GeoPlasma, a joint venture of Geocent/Metairie, LA and Plasma Processes/Huntsville, AL, was informed by NASA that its innovative materials for radiation shielding and thermal barrier coatings will fly aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The materials will be evaluated for their potential application for future lunar habitation, long-duration deep space missions (such as Mars), and other unspecified defense applications within the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE-11) platform.
GeoPlasma, with partners The University of Alabama in Birmingham and The University of Tennessee, developed multi-functional lightweight composite materials to shield crew and critical avionics against Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) and secondary particles. The research is funded by NASA’s Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Program and is integral to future spacecraft and habitat structures.
Scott O’Dell and Dr. Subhayu Sen, principal investigators of the work report that “GeoPlasma has matured these materials to the extent that NASA has selected them to fly and test on the MISSE-11 platform.” The platform is mounted externally to the ISS and subjects materials to the effects of the space environment. Materials properties, including thermal and structural, are measured before and after the space environment to evaluate their potential for future application. Successful completion of the testing is mandatory to move candidate materials to a higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL).
The first batch of shielding and Thermal Barrier Coating materials was launched to the ISS on April 17, 2019. An extra-vehicular activity (EVA) will be performed by the astronauts to attach the samples external to the ISS. These samples are dedicated to characterizing thermal and radiation properties over a period of one (1) year. The samples mounted on the MISSE cartridge are shown in the accompanied image. A second batch of samples will launch in December 2019 and will be dedicated to characterizing any degradation in mechanical properties due to long term space environment exposure.
GeoPlasma was awarded additional SBIR funding to develop innovative material solutions for Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBCs) that have direct application for hot rocket and missile structures such as nozzles and leading edges.