Space Travel And Gold
Gold has a lot of special properties which make it the most useful precious metal.
This beautifully colored metal with a brilliant luster is very easy to work: can be drawn into wire or hammered into thin sheets, alloys with many other metals, can be melted and cast into sophisticated shapes.
It also conducts electricity.
With such a rich palette of characteristics, no wonder that it can be used in many fields: from its primary use in jewelry to electronics, medicine, computers and even aerospace.
Emissivity and reflection are inversely proportional: the more reflective a material is, the lower its emissivity.
Gold has very low emissivity and absorbs the wavelengths of peak solar radiation.
These intrinsic qualities, together with the plus of being a dependable connector and conductor have made it highly appreciated in aerospace technology.
Everybody knows that there is no possibility of lubrication, maintenance and repair for vehicles on a space travel.
That is why, it is of capital importance to build them with dependable and trustworthy materials, like gold for example.
Space vehicles have to cope with the wavelength of peak solar radiation which is about 0.
5 microns, in the visible band.
In order to control the temperature of a surface exposed to this radiation, engineers coat it with a reflector.
The best reflector materials are aluminium, silver, copper and gold.
Gold is preferred due to the diversity of methods by which it can be applied to a large number of substrate materials.
In contrast to aluminium coatings that can be obtained only by thermal evaporation or by pack cementation, gold coverings can be achieved through: - the technique of electroplating, which ensures a proper diffusion barrier between a titanium layer and the final gold electrodeposit; - the "liquid bright gold" method (the use of solutions of complex gold compounds in organic solvents); - the deposition of gold films by spraying with an aqueous solution of gold salt.
The visors of the astronauts' space helmets also use a gold reflector.
Its purpose is to reduce glare from sunlight, while permitting enough light for good vision.
The gold film is applied on the acrylic plastic visor by thermal evaporation in vacuum.
It is a very thin film, containing 89.
5% gold.
The wide range of uses of this excellent metal even in time of recession cannot but confirm that buying gold is one of the best ever investments.
This beautifully colored metal with a brilliant luster is very easy to work: can be drawn into wire or hammered into thin sheets, alloys with many other metals, can be melted and cast into sophisticated shapes.
It also conducts electricity.
With such a rich palette of characteristics, no wonder that it can be used in many fields: from its primary use in jewelry to electronics, medicine, computers and even aerospace.
Emissivity and reflection are inversely proportional: the more reflective a material is, the lower its emissivity.
Gold has very low emissivity and absorbs the wavelengths of peak solar radiation.
These intrinsic qualities, together with the plus of being a dependable connector and conductor have made it highly appreciated in aerospace technology.
Everybody knows that there is no possibility of lubrication, maintenance and repair for vehicles on a space travel.
That is why, it is of capital importance to build them with dependable and trustworthy materials, like gold for example.
Space vehicles have to cope with the wavelength of peak solar radiation which is about 0.
5 microns, in the visible band.
In order to control the temperature of a surface exposed to this radiation, engineers coat it with a reflector.
The best reflector materials are aluminium, silver, copper and gold.
Gold is preferred due to the diversity of methods by which it can be applied to a large number of substrate materials.
In contrast to aluminium coatings that can be obtained only by thermal evaporation or by pack cementation, gold coverings can be achieved through: - the technique of electroplating, which ensures a proper diffusion barrier between a titanium layer and the final gold electrodeposit; - the "liquid bright gold" method (the use of solutions of complex gold compounds in organic solvents); - the deposition of gold films by spraying with an aqueous solution of gold salt.
The visors of the astronauts' space helmets also use a gold reflector.
Its purpose is to reduce glare from sunlight, while permitting enough light for good vision.
The gold film is applied on the acrylic plastic visor by thermal evaporation in vacuum.
It is a very thin film, containing 89.
5% gold.
The wide range of uses of this excellent metal even in time of recession cannot but confirm that buying gold is one of the best ever investments.
Source...