NASA eyes versatile carbon-nanotube technology for spaceflight applications

An ultra-dark coating comprised of nearly invisible shag rug-like strands made of pure carbon is proving to be highly versatile for all types of spaceflight applications.

In the most recent application of the carbon-nanotube coating, optical engineer John Hagopian, a contractor at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and Goddard scientist Lucy Lim are growing an arrayofminiscule, button-shaped bumps of multi-walled nanotubes on a silicon wafer.

The dots, which measure only 100 microns in diameter—roughly the size of a human hair—would serve as the "ammunition" source for a mini-electron probe. This type of instrument analyzes the chemical properties of rocks and soil on airless bodies, like the Moon or an asteroid.

Although the probe is still early in its technology development, it's showing promise, said Lim, who is using funding from NASA's Planetary Instrument Concepts for the Advancement of Solar System Observations Program, better known as PICASSO, to advance the concept.