• Question: What is the best space wether resistant matireal that can be used to build the clocks going on to the ISS

    Asked by Tuffnut to Kathryn on 15 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Kathryn Burrows

      Kathryn Burrows answered on 15 Jun 2018:


      Clever scientists in France who built the clock may be able to answer this better but here is my attempt!

      There is not weather as such as there is rain, wind, etc… here on Earth as the ISS is at the very top of the atmosphere. What there is is a lot of is magnetic fields, solar energy, cosmic rays, etc…. coming from space and the sun. The clock is protected with shielding around it and the whole ACES module is surrounded with shielding as well. This is normally various types of metal, I am not sure of the exact details for ACES. Metal is quite good at both absorbing and reflecting unwanted magnetic field or particles. Foil is used a lot, as it is light, you can see foil coating the clock in pictures in the following link: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Research/Timely_arrival_of_Pharao_space_clock

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