Fact
sheet number: FS-2001-07-136 -MSFC
Release
date: 07/01
Materials
International Space Station Experiment (MISSE)
During a space walk, astronaut Patrick G. Forrester installs the
MISSE experiment, which will expose hundreds of samples to the space
environment for about 18 months. When the samples are returned to
Earth, they will be analyzed to determine which materials are the
most durable and suitable for tomorrow's spacecraft. (NASA/JSC)
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Missions:
Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo, ISS Mission 7A.1, STS-105 Space
Shuttle Flight
Experiment
Location on ISS: Mounted on an airlock located between the Pressurized
Mating Adapter (PMA1) and the U.S. lab module
Principal
Investigator: Rachel Kamenetzky, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center,
Huntsville, Ala. Suzanne Woll, The Boeing Company, Renton, Wash. Sheila
Thibeault, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
Project
Manager: Junilla Applin, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
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Overview
Researchers examine colorful coatings destined for the International
Space Station as part of the MISSE experiment. (NASA/MSFC)
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The Materials
International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) will test the durability
of hundreds of samples ranging from lubricants to solar cell technologies.
The samples,
engineered to better withstand the punishing effects of the Sun, extreme
temperatures and other elements, will be flown 220 miles above the Earth
-- outside the International Space Station and unprotected by Earth's
atmosphere. By examining how the coatings fare in the harsh environment
of space, researchers seek new insight into developing materials for future
spacecraft, as well as making materials last longer on Earth.
Managed by
Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., MISSE is a collaborative effort
among NASA centers, the U.S. Air Force and private industry. By pooling
resources, these groups can reap the rewards of collaborating on advanced
material-science research, while minimizing the total investment of any
one participant.
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Experiment
Operations
Backdropped by a sunrise, the newly installed Materials International
Space Station Experiment (MISSE) is visible on the International
Space Station. (NASA/JSC)
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The space
environment - with its extreme levels of ultraviolet radiation, atomic
oxygen, hard vacuum and contamination -- has a strong degrading effect
on some types of materials. Qualifying materials for long-term use in
space is made especially challenging because this unique environment is
so difficult to simulate in a laboratory. With MISSE, no laboratory is
needed. On-orbit testing is accomplished by flying the materials outside
the International Space Station for a period of one to three years.
Samples
for the MISSE experiment will be mounted to the Space Station during the
STS-105 Space Shuttle Mission, ISS Mission 7A.1, in August 2001. They
will be mounted by a Space Shuttle crew member during an Extravehicular
Activity (EVA), commonly called a spacewalk. Backdropped by a sunrise,
the newly installed Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE)
is visible on the International Space Station. (NASA)
Samples will
be contained in two Passive Experiment Containers (PECs). To fully expose
the experiments to the elements, the crew will open each Passive Experiment
Container after it is mounted to the Space Station. MISSE is a passive
experiment, which means that aside from deployment and retrieval, no other
interaction is involved. The specimens have no power, data, thermal or
maintenance requirements. The two carriers will be retrieved approximately
one year after deployment and returned to Earth on a later flight. After
the MISSE samples are returned, scientists will analyze the materials
to see how they fared.
Flight History/Background
MISSE is
a reflight of two reusable Passive Experiment Containers flown on the
Russian space station Mir in 1996 and 1997 as part of the Mir Environmental
Effects Payload (MEEP). Like MISSE, this experiment studied the effects
of the space environment on a variety of materials, some of which were
intended for use on the International Space Station. Materials included
paint samples, glass coatings, multi-layer insulation and metallic materials.
Space Shuttle
crew members attached the samples to the exterior of Mir's docking module
during the STS-76 mission in March 1996 while the Shuttle was docked with
the Russian space station. The samples remained attached to Mir until
September 1997, when the experiment was retrieved by the Space Shuttle
crew on the STS-86 mission. After the samples were returned to Earth,
scientists analyzed each material to determine how it fared when unprotected
by Earth's atmosphere.
Benefits
By examining
how the materials fare in the harsh environment of space, researchers
can gain new insight into improving materials for use in future space
missions. The International Space Station is the ideal venue for such
an experiment, because it tests the materials in the unique environment
for which they are eventually destined.
Like many
NASA experiments, MISSE also has the potential to improve products for
consumers on Earth. One such product is exterior paint. Outside the Space
Station, coating samples will be exposed to high doses of ultra-violet
and other radiation from the Sun. On a more limited scale, this is similar
to what painted - or coated -- surfaces are exposed to on Earth, thanks
to Earth's atmosphere. By applying knowledge from the MISSE experiment,
engineers can gain new insight into creating coatings on Earth that are
less likely to degrade with time.
More Information
More information
on MISSE and other Space Station experiments can be found at:
http://misse1.larc.nasa.gov/
http://www.scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov/
http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/
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