NASA scientists have developed a ‘sensory skin’ for spacecraft that can pick up signs of damage in real time, an innovation that could help protect future satellites, aircraft and even habitats on other worlds.
The new invention uses a series of several technologies to create circuits printed on thin layers and that can be embedded in a spacecraft’s structure, scientists behind the invention said. Micrometeoroids and orbital debris pose threats to spacecraft as they travel at very high speeds for trips to the Moon and deep space.
Something as small as a paint chip moving at that velocity can punch through several layers of glass.
Under development at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in the US, the Flexible Damage Detection System technology has been pursued as a possible solution to NASA’s problem of figuring out in real-time where a spacecraft is damaged and how seriously.
If something pierces a spacecraft’s hull — or the first layer or two — there are very limited ways for astronauts aboard a spacecraft to know there might be damage.
An impact that goes all the way through and causes a leak would set off alarms, but otherwise the current methods to detect damage require either a camera inspection or a spacewalking astronaut.