Materials processing in low gravity

Abstract

The final report of the Materials Processing in Low Gravity Program in which The University of Alabama in Huntsville designed, fabricated and performed various low gravity experiments in materials processing from November 7, 1989 through November 6, 1990 is presented. The facilities used in these short duration low gravity experiments include the Drop Tube and Drop Tower at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), and the KC-135 aircraft at Ellington Field. During the performance of this contract, the utilization of these ground-based low gravity facilities for materials processing experiments have been instrumental in providing the opportunity to determine the feasibility of performing a number of experiments in the microgravity of Space, without the expense of a space-based experiment. Since the KC-135 was out for repairs during the latter part of the reporting period, a number of the KC-135 activities concentrated on repair and maintenance of the equipment that normally is flown on the aircraft. A number of periodic reports were given to the TCOR during the course of this contract, hence this final report is meant only to summarize the many activities performed and not redundantly cover materials already submitted.