Texas researchers are sending their smart skin prototype into space where it will endure months of exposure on the International Space Station, tested against harsh conditions to better protect space technology in future missions.

A team of Texas researchers is building a shield — not just in the lab, but in space. The team’s project, fueled by the Texas A&M Experiment Station (TEES), aims to protect electronics and robotics via silicone elastomer from the most extreme conditions space has to offer. Their experience has become as extraordinary as their science.

“Our project started as a collaborative effort from day one because of the TEES Annual Research Conference (TARC),” said Dr. Merlyn Pulikkathara, assistant professor at Prairie View A&M University. “We met each other, looked for commonalities and practiced together.”

Every year, TARC fosters collaboration among TEES educational partners and affiliates — universities and two-year colleges — by inviting collaborative proposals for seed funding opportunities.

In 2023, a team with expertise in materials science, physics, engineering, mechanical modeling and nanomaterials from TEES, Prairie View A&M, Lamar University and West Texas A&M University was awarded $10,000 in seed funding. Inspired by their project “Multi-medium robot smart skin for extreme environment applications,” they named their team SHIELD.

While existing materials deliver considerable protection, further improvements in shielding from harsh space conditions such as high radiation, dust, extreme temperatures and microgravity are necessary to guarantee dependable performance of electronics and robotics on space missions.

“We’re looking to see how the mechanical properties of the silicone elastomer have changed under space radiation. We’re also looking to see how or if the formulations that we developed are able to shield the material underneath them,” said Dr. Robert Kelley Bradley, assistant professor at Lamar University, whose research includes nanomaterials and entrepreneurship.

Developing materials that can withstand the rigors of space is a challenge, since Earth-based tests — particle accelerators and lab simulations — cannot fully replicate the complex, combined effects. Testing in realistic space conditions is necessary to validate new shield materials.

“The reason this group is moving forward is because we come from very different backgrounds and think outside of the box,” said Dr. Masoumeh Ozmaian, former assistant professor at West Texas A&M and CEO of MatterMind Analytics. “This versatility helped us come up with the idea to send a sample to space.”

Dr. Kalyan Raj Kota, senior research engineer at the TEES Hypervelocity Impact Laboratory, helped further these efforts.

“In the final phases, we want a solution that is scalable and easy to implement — one that suits multiple applications, from space robotic arms to electronics and electronic plugs, and can be customized based on the size of the application,” he said.

The team’s chance to send their material into space was made possible through Bradley, who spearheaded the planning and coordinated collaborations with Aegis Aerospace.

The SHIELD team’s project will join 20 other experiments aboard Aegis’ Multi-purpose ISS Experiment (MISSE) platform and will be exposed to true space conditions for six months. Post-space exposure, mechanical and electrical tests will compare space-exposed SHIELD samples with lab-only samples to measure degradation, performance and resilience. The team’s samples are part of MISSE-22 and are expected to launch on a commercial resupply service mission called SpX-34 in May.

“We need to have it in a practical environment,” said Pulikkathara, whose research focuses on applications of nanomaterials. “Opportunities on the space station are the perfect environment to test those effects for lunar missions, then for Martian missions.”

The team — also including Justin Carter, TEES senior researcher, and Seyyed Saeed Vaezzadeh, Lamar University postdoctoral research fellow — aims to develop scalable, customizable and protective solutions that will enable safer missions and pave the way for broader industry and scientific applications.

For the researchers, exposing their samples to microgravity and intense radiation in space marks a major achievement for their project. for their project. The team is now working on SHIELD 2.0, led by Kalyan Raj Kota, and is on track to send a more advanced set of samples through the TAMU-SPIRIT program as part of the future TAMU-SPIRIT-1 mission, currently planned for launch in spring 2027.

“My wildest dream is that our research transcends the borders of universities, states and countries — that our research will give a steppingstone to mankind as we go into space,” Pulikkathara said. “My hope is that our collaborative effort initiated by TARC will be a humble step for humankind to go forward into space together.”

This story by Lauren Jenkins was originally posted at news.engineering.tamu.edu.

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