Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Materials for space exploration and settlement

Nature Materials volume 17, pages 846–850 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

Space missions require materials that can preserve functional integrity under extreme conditions of heat, impact and radiation. This Comment outlines the materials properties needed for some of the most ambitious space missions and presents the design and testing principles before their incorporation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Challenges for spacecraft materials.
Fig. 2: Additive manufacturing.

reproduced from ref. 2, CEAS (a); and ESA/Foster + Partners (b)

Fig. 3: Structural verification approaches for AM manufactured parts.

adapted from ref. 15, Elsevier

Fig. 4: SolarBlack technology.

ESA/Anneke Le Floc'h (a) and ESA (b)

References

  1. ECSS-Q-ST-70C Rev. 1 — Materials, Mechanical Parts and Processes (ECSS, 2014).

  2. Ghidini, T. in The Quarterly Bulletin of the CEAS, 2nd Quarter 2017 (ed. Sanfourche, J.-P.) 25–28 (CEAS, Brussels, 2017).

    Google Scholar 

  3. GSTP-6 Element 1 Compendium of Potential Activities Advanced Manufacturing (ESA, 2015).

  4. Ghidini, T. J. Thorac. Dis. 10, S2363–S2375 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Martin-Iglesias, P., van der Vorst, M., Gumpinger, J. & Ghidini, T. in 11th European Conf. on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP) 553–557 (IEEE, 2017).

  6. Ghidini, T., Pambaguian, L. & Blair, S. ESA Bull. 163, 24–33 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Ghidini, T. ROOM 1, 54–58 (July, 2016).

  8. Cesaretti, G., Dini, E., De Kestelier, X., Colla, V. & Pambaguian, L. Acta Astron. 93, 430–450 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Buchner, C., Pawelke, R. H., Schlauf, T., Reissner, A. & Makaya, A. Acta Astron. 143, 272–284 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. ESA https://go.nature.com/2MVjmrf (2017).

  11. Rinaldi, M., Ghidini, T., Cecchini, F., Brandao, A. & Nanni, F. Compos. Part B Eng. 145, 162–172 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Brandão, A. D. et al. Materials 10, 522 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Brandão, A. D. et al. Proc. Struct. Integr. 7, 58–66 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Romano, S., Beretta, S., Brandão, A., Gumpinger, J. & Ghidini, T. Proc. Struct. Integr. 7, 101–108 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Romano, S. et al. Eng. Fract. Mech. 187, 165–189 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. MSFC-SPCE-3717 — Specification for Control and Qualification of Laser Powder Bed Fusion Metallurgical Processes (NASA, 2017).

  17. MSFC-STD-3716 — Standard for Additively Manufactured Spaceflight Hardware by Laser Powder Bed Fusion in Metals (NASA, 2017).

  18. ECSS-Q-ST-80C — Processing and Quality Assurance Requirements for Metallic Powder Bed Fusion Technologies for Space Applications (ESA, 2018).

  19. Poncy, J., Jubineau, F., D’Angelo, F., Perotto, V. & Juillet, J. J. Acta Astron. 65, 1076–1088 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Doherty, K. A. J. et al. Acta Astron. 117, 430–439 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Williamson, J. R. et al. in Proc. 12th Int. Sym. Materials in Space Environment (ESA, 2013).

  22. Rohr, T. Proc. 12th Int. Sym. Materials in Space Environment (ESA, 2013).

  23. Carreira, A. F. et al. J. Coatings Technol. Res. 14, 879–892 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Meisnar, M. et al. Mater. Des. 132, 188–197 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Merino, J. et al. in Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress 12089234 (DGLR, 2017).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ESA-ESTEC, European Space Technology and Research Centre, Noordwijk, the Netherlands

    Tommaso Ghidini

Authors
  1. Tommaso Ghidini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tommaso Ghidini.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ghidini, T. Materials for space exploration and settlement. Nature Mater 17, 846–850 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-018-0184-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-018-0184-4

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing