Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center are testing nanotechnology to use on spacecraft. Nanotechnology is the development of devices on a scale of individual atoms and molecules.

The specific goal of this team at the Goddard Space Flight Center is to use nanotechnology to reduce reflection off the surface of satellites, so that the data they collect are not "polluted" by scattered light. The carbon nanotubes that the team grows have proven to be 10 times better than NASA Z306 paint, currently used on spacecraft instruments.

Transcript

- Since the late 1950s, some 200 craft have been sent into space to encounter celestial bodies. The moon, asteroids, comets and every planet in the solar system except Pluto, have been visited by space probes. There are three types of space probes. Interplanetary probes simply fly by celestial bodies. This was the case for the Voyager 2 probe, which passed about 34 million kilometers away from Saturn, and then continued its path through the solar system. Orbiters are placed in orbit around a celestial body in order to examine it for a number of years. The Magellan probe spent four years in orbit around Venus mapping its surface. An orbiter generally carries a camera that takes thousands of photographs, as well as other instruments that study particular aspects of the planet, such as its gravitational field. A transmission antenna then sends these data to earth. Finally, Landers are probes designed to land on the surface of a celestial body to study a particular place on it. The information transmitted by Landers, like this panoramic martian landscape taken by the Pathfinder probe in 1997, are both detailed and spectacular. The next generation of probes will bring back samples taken from comets, asteroids, and eventually Mars.

Transcripción

- Desde finales de los años 50, unas 200 naves han sido enviadas al espacio para encontrarse con cuerpos celestes. La luna, asteroides, cometas y todos los planetas del sistema solar excepto Plutón han sido visitados por sondas espaciales. Existen tres tipos de sondas espaciales. Las sondas interplanetarias simplemente pasan cerca de los cuerpos celestes. Este fue el caso de la sonda Voyager 2, que pasó a unos 34 millones de kilómetros de Saturno y luego continuó su camino a través del sistema solar. Los orbitadores se colocan en órbita alrededor de un cuerpo celeste con el fin de examinarlo durante varios años. La sonda Magellan pasó cuatro años en órbita alrededor de Venus escaneando su superficie. Un orbitador generalmente lleva una cámara que toma miles de fotografías, así como otros instrumentos que estudian aspectos particulares del planeta, como su campo gravitacional. Una antena de transmisión envía estos datos a la tierra. Finalmente, los Landers son sondas diseñadas para aterrizar en la superficie de un cuerpo celestial para estudiar un lugar particular en él. La información transmitida por los Landers, como este paisaje marciano panorámico tomado por la sonda Pathfinder en 1997, es tanto detallada como espectacular. La próxima generación de sondas traerá muestras tomadas de cometas, asteroides y eventualmente Marte.