"Microgravity research on the ISS Through the eyes of a Scientist.

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1 Microgravity Research Centre "Microgravity research on the ISS Through the eyes of a Scientist. Valentina Shevtsova Microgravity Research Center, Brussels University (ULB), Belgium Brussels, Belgium, March 10,

2 Microgravity Research Centre Origin: Service de Chimie Physique of the Ecole Polytechnique de Bruxelles, Unviversité libre de Bruxelles MRC created by Prof J.C. Legros in the eighties Fluid Physics Thermodynamics Heat transfer Director: Prof.F. Dubois PromISS Microgravity activities: Thanks to PRODEX, ESA and BELSPO: multiple µg experiments in PF, DT, sounding rockets, space shuttle, Foton, ISS IVIDIL (followed by DCMIX 1, 2 and 3) 2

How the fluids affected by gravity On Earth fluids flow and

mechanisms, sedimentation and convection, dominate on Earth

transport mechanisms that are not as affected by gravity,

Earth they can be masked by gravitational effect The surface

3 How the fluids affected by gravity On Earth fluids flow and occupy the shape of a container Two of fluid transport mechanisms, sedimentation and convection, dominate on Earth because they are driven by gravity There are other fluid transport mechanisms that are not as affected by gravity, among them: diffusion, surface tension and vibration but on Earth they can be masked by gravitational effect The surface tension of water is great enough that an insect can rest on the surface 3

Example of multi-user scientific facility: Glovebox On the ISS

points through which astronauts can manipulate experiments

4 Example of multi-user scientific facility: Glovebox On the ISS equipment is placed in autonomous racks The gloves are the access points through which astronauts can manipulate experiments Glovebox is fully sealed and controlled environment, completely isolated from the rest of the Station. It shares nevertheless the weightlessness and g-jitters of orbit. MSG is on the ISS since 2002 Why Glove? 4

5 ESA Scientific laboratory: SODI Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument (built by QinetiQ) SODI multi-user is designed to be inserted in Glovebox ISS Matreshka SODI / IVIDIL inside MSG on the ISS Five experiments have been performed inside SODI: IVIDIL, COLLOID, DCMIX1 and DCMIX2, DCMIX3. SODI was uploaded on the ISS 29 August 2009 with the experiment IVIDIL (Influence of VIbrations on DIffusion in Liquids) Activation of IVIDIL was done on 5th October 2009 A drawback - the limited lifetime of Facilities in Space example the screws of the interferometers which were out of date 5

6 Objectives of the IVIDIL experiment on the ISS Belgian PI To investigate the impact of vibrations(g-jitter) on the measured values of coefficients To perform measurements of diffusion and thermodiffusion coefficients in two binary mixtures with positive and negative Soret effect. To investigate vibration-induced convection. Two cell arrays contained binary mixture of water-isopropanol The experiment should be executed in automatic regime Astronaut places set-up inside SODI and exchange flash disks 6

Soret effect (thermodiffusion) Soret effect (thermo-diffusion) is the relative mass flow induced by a temperature gradient in fluid mixtures, which drives different components of the mixture to the

7 Soret effect (thermodiffusion) Soret effect (thermo-diffusion) is the relative mass flow induced by a temperature gradient in fluid mixtures, which drives different components of the mixture to the different walls. T=0 T T 0 Mass flux: J = ρd C ρd T T Soret coefficient: ST = D T / D Soret coefficient, S T, can be positive and negative. S T >0 when lighter liquid goes to the hot wall; S T <0 when lighter liquid goes to the cold wall (against gravity); HOT Ethanol Water Water Ethanol COLD Mass fraction of water 7

In the case of imposed vibrations with constant frequency and amplitude the convective flows were

8 Output of IVIDIL experiment on the ISS It was seen that common minor movements that are part of daily life aboard a space station did not affect the samples. In the case of imposed vibrations with constant frequency and amplitude the convective flows were settled in the cells f=1hz, A=68mm V. Shevtsova, Y. A. Gaponenko, V. Sechenyh, D. E. Melnikov, T. Lyubimova and A. Mialdun, J. Fluid Mech. (2015),. 767, p

9 IVIDIL paved the road for the experiments in ternary mixtures. Numerics Experiments 9

DCMIX: mixtures of different origins DCMIX1-2011/2012

Water-Ethanol-TEG THN-IBB-C12 Regular solution of

Polymer/fullerene solution in binary mixture of

Associating mixture with high contrast of molecule size

10 DCMIX: mixtures of different origins DCMIX1-2011/2012 DCMIX2-2013/2014 DCMIX THN-IBB-C12 Tol-Meth-Ch Water-Ethanol-TEG THN-IBB-C12 Regular solution of hydrocarbons Belgian PI Curiosity driven DCMIX4 Polymer/fullerene solution in binary mixture of ordinary solvents Mixture with miscibility gap Associating mixture with high contrast of molecule size The set, though limited, covers all comprehensive aspects of mass transport in liquids. 10

Progress on thermodiffusion and DCMIX DCMIX : Diffusion and thermodiffusion coefficients in MIXtures Before DCMIX, almost exclusively binary mixtures had been investigated.

11 Progress on thermodiffusion and DCMIX DCMIX : Diffusion and thermodiffusion coefficients in MIXtures Before DCMIX, almost exclusively binary mixtures had been investigated. Ternary mixtures are prototypes for the important class of truly multicomponent systems. Space research started with multi-objective project IVIDIL 2005 First measurements in true ternary mixture. A. Leahy-Dios, M.M. Bou-Ali, J. K. Platten, A.Firoozabadi, JCP, 122, The long-term vision is to understand thermal diffusion in multicomponent systems. Ternary systems are merely the first step in this direction. But even this step is rather complicated and ternaries are already very different from binaries. 11

Earth benefits Petroleum exploration: Data from these

formulas to predict correct measurements for the liquid

DNA molecules drift along temperature gradients Phase

for nanotechnology in diverse fields, ranging from

12 Earth benefits Petroleum exploration: Data from these space studies may help the oil industry generate formulas to predict correct measurements for the liquid to gas ratio in potential wells. DNA molecules drift along temperature gradients Phase separation in polymer blends has potential application for nanotechnology in diverse fields, ranging from bioactive patterns to polymer electronics. Duhr &Braun, PNAS, 2006 Köhler et al, Adv Polym Sci (2010) 12

13 Experiments with temperature dependent surface tension force: Marangoni convection JEREMI Japanese European Experiments on Marangoni instability, KIBO (JEM) module of the ISS JEREMI What is Marangoni convection? dσ/dt σ Credit to Jaxa 13

14 Experiments with temperature dependent surface tension force: Marangoni convection JEREMI Japanese European Experiments on Marangoni instability, KIBO (JEM) module of the ISS dσ/dt JEREMI 14

15 Earth benefits In the early days of spaceflights, it was believed that crystals of exceptional quality could be grown from the melt in the microgravity environment due to the absence of the undesired buoyant convection. Oscillatory Marangoni convection can create striation on the crystal Simulation & Analysis R&D, Canon Inc. 15

to the absence of the undesired buoyant convection.

16 Earth benefits In the early days of spaceflights, it was believed that crystals of exceptional quality could be grown from the melt in the microgravity environment due to the absence of the undesired buoyant convection. Oscillatory Marangoni convection can create striation on the crystal Simulation & Analysis R&D, Canon Inc. Controller 16

17 Vibration induced flows Vibration may act as artificial gravity in fluids with non-uniform density, i.e. create convective flows Thus they are important for: Mixing Dissolution Interfacial mass transfer Control of liquids in space ω Accent on miscible liquids 17

$It allows to see only the derivative of the refractive index with density/concentration ω The region with large variation of refractive index, i.e. large variation of density is visible as black line.$

18 Miscible liquids in Earth gravity condition ρ 1, ν 1 50% water-50% alcohol g os =6.5g 0, Vel= Aω=0.844m/s ρ 2, ν 2 90%water 10% alcohol The observation principle is shadowgraphy. It allows to see only the derivative of the refractive index with density/concentration ω The region with large variation of refractive index, i.e. large variation of density is visible as black line. 18

19 Miscible liquids in Earth gravity condition ρ 1, ν 1 ρ 1, ν 1 ρ 2, ν 2 ω ρ 2, ν 2 Frozen wave instability 19

20 Parabolic flight environment 20

21 Miscible liquids in microgravity A = 4 mm, f = 20 Hz 21

22 Miscible liquids in microgravity A = 4 mm, f = 20 Hz 22

23 Science meets art Image of the week of the European Space Agency 23

24 Science meets art Image of the week of the European Space Agency 24

25 Science meets art Image of the week of the European Space Agency 25

26 What is the future of microgravity research on the ISS? To enhance international collaboration 26

Any mission to Mars will require highly reliable habitation systems to keep the crew

27 Mars colonization Nasa planning Earth Independent Mars colony by 2030s Ilon Musk (Space-X) plan: to create sustaining colony on the Red Planet within the next 50 to 100 years. Any mission to Mars will require highly reliable habitation systems to keep the crew healthy and productive in the deep-space environment during missions that last up to 1,100 days (NASA) 27

28 Research on liquid phase behaviours in weightlessness conditions on board of: Spacelab D1 mission (1985), Spacelab D2 mission (1993), Spacelab IML2 (1994) and Spacelab LMS (1996) Investigations of Marangoni instabilities in one and in three layer systems. Sounding rockets (Texus 8(1983), 9(1984), 13(1986), 15(1987), 16(1987), 19(1988), 21(1989), 31(1993), MiniTexus 2(1994) and Maxus 2(1995). Maser 8 sounding rocket : JET growth Motions in Aerosols (1999). Foton 12: experiments on Bifurcation Anomalies in Marangoni Benard Instabilities (1999). GAS containers : Measurement of the Diffusion Coefficient of Crude Oil (DCCO) (1998), and Measurement of the Soret Coefficient of Crude Oil to fly in

29 Microgravity platforms Increase of µg time Drop Towers up to 9s Parabolic flights ~22s Sounding Rockets~6-12 min Space Station ISS is unique Platform for Science: suitable for long-term studies; possible crew assistance; 29

tested valves CIRUS GAS-Can, C-CORE (1998) : CSA computer failure FOTON 12 (1999) : leaking at high pressure FOTON M1

30 SORET coefficients A difficult and unfortunate subject? EURECA 1 mission (1992) Computer clock of SGF stopped the experiment periodically Pressure compensation membranes Over tested valves CIRUS GAS-Can, C-CORE (1998) : CSA computer failure FOTON 12 (1999) : leaking at high pressure FOTON M1 (2002): see film FOTON M2 (2005) : partly successful IVIDIL ( ) : Soret + vibrations. PERFECT DC MIX 1 : Delayed due to Facility problems DC MIX 2 : to fly soon for ternary mixtures 30

31 Team work on then ground and in microgravity Belgian PI THN-IBB-nC12 ( ) Benchmark 31

Loramendi 4 Apdo 23, Mondragon, Spain. Kingdom. a

Loramendi 4 Apdo 23, Mondragon, Spain. Kingdom. a CONTRIBUTION TO THE BENCHMARK FOR TERNARY MIXTURES: DETERMINATION OF SORET COEFFICIENTS BY THE THERMOGRAVITATIONAL AND THE SLIDING SYMMETRIC TUBES TECHNIQUES. Miren Larrañaga 1, M. Mounir Bou-Ali 1a, David