Zero G graphene promises success in space

For the first time graphene has been tested in zero gravity conditions to establish its utility for space missions.

Graphene’s properties could be used to improving the performance of aerospace and satellite applications and for use in space propulsion. Now, in a collaboration between the European Space Agency and academic consortium ­– the Graphene Flagship – tests have been carried out in zero gravity during a parabolic flight.

“Graphene as we know has a lot of opportunities. One of them, recognised early on, is space applications, and this is the first time that graphene has been tested in space-like applications, worldwide,” said Professor Andrea Ferrari (University of Cambridge, UK), Science and Technology Officer of the Graphene Flagship.

Graphene’s excellent thermal properties are promising for improving the performance of loop heat pipes – thermal management systems used in aerospace and satellite applications. The main element of the loop heat pipe is the metallic wick, where heat is transferred from a hot object into a fluid, which cools the system. After promising results in laboratory tests, the wicks for the loop heat pipes were tested in two ESA parabolic flight campaigns late last year. “We have good tests done on earth in the lab, and now of course because the applications will be in satellites, we needed to see how the wicks perform in low gravity conditions and also in hypergravity conditions, to simulate a satellite launch,” added Professor Ferrari.

The results of the parabolic flight confirm the improvements to the wick, and the Flagship will continue to develop the graphene-based heat pipes towards a commercial product.

Testing graphene space-propulsion potential, a team of PhD students from Delft Technical University in the Netherlands designed and built an experiment to test graphene for use in solar sails, using free-floating graphene membranes as part of ESA’s Drop Your Thesis! Campaign. This offered students the chance to perform an experiment in microgravity at the ZARM Drop Tower in Bremen, Germany. To create extreme microgravity conditions, down to one millionth of the Earth’s gravitational force, a capsule containing the experiment is catapulted up and down the 146 metre tower, leading to 9.3 seconds of weightlessness.

“I think this is a very nice example of how the Flagship is working. Bringing together academic partners and one big industry with a clearly defined goal for an application,” said Vincenzo Palermo, Vice-Director of the Graphene Flagship.