Thin Films & Packaging groups at Sandia National Labs. The FSU research team at the joint college includes Brandon Krick, Ph.D. and doctoral students Kylie E. Van Meter (NSF GRFP Fellow) and Adam Delong (NASA NSTGRO recipient).
The research team at Sandia National Labs includes Tomas F. Babuska (Tribology Post-Doc), John F. Curry (Tribology Staff), Michael T. Dugger (Tribology Staff), Alexander Mings (Thin Films Technologist) and Steven Larson (Thin Films Staff).
Support for the research:
This project is funded by an NSF Career Award and partly financed by a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities (NSTGRO) grant, which supports a research student working on it. Sandia National Labs has also provided in-kind contributions, including coating development and synthesis.
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