Nanotechnology: An Overview for Space Applications

Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the names given to a very broad group of disciplines that focus on the understanding of processes and mechanics at the nanoscale, that is, at the atomic and molecular scale. The essence of the efforts focus on the development of the ability to work at these scales, with applications to electronics and materials at the frontier. While the first applications are at the nanoscale, with products such as quantum computing and nanocircuits, exciting possibilities exist when the engineering and science of nanotechnology allow the creation of structures, such as space structures, that are made of nano materials. Such materials will be much stronger and lighter than current materials. This, of course, will reduce the cost of placing an object in orbit by several orders of magnitude. The benefit to spaceflight is obvious. The importance of this area of research and development is exemplified by the National Nanotechnology Initiative at NSF: http://www.nsf.gov/search97cgi/vtopic. In this paper, an overview will be provided on current thinking in nanoscience and nanotechnology with a glimpse at some of the exciting prospects. Some of these are based on discussions with my colleagues Professors A Cuitiño, G Elliott and A Norris.