A UK experiment to find new ways of creating materials that could
be used to produce medicines and metal alloys started its journey
to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Particle Vibration experiment, led by the University of
Strathclyde and built by UK-firm QinetiQ, took off from the
Kennedy Space Center in Florida on-board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
at 19:20 UTC on 26 November 2022.
Science Minister said:
This experiment paves the way for exciting scientific discoveries
that could transform methods of manufacturing, demonstrating just
how valuable a resource space can be for growth and industry in
the UK and around the world.
The organisations behind the experiment, QinetiQ and University
of Strathclyde, provide two examples of the diversity of
expertise across the UK space sector, which is already worth
£16.5 billion to our economy. I look forward to seeing the next
steps for this innovative work.
Astronauts on the ISS will use the equipment
in an experiment that involves heating and shaking complex fluids
– liquids that contain fine solid particles or other liquid
droplets – in space’s microgravity environment to create new
materials. This cannot be achieved on Earth, as the planet’s
gravity tends to separate complex fluids into their individual
components, according to their weight.
This results in a concentrated layer of particles on the bottom
or on the top of the container, which would then prevent the
production of these materials with the desired properties.
This method, using precise vibrations to allow contact-less
control of dispersed particles, could lead to improved or
completely new, types of metal alloys, non-metallic conductors,
plastics, and “macromolecular” substances that can be used to
produce medicines, such as protein crystals for use in vaccine
delivery. The fluid flow produced by vibrations could also be
used to define new methods to effectively cool nuclear reactors
and electronics.
The UK Space Agency provided £1.6 million funding for the build
of the Particle Vibration experiment, which will be launched and
operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) Human and Robotic
Exploration programme through UK membership of the agency.
Libby Jackson, Head of Space Exploration at the UK Space Agency,
said:
Particle Vibration shows how investing in space exploration, and
the research in space that it enables, can benefit us here on
Earth.
In-space manufacturing harnesses the benefits of the space
environment to create materials that are of much higher quality
that those we can create on Earth, and that can be used to
improve production of all sorts of materials crucial to our
health and growth.
The third in a series of experiments on the ISS that have been built
with UK Space Agency funds, Particle Vibration showcases two UK
organisations that are breaking new ground in space science and
technology.
Dr Marcello Lappa, leading the project at the University of
Strathclyde, said:
With these experiments we will investigate how, by shaking a
fluid-solid-particle mixture in microgravity, we can create
materials with structures that we cannot make on Earth.
It will lead to new advanced techniques and nanotechnologies for
the production in space of advanced materials and alloys with
properties that can only be obtained in space.
Minister for Scotland said:
This is hugely exciting research, with the potential to deliver
transformational changes to the daily lives of people all around
the world. It’s fantastic that this is being led by a team based
in Scotland, with UK Government support, and another excellent
example of the way in which Scotland is playing a key role in the
UK’s thriving space sector industries: from building and
launching satellites, to developing truly innovative
technologies.
Particle Vibration is the third experiment funded directly by the
UK Space Agency to fly to the ISS. The first, called
Molecular Muscle 2, launched in June 2021 and saw scientists from
Nottingham and Exeter University send thousands of tiny worms to
live on board the space station for several days to help
understand spaceflight-induced muscle decline.
The second, called MicroAge, launched in December 2021, with
scientists from the University of Liverpool, sending tiny human
muscle cells, the size of a grain of rice, into space to
understand what happens to human muscles as we age, and why.
