Other

Frederick T Herrmann

Christian A Williams

Blair J Herren

Austin Pham

Andreas Olafsrud

A self-healing shield panel for protecting a spacecraft against High Velocity Particles (HVPs). The self-healing shield includes an exterior layer and an interior layer connected to define a cavity which contains a dilatant fluid with a plurality of spheroids. The kinetic energy from HVP impact is dispersed by the plurality of spheroids and absorbed by the dilatant fluid. The plurality of spheroids within the cavity move to block a puncture hole in the shield.

Self-healing shield configured to protect an environment from high velocity particles

This invention relates generally to crystal growth devices, and more particularly to a device in which protein crystals are grown in a hanging drop (12). The drop (12) is suspended from a surface (32) positioned in the interior (21) of an enclosure (18) which is sealably coupled via a valve (56) to a vessel (16) containing solvent used in the drop (12). A second opening in the enclosure (18) is coupled via a valve (54) to a vessel (14) containing a selected desiccant material (44). The valve (56) may be fully or partially opened to add a selected quantity of solvent in a vapor phase to the drop (12), and the valve (54) may be fully or partially opened to cause a selected quantity of solvent to evaporate from the drop (12). The process is monitored by a camera (70), and in conjunction with a graduated pattern superimposed over the drop (12), relative volumes of the drop (12) are determinated. Alternately, the process may be automated by using a computer (94) coupled to servo motors (96, 98, 100), which in turn are coupled to and operate a cap (26) and valves (54, 56), respectively. The computer (94) is responsive to a detection device (92) which detects changes of light passing through the drop (12) from the light source (76).

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Huntsville, AL, United States of America

Frederick T Herrmann