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Author Topic:   Self-evident flown space artifacts
music_space
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Posts: 1179
From: Canada
Registered: Jul 2001

posted 05-15-2010 02:25 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for music_space   Click Here to Email music_space     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I wonder what types of objects one could fly that would exhibit obvious transformations attributable to the time it spent in space.

I mean, we all have some flown mission hardware and documentation, and flown memorabilia too, which we cherish because we know it's been "out there". But if you except flight-annotated documentation and lunar-soiled artifacts, or burned-off heat shielding, those kind of things, nothing on most artifacts we own visually exhibit the fact that it has indeed spent some time in zero-G or has been exposed to exo-atmospheric radiations.

So my question is, what could you fly that would be transformed by extended zero-G or radiation exposition?

I'm thinking for instance of crystallization kits, compounds in little vials that would crystallize under zero-G in ways impossible on earth.

Or some cards with graphics whose inks would change colors or texture under zero-G or radiation. You could even have cloth insignia whose strands would be dyed with similar in-flight transformations in mind.

How about wine? Wouldn't wine evolve differently in few months' worth of zero-G than it would on earth? (How about it, Sy?) How about making two kits of vials with selected wines, sending one in space for a few months (inside a module or exposed to vacuum and radiations) while you keep the other on earth in similar thermal conditions. Then back on earth, you make an out-of-this-world comparative wine tasting?

Any other ideas?

space junk
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posted 07-16-2010 09:42 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for space junk   Click Here to Email space junk     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Seeing as no one has been able to come up with any substance that is physically altered due to radiation or zero G forces in 9 years.

Here's an object that is self evident of it's time in space.

It is covered in hyper-velocity micrometeoroid impacts which has created a beautiful patterna on it.
http://i587.photobucket.com/albums/ss319/andrew_photobucket01/sphere006.jpg
http://i587.photobucket.com/albums/ss319/andrew_photobucket01/sphere003.jpg
http://i587.photobucket.com/albums/ss319/andrew_photobucket01/sphere010.jpg

It must have been attached to the outside of the spacecraft for a reasonable time. Due to the criss cross pattern (left on the surface when the mounting straps burnt off during re-entry) I assume that it is from a Foton, Vostok or Bion Spacecraft.

It measures 350mm diameter and weighs 7.5 KG.

It appears to be machined by a lathe or mill from two sold blocks of titanium and then welded together. They don't make them like that anymore. It is in excellent condition.

I have looked inside it with an endoscopic camera to inspect the quality of the welding of the inside joining seam and it is perfect.

The numbers 015293 and 98 3 are stamped in to the flats of each connection point. Could it be identified by these numbers?

It's connection point is fitted with a high precision thread that still works so perfectly that, when done up finger tight, creates an airtight seal without an "o" ring or thread sealant.

Go4Launch
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Posts: 542
From: Seminole, Fla.
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 07-18-2010 12:47 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Go4Launch   Click Here to Email Go4Launch     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Such tests have been underway for almost ten years aboard the ISS, known as the Materials International Space Station Experiment. The seventh set of experiments, MISSE-7, is currently being exposed.

SpaceAholic
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Posts: 4437
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 07-18-2010 07:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for SpaceAholic   Click Here to Email SpaceAholic     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Even before ISS there were on orbit experiments being conducted to gage or leverage the effects of the space environment upon materials. Apollo had the lunar surface Solar Wind Composition experiment (SWC), Window Meteoroid experiment. There was ML-101 piggy-backed onto a polar orbiting satellite in the early 70's which measured the effects of radiation on the satellite's thermal coating, another USAF Satellite/experiment known as SCATHA (Spacecraft Charging At High Altitude) from the late 70's, all of the Skylab material experiments, the Shuttle and the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF).

Crystals grown in a weightless environment could be considered as "self evident space flown" since under visual examination or spectography there would be observable differences associated with their structure, uniformity and composition.

All times are CT (US)

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