Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal
Sandia Passive ISS Research Experiments (SPIRE) is currently testing a variety of materials and devices in the harsh space environment at the International Space Station (ISS).
The SPIRE program was an accelerated 18-month development effort that is claimed to cost just one-fifth as much as previous similar efforts. SPIRE's Passive Experiment Container (PEC) was delivered to ISS late last year, and is expected to be retrieved after a six month exposure to the cold, vacuum and cosmic radiation of empty space. 15 passive experiments are contained in the PEC that make up SPIRE including MEMS latching impact sensors, radiation-shielding structural composites, doped laser fibers, pure tin finished parts and gallium arsenide photodiodes.
"The latching impact sensor is a switch that closes when it experiences an acceleration above its designed threshold," said Sandia scientist Mike Baker. "We have been working on this MEMS sensor for several years, but it was not designed to sense any particular event. We tune its threshold to be just below the impact we expect from any event we wish to sense."
After being returned to Earth, the MEMS latching impact sensor will be tested to determine if any degradation has been caused by ionizing radiation, UV exposure, thermal cycling, micrometeorite impacts and the effects of vacuum.
The Naval Research Laboratory provides the support services enabling scientists and engineers a low-risk, quick and inexpensive space-qualification avenue for materials and equipment. As a part of NASA’s Materials on the International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) program, the PECs are provided using a multi-container suitcase-like form factor that holds the separately submitted experiments. The current iteration is the seventh (MISSE 7) such opportunity offered to scientists. MISSE 8, slated to launch this July, will lift a new set of experiments and swap them out from the PEC currently holding MISSE 7 experiments, which will then be returned to Earth.
Copyright 2010 MEMS Investor Journal
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