Mission Overview

The scientific objective of this payload is to investigate the effects of a microgravity environment on the formation of nanostructures through electrodeposition. Electrodeposition is a common way to produce metal coatings on surfaces by running an electric current through a conductive material that is immersed in a chemical solution. Along with being used in manufacturing to improve surface characteristics of parts, it is also commonly used in the preparation of nanostructures. This is a 2U payload planning to be aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard.

One difficulty when using electrodeposition to form nanostructures is that the precise study of nanostructure formation is complicated by convection driven flow in the chemical solution. With gravity-induced fluid flow removed, the system will be more stable, possibly leading to more precise or intricate nanostructures to be formed. The experimental payload will conduct copper deposition during the time in microgravity, and the resulting nanostructures formed will be compared to nanostructures formed using an equivalent control system on earth.