Advanced thin-film coatings from the University of Leoben have arrived on the International Space Station (ISS). The samples developed by Dr. Megan Cordill from the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Prof. Dr. Christian Mitterer, Montanuniversität Leoben, were recently brought to the ISS as part of the 31st SpaceX Resupply Mission. The samples are part of an international ESA-funded research project within the European Materials Aging (EMA) program.
The samples are currently being installed on the EMA platform of the Bartolomeo module, which is located outside the ISS, where they will have to withstand the extreme conditions of space for at least six months. The tiny but powerful 20 mm coated samples will be tested for their suitability as flexible optical solar reflectors and multilayer insulator films. These coatings applied to flexible polymer films combine transparent protective layers with highly reflective metal films. This could one day protect sensitive satellite payloads and save valuable resources thanks to their low weight. "We assemble thin-film materials atom by atom and use them to create material designs on an atomic scale," says Mitterer, describing the coating process. The samples have already been extensively tested under terrestrial conditions and the team is now eagerly awaiting to see how the materials perform in the harsh space environment.
