2018•NASA STI Repository (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)Open access
Materials Science on the International Space Station
M. P. Volz
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Abstract
Early Microgravity ApplicationsNASA was not the first to understand and utilize the benefits of processing materials in a microgravity environment.Boughton Shot Tower Chester, England 1799, 168' tall William Watts of Bristol, England built a "drop tower" in 1753 to process molten lead into uniformly spherical shot for firearms Molten lead is poured Through a sieve Uniform drops freefall (microgravity), buoyancy effects are minimized Surface tension dominates forming uniform spheres Solidified shot lands in a cushion of cooling water Phoenix Shot Tower Baltimore, MD, 1828 234' -tallest structure in US 2.5 million pounds shot/year Right: Te segregation behavior revealed by etching InSb.Top portion is the seed crystal grown on Earth.Bottom section is regrowth in microgravity.Sample grown during the Skylab mission.
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