The empty space of our solar system is not truly empty, as we’ve discussed previously. For one, there’s a fast-moving flux of charged particles – the solar wind – that Keep reading
Tag: space
Ionic Sound
So, as we learned previously, sound can actually travel through space. But the recordings our spacecraft send us from other planets or from the edge of the Solar System aren’t Keep reading
Hearing in Space
Everyone knows that, in space, no one can hear you scream. Sound is a wave that requires a medium to travel through, and if space is empty, there’s no medium Keep reading
Fire in Microgravity
In the movie “Gravity” Sandra Bullock’s character battles a fire aboard the International Space Station. Combustion is a huge concern in space habitats. Microgravity fires are challenging to detect and Keep reading
Ferrofluid Thrusters
Ferrofluids–magnetically-sensitive fluids made up of a carrier liquid and ferrous nanoparticles–may soon have a new application as a miniature thruster on nanosatellites. Microspray thrusters use tiny hollow needles to electrically Keep reading
Viscoelastic Fluids in Space
In honor of astronaut Don Pettit’s launch to the International Space Station (and in the hope that he’ll do more neat microgravity fluids demonstrations while in space!), here’s a look Keep reading
Mixing in Space
Living here on earth, we are so accustomed to gravity’s effects on fluid behaviors that it’s not always obvious how microgravity will affect them. Here astronaut Richard Garriott demonstrates mixing Keep reading
Microgravity Water Spheres
Here astronaut Don Pettit demonstrates the effects of rotation on a sphere of water in microgravity. Bubbles, being less dense than water, congregate in the middle of the sphere along Keep reading
Astronomical Jets
Researchers have pieced together Hubble images of jets from newborn stars into timelapse movies that reveal the interstellar fluid mechanics responsible for the formation of stars like our sun. These Keep reading
Microgravity Marangoni
Astronauts are preparing an experiment on the Marangoni effect, in which a variation in surface tension can cause mass flow, for flight aboard the International Space Station. The effect, also Keep reading