The National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the U.S. is developing artificial “muscles” containing gold components to aid in the exploration of space.
The electronic muscles are being developed for the Muses-C mission spacecraft, which is expected to land on the 4660 Nereus asteroid in 2003. The spacecraft will deploy a palm-sized rover, weighing about 2 lbs., to take pictures of the surface.
Dust is expected to accumulate on the window of the rover, and a wiper is needed to keep it clean. To overcome this, scientists will install two tiny windshield wipers on each side of the viewing window. These wipers, each of which weighs fewer than 18 milligrams, rely on tiny (13-mm-long) artificial muscles that use about 0.2 watt. The power causes the muscles to contract or extend, and this action makes the wiping action possible. Developed at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., the muscles are electroactive polymers made of lightweight strips of flexible plastic.
Scientists tried many different metals for use as electrodes to carry a current through the artificial muscle, but gold achieved the best results, providing eight times better performance at a lower voltage. In addition, the gold coating prevented electrolysis, which can destroy the mechanism.
— The preceding appeared in Gold News, a publication of the Washington, D.C.-based Gold Institute.
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