Product category:
Materials and components
News Release from: Goodfellow Cambridge | Subject: High-purity metals
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 07 April 2005
High-purity metals aid space research
Goodfellow Cambridge has provided specialist high-purity metals to help scientists characterise the atmosphere and environment encountered during the joint NASA/ESA mission to the outer solar system.
Cambridgeshire-based Goodfellow Cambridge has provided specialist high-purity metals to help scientists characterise the atmosphere and environment encountered during the joint NASA/ESA (European Space Agency) spacecraft mission to the outer solar system Goodfellow specialises in supplying high-purity metals and materials to research establishments and industry
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 1 Nov 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The company supplied platinum wire, gold and other high-purity metals to design engineers when they were developing scientific instruments and sensors for the spacecraft.
These have been used to capture data during the seven year expedition to Saturn and Titan, the planet's largest moon.
The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft was made up of the Cassini orbiter, which was developed by NASA, and the Huygens probe developed by the ESA.
The spacecraft is now in orbit around Saturn and has transmitted back to Earth extensive data about the planet, its moons, rings and magnetic environment.
The Huygens probe was despatched from the spacecraft and landed on Titan earlier this year.
Sensors and instruments onboard the 2.7m-diameter probe transmitted information back to earth about the surface composition of the moon and the atmosphere encountered during the probe's descent.
One of the scientific components used within the SSP (surface science pack), which collects data from the surface of the moon, is a thermal properties sensor (THP sensor).
This measures thermal conductivity and thermal diffusion and contains two pairs of high purity platinum wires which were supplied by Goodfellow.
The two pairs of wires, one of 10um diameter and the other of 25um diameter, are housed in cylindrical cells.
One pair is used for atmospheric measurement and the other for liquid measurement.
The SSP has transmitted exciting data back to the ESA.
The surface temperature of the moon is below -170C and evidence has been found of liquid flow, which appears to be as a result of methane rainfall.
"We are very proud to have been part of such an historic and valuable scientific research project", said Stephen Aldersley, Director at Goodfellow Cambridge.
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