CETSOL-1 is a European Space Agency (ESA) experiment that belongs to the Transparent Alloys series, which aims to study different physical phenomena that take place during directional solidifications under microgravity conditions. In particular, the goal of this new experiment is to identify the growth of the columnar structures (known as dentrites), the equiaxed grains, the mixed formation of both structures as well as the physical mechanisms that intervene in their evolution. The microgravity conditions of the ISS allow the science team to study three dimensional phenomena without the influence of natural convection, so the experiment is performed in pure ... Read More

The E-USOC has finished the execution of its fifteenth experiment on board the ISS. The third one executed with the Transparent Alloys instrument. The METCOMP (Metastable Solidification of Composites: Novel Peritectic Structures and In-Situ Composites) experiment was a difficult one, but the scientists managed to fulfil all the objectives, and we will soon have a METCOMP-2 to process the samples that could not be uploaded this time. The METCOMP research focuses on layered structures in peritectic systems. The investigations of peritectic metallic systems show a wide range of possible microstructures: bands, islands, tree-like microstructures and coupled growth appear when the primary ... Read More

La Agencia Europea del Espacio (ESA) ha aprobado la ejecución del experimento MarPCM (Marangoni Phase Change Materials), propuesto por el E-USOC, la Universidad de Mondragón y la Universitat Rovira i Virgili, para su ejecución a bordo de la Estación Espacial Internacional. El proyecto Mejora de la transferencia de calor en dispositivos PCM: Convección Marangoni y otras estrategias, aprobado recientemente por el Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación, financiará el diseño y fabricación del modelo de ingeniería del instrumento. Está previsto que el modelo de ingeniería pueda ser entregado a la ESA en 2024 para comenzar ... Read More

Crew intalling the cartidge with the scientific material in the MSG laboratory (NASA credits) The E-USOC has received the flight HDDs from the SETA (Solidification along a Eutectic Path in Ternary Alloys) experiment successfully executed on board the ISS in March-April 2020. The data contained in the disks has been processed and provided to the science team through the HRE Data Archive. SETA was the second experiment successfully performed by the E-USOC using the Transparent Alloys instrument. The aim of the experiment was to study the pattern formation during univariant eutectic reaction in directional solidification in transparent ternary alloys. ... Read More