The new technology, called electro-chromatic film, turns the spacecraft skin into a heat-regulating system by shifting its color when an electric current passes through. With a positive charge, the coating darkens and can absorb heat from the sun. A negative voltage lightens the shade, increasing its reflectivity. "It's kind of like a winter coat," explained Young. "When the sun is shining you open it up, in the shadows you zip up in an attempt to keep your temperature stable." The technology has been used for terrestrial applications, including windows on high-end automobiles, but is fairly new to the aerospace industry. "It's really hard to get technology demonstrated sufficiently for putting on a spacecraft," Young said. "You have to go through lots of tests and analysis on Earth because it's so hard and so expensive to get spacecraft into orbit." Still to be determined is how the skin fares in the radioactive environment of space, where free-floating atomic oxygen and ultraviolet rays break down molecules. "It's revolutionary in the sense that we've never had the capability to regulate how much heat we lose, other than the louvers. These electro-chromatics, in the next several years as they are proven, give us an ability to control the temperature of the spacecraft by radiation. Prasanna Chandrasekhar, with New Jersey based Ashwin-Ushas Corp., is the lead researcher on the project, which is being developed in partnership with NASA. Related Links: |
advertisement
Download This Widget at Bottom!
|
-
our sites
-
video
mobile
-
shop
-
stay connected
-
corporate
