NASA International Space Station
The International Space Station
West Virginia University (WVU) has received grant amounting to $100,000 from NASA to support the education institute in its research and technology development aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
One of more than 20 universities to receive a grant from NASA, WVU is among eight more universities who have earned the opportunity to test their research on NASA’s low-Earth orbit satellite.
Working with researchers at University of Rome Tor Vergata, WVU will pull together research in materials science and the physics of liquid foams with 3D printing, as it looks to advance the robotic printing of titanium dioxide foams. Believed to have potential for use in space applications, such as solar cells, batteries and radiation shielding applications, the research will be done with a view to the titanium dioxide foams being used on the ISS.
The project will see the foam samples, printed on earth, exposed in low-Earth orbit conditions. On their return back down to earth, potential degradation mechanisms will be investigated using a range of characterization methods.
“This degradation data will give significant early insight into applicability of the TiO2 foam materials for the identified potential space applications before going forward and exploring their printing characteristics under microgravity conditions,” said Majid Jaridi, professor of industrial and management systems engineering at West Virginia University.
Unrelated to West Virginia University, but directly affecting NASA’s International Space Station, Made In Space has revealed it is to begin using PEI/PC polymers. Made In Space is the developer of the Additive Manufacturing Facility aboard the ISS, and will use grades of PEI/PC to produce stronger, more heat-resistance applications for use of NASA researchers in low-Earth orbit.
