Off into space with ADLER

Coatings made by ADLER withstand the most adverse conditions. And where could the impacts be more challenging than in the endless depths of space?
27 Nov 2017

Vacuum, radiation, extreme cold – yet at least the latter is unable to harm paints from ADLER! An experiment by the Austrian Space Forum has shown this. The researchers put various accessories for a future Mars mission through their paces – including paints from ADLER. 

"We are constantly testing diverse materials that are used for space suits and related systems. As paints are usually the uppermost layer, we are concerned with possible contamination, outgassing and splintering," explains the head of the ÖWF (Austrian Space Forum), Dr. Gernot Grömer. The Aouda space suit simulator developed by the ÖWF was thus sent into the cold chamber of a hotel in Seefeld. Here the researchers performed various tests. Sample areas coated with a white ADLER 2-component acrylate paint were also exposed to the extreme cold together with vibration. "We found out that vibration caused by travel motion, ventilator vibration etc. can produce problems at low temperatures and that the pigments can erode," outlines Grömer. Yet the ADLER coating passed the endurance test at temperatures of down to minus 70 degrees Celsius with flying colours.

The ÖWF team thus successfully took another step on the way to Mars. Next on the agenda is a four-week Mars simulation in Oman in February 2018. And ADLER paints will be there again – because for the first time the electrically operated "Ziesel“  produced by the Tyrolean manufactuerer, Mattro, will be used for the road tests. And its wooden surfaces? Are coated with ADLER!

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