Structural Materials
Structural materials are materials that are used to construct the physical components of spacecraft and launch vehicles. These materials must be able to withstand the harsh conditions of space, including extreme temperatures, radiation, and vacuum. They must also be lightweight and strong, as every extra pound of weight requires more fuel to launch. Common structural materials used in space and astronautical engineering include metals such as aluminum and titanium, composites such as carbon fiber reinforced polymers, and ceramics such as silicon carbide. The choice of material depends on the specific application and the desired properties, such as strength, stiffness, thermal conductivity, and resistance to corrosion and fatigue.
Your Previous Searches
Random Picks
- Sun Sensors: Sun sensors are devices used in spacecraft to determine the orientation of the spacecraft relative to the sun. They work by detecting the position of the sun in the sky and providing information to the spacecraft's attitude control system, ... Read More >>
- Contaminants: In space and astronautical engineering, contaminants refer to any substance or particle that can negatively affect the performance, reliability, or safety of spacecraft or space systems. Contaminants can come from various sources such as th ... Read More >>
- Spacecraft Position: Spacecraft Position refers to the location of a spacecraft in space at a given time. It is determined by measuring the distance and direction of the spacecraft from a reference point, such as the Earth or the Sun. The position of a spacecra ... Read More >>
Top News
A Harvest Moon reaches peak illumination tonight: When to look up...
It's called a Harvest Moon because it traditionally provided farmers with more time to pick their crops. Here's what else to know about the full moon....
News Source: USA Today on 2024-09-17
A former University of Iowa manager embezzled funds, an audit finds...
A new state audit in Iowa says the former manager of the machine shop at the University of Iowa’s Department of Physics and Astronomy deposited nearly $1 million that should have gone to the univers...
News Source: ABC News on 2024-09-04
NASA’s DART collision may result in the first human-made meteor shower...
Small, rocky debris created when NASA intentionally slammed a spacecraft into an asteroid could create a new meteor shower that may be visible from Earth or Mars....
News Source: CNN on 2024-08-31
Read an extract from Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower...
In the opening to Octavia E. Butler's prescient science fiction novel Parable of the Sower, the latest pick for the New Scientist Book Club, we are introduced to Lauren Olamina and start to learn abou...
News Source: New Scientist on 2024-08-30
Six mysterious rogue worlds spotted within cosmic cloud by Webb telescope...
Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to spot rogue worlds that don’t orbit stars within a cosmic cloud 960 light-years away....
News Source: CNN on 2024-08-27