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Dec. 11, 2018
An investigation delivered to the International Space Station aboard Northrop Grumman’s tenth commercial resupply services mission (NG CRS-10) in November may help uncover the electrifying origins of our solar system. The Experimental Chondrule Formation on the ISS (EXCISS), housed in a NanoRacks container, aims to replicate chondrule formation as seen in the early solar system.
Image above: ARISE, EXCISS, and PAPELL NanoRacks Modules onboard the Space Station.
Image Credit: NASA.
Chondrules are tiny, sphere-like particles found in meteorites and asteroids, but their formation is still a mystery. Scientists suggest that lightning agitated dust particles in the early nebula that eventually became our solar system, providing the energy necessary for chondrule formation. To find evidence for or against this theory, this investigation simulates the electrical and environmental conditions similar to that of the early solar system.
The results could reveal new information about particle velocities and behavior. This information adds to our fundamental understanding of physics but may also be a leaping-off point for manufacturing processes that require a deeper understanding of microstructures. The research goes beyond any study of chondrules conducted on Earth.
Image above: European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Alexander Gerst with the ARISE, EXCISS, and PAPELL NanoRacks modules. Image Credit: NASA.
Relying on microgravity to suspend a silicate dust within a gaseous glass chamber, lightning-like charges are sent through closely-placed electrodes inside the chamber to agitate the dust. Researchers expect free-floating particles to melt, collide and come together, forming aggregates that may melt and form chondrules when hit with additional electricity.
“Drop towers and parabolic flights do not simulate microgravity conditions long enough to allow larger chondrules to form,” said Dominik Spahr, who works with fellow EXCISS researchers Tamara Koch and David Merges from the University of Frankfurt and the nonprofit Hackerspace organization.
While the team tested many mockups, Sphar said, “The final chamber we’re sending up cannot be activated and tested on Earth. The gravity of our planet would interfere with results.”
Image above: Trial run of an electrode test chamber. Aboard the space station, lightning strikes within the chamber will agitate dust along the electrodes to create chondrules. Image Credit: Dominick Sphar.
The investigation opens new doors for chondrule research.
“It is very important to know how chondrules were formed because then we can explain so many other features that we see in meteorites and asteroids,” said Koch.
Theoretical investigations are critical building blocks for application-based research, and the answers derived from this investigation may greatly advance our fundamental understanding of some of the oldest materials in our solar system.
Related links:
NG CRS-10: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/ng-10_research_highlights
EXCISS: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7785
NanoRacks: http://nanoracks.com/
International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory: https://www.iss-casis.org/
Spot the Station: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/
Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Michael Johnson/JSC/International Space Station Program Science Office/Morgan McAllister.
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