Aerogels Materials as Space Debris Collectors

Material degradation due to the specific space environment becomes a key parameter for space missions. The use of large surface of brittle materials on satellites can produce, if impacted by hypervelocity particles, ejected volumes of mater 100 times higher than the impacting one. The presented work...

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Main Authors: Thierry Woignier, Laurent Duffours, Pascale Colombel, Christian Durin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2013-01-01
Series:Advances in Materials Science and Engineering
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/484153
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author Thierry Woignier
Laurent Duffours
Pascale Colombel
Christian Durin
author_facet Thierry Woignier
Laurent Duffours
Pascale Colombel
Christian Durin
author_sort Thierry Woignier
collection DOAJ
description Material degradation due to the specific space environment becomes a key parameter for space missions. The use of large surface of brittle materials on satellites can produce, if impacted by hypervelocity particles, ejected volumes of mater 100 times higher than the impacting one. The presented work is devoted to the use of silica aerogels as passive detectors. Aerogels have been exposed to the low earth orbit of the ISS for 18 months. The study describes the aerogels process and the choice of synthesis parameters in such a way to get expected features in terms of porosity, mechanical properties, internal stresses, and transparency. Low-density aerogels (0.09 g·cm−3) have been prepared. The control of transparency necessary to see and identify particles and fragments collected is obtained using a base catalysis during gel synthesis. After return to earth, the aerogels samples have been observed using optical microscopy to detect and quantify craters on the exposed surface. First results obtained on a small part of the aerogels indicate a large number of debris collected in the materials.
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spelling doaj-art-5421597e79e94e8899e2a4124ffd88922025-08-20T02:05:25ZengWileyAdvances in Materials Science and Engineering1687-84341687-84422013-01-01201310.1155/2013/484153484153Aerogels Materials as Space Debris CollectorsThierry Woignier0Laurent Duffours1Pascale Colombel2Christian Durin3IRD, UMR 237, IMBE, CAEC, BP 214 Petit Morne, 97232 Le Lamentin, Martinique, FrancePRIME Verre, PAT du Millénaire Bât 10, 1350 Avenue A. Einstein, 34000 Montpelier, FrancePRIME Verre, PAT du Millénaire Bât 10, 1350 Avenue A. Einstein, 34000 Montpelier, FranceCentre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), 18, Avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, FranceMaterial degradation due to the specific space environment becomes a key parameter for space missions. The use of large surface of brittle materials on satellites can produce, if impacted by hypervelocity particles, ejected volumes of mater 100 times higher than the impacting one. The presented work is devoted to the use of silica aerogels as passive detectors. Aerogels have been exposed to the low earth orbit of the ISS for 18 months. The study describes the aerogels process and the choice of synthesis parameters in such a way to get expected features in terms of porosity, mechanical properties, internal stresses, and transparency. Low-density aerogels (0.09 g·cm−3) have been prepared. The control of transparency necessary to see and identify particles and fragments collected is obtained using a base catalysis during gel synthesis. After return to earth, the aerogels samples have been observed using optical microscopy to detect and quantify craters on the exposed surface. First results obtained on a small part of the aerogels indicate a large number of debris collected in the materials.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/484153
spellingShingle Thierry Woignier
Laurent Duffours
Pascale Colombel
Christian Durin
Aerogels Materials as Space Debris Collectors
Advances in Materials Science and Engineering
title Aerogels Materials as Space Debris Collectors
title_full Aerogels Materials as Space Debris Collectors
title_fullStr Aerogels Materials as Space Debris Collectors
title_full_unstemmed Aerogels Materials as Space Debris Collectors
title_short Aerogels Materials as Space Debris Collectors
title_sort aerogels materials as space debris collectors
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/484153
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