Surviving the space environment - An overview of advanced materials and structures development at the CWRU CCDS

The development of advanced materials and structures for long-term use in space is described with specific reference given to applications to the Space Station Freedom and the lunar base. A flight-testing program is described which incorporates experiments regarding the passive effects of space travel such as material degradation with active materials experiments such as the Materials Exposure Flight Experiment. Also described is a research and development program for materials such as organic coatings and polymeric composites, and a simulation laboratory is described which permits the analysis of materials in the laboratory. The methods of investigation indicate that the NASA Center for the Commercial Development of Space facilitates the understanding of material degradation in space.