Sensory skin to detect damage outside spacecraft

Washington March 26 (IANS) Scientists at NASA s Kennedy Space Center in Florida are developing a system that acts like a sensory skin to help astronauts to know exactly when the outside of their spacecraft has been damaged.

The Flexible Damage Detection System technology may offer a possible solution to NASA s problem of figuring out in real-time where a spacecraft is damaged and how seriously.

I kind of look at it like a sensory skin said Martha Williams the scientist leading the development team.

It s a sensory system that tells us where we are damaged and the level of intensity Williams said in a statement.

Micrometeoroids and orbital debris pose threats to spacecraft as they move at speeds of 17 500 mph or 28 000 km per hour in low-Earth orbit and at over 24 000 mph or 38 400 kmph on trips to the Moon and deep space.

As space shuttle windows revealed something as small as a paint chip moving at that velocity can punch through several layers of glass.

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.

Nor is there a precise way to pinpoint exactly in real-time where the damage occurred if not visible to the eye or camera so that astronauts can assess it.

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.

The researchers believe that if successfully incorporated the innovation could also be applied to a host of satellites and aircraft.

--IANS
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