Testing Materials in the Extreme Environment of Space
The Materials International Space Station Experiments Flight Facility (MISSE-FF), developed by Alpha Space Test and Research Alliance, launched to the International Space Station last week as part of the SpaceX CRS-14 mission. MISSE-FF will provide a permanent commercially available materials science and component testing platform on the ISSInternational Space Station with the ability to test samples such as materials, coatings, and components in the harsh environment of space. MISSE-FF enables the integrated testing of how materials react when exposed to extreme conditions in low Earth orbit(Abbreviation: LEO) The orbit around the Earth that extends up to an altitude of 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Earth’s surface. The International Space Station’s orbit is in LEO, at an altitude of approximately 250 miles., including ultraviolet radiation, atomic oxygen, ionizing radiation, ultrahigh vacuum, charged particles, thermal cycles, electromagnetic radiation, and micro-meteoroids.
“The MISSE Flight FacilityThe Materials International Space Station Experiment Flight Facility is a hardware platform on the exterior of the ISS that provides exposure to the harsh space conditions for the accelerated testing of materials and technologies with important applications both in space and on Earth. This ISS National Lab commercial facility is owned and operated by Aegis Aerospace. will provide a broad spectrum of researchers and industry yet another commercially operated platform aboard the ISS on which they can conduct research and test technologies in the extreme environment of space.”—the ISS National Lab Director of Operations Ken Shields