News & Events

Science@NASA - Plastic Spaceships

(An interview with Nasser Barghouty, Project Scientist for NASA's Space Radiation Shielding Project at MSFC)

A "designer material" derived from plastic could help protect astronauts on their way to Mars

August 25, 2005: After reading this article, you might never look at trash bags the same way again.

We all use plastic trash bags; they're so common that we hardly give them a second thought. So who would have guessed that a lowly trash bag might hold the key to sending humans to Mars?

Most household trash bags are made of a polymer called polyethylene. Variants of that molecule turn out to be excellent at shielding the most dangerous forms of space radiation. Scientists have long known this. The trouble has been trying to build a spaceship out of the flimsy stuff.

But now NASA scientists have invented a groundbreaking, polyethylene-based material called RXF1 that's even stronger and lighter than aluminum. "This new material is a first in the sense that it combines superior structural properties with superior shielding properties," says Nasser Barghouty, Project Scientist for NASA's Space Radiation Shielding Project at the Marshall Space Flight Center.

To Mars in a plastic spaceship? As daft as it may sound, it could be the safest way to go.

Read the full article: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/25aug_plasticspaceships.htm