Nanocomp Technologies, a producer of carbon nanotube-based energy-efficient component products and performance materials, declared that the NASA’s Juno spacecraft has integrated Nanocomp’s EMSHIELD, a novel carbon nanotube-based sheet material, to protect the spacecraft from electrostatic discharge during its Jupiter mission.
The EMSHIELD has been utilized as a surface layer on numerous key parts of the main engine housing and attitude control motor struts of the spacecraft by the Juno development team. Lockheed Martin was the prime contractor of the project.
The President and Chief Executive Officer at Nanocomp Technologies, Peter Antoinette stated that Lockheed was seeking for a substitute electrostatic discharge solution to conventional aluminum foil. By integrating the EMSHIELD carbon nanotube sheet layers for the composite fabrication, the development team was able to incorporate electrostatic discharge protection straightway onto the structure, allowing the composite to be used as a multipurpose component of the spacecraft, he added.
Antoinette further said that the carbon nanotube materials are ultra-lightweight materials but are very strong and have high electrical conductivity. The challenge is to confine these qualities in product forms that can be directly incorporated with the current production methods of complex components, he said.
Nanocomp’s carbon nanotube material can be used in numerous cross-industry applications. The company’s products have been designated as ‘critical to national defense’ by the Department of Defense via its Title III Defense Production Act. At present, it manufactures carbon nanotube sheet and yarn materials, which are continuously tested and assessed by commercial and government clients.
Source: http://www.nanocomptech.com