New Material for Stable Space Telescopes in Exoplanet Search

A unique new material that shrinks when heated and expands when cooled could help enable ultra-stable space telescopes for future NASA missions seeking habitable worlds.

Advancements in material technologies are crucial for the next generation of observatories aiming to identify and study exoplanets. NASA's Astrophysics Division is dedicated to exploring the possibility of life beyond Earth by detecting exoplanets that could support life.

Decoding shifts in light from exoplanets is challenging due to the brightness of host stars. Achieving the necessary contrast ratio for detecting habitable exoplanets requires a telescope 1,000 times more stable than current space observatories like the James Webb Space Telescope.

A collaboration between ALLVAR and NASA aims to demonstrate how a new material with negative thermal expansion properties can enhance telescope stability. This material could significantly improve thermal stability compared to traditional materials like aluminum and titanium.

The new material, ALLVAR Alloy 30, exhibits negative thermal expansion, compensating for thermal expansion mismatches in telescope structures. Tests have shown promising results, with the material enabling ultra-stable structures close to the required stability level for future observatories.

Furthermore, the NTE alloy technology has potential applications beyond astronomy, including enhanced thermal switch performance and improved bolted joint and infrared optics performance.

Through NASA funding, the ALLVAR team has developed detailed datasets of material properties, clearing a major hurdle for space-material qualification. The team is also working on developing a new alloy with tunable thermal expansion properties for various applications.

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