Vladimir Fortov, an Academician and Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explained that: “High frequency plasma is created in a vacuum chamber and placed in a hermetic box, then a portable computer with a video camera is used for observation. Plasma containing not only electrons, ions and neutral particles but also strongly charged dust particles of micron sizes is called dust plasma. Interaction of these particles in particular, leads to the formation of ordered structures and plasma-dust crystals,” the scientist said.

“Processes occurring in plasma-dust structures on the Earth are strongly warped by the effects of gravity, but its influence is absent in space. The areas in which the results of the experiment can be applied are very broad as dust plasma is used in microelectronics and in nano-structure design. Research is now being done to create a nuclear battery for space flights and this experiment is also very important for telecommunications technologies and for developing new types of energy,” Vladimir Fortov told journalists.

“The world is witnessing a nanotechnology boom, and the Plasma Crystal experiment will open up new opportunities here. It could become a prototype for new compact power sources with a very long service life, it could be applied in the thermal nuclear reactor project that needs to be cleared of dust from time to time, it could have applications in medicine and it could even be used to reduce the cost of making artificial diamonds, as the major cost is cleaning the original material,” he added.

Dr. Morfil of the Max Planck Institute and Dr Fortov of the Institute for Plasma Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, presented the plasma crystal experiment to the Minister as well as the scientific results obtained so far.

Visit to Mission Control Centre

During her visit to the Mission Control Centre in Korolev, in the Moscow region, Edelgard Bulmahn referred to the excellent Russian/German cooperation in space research, both on a bilateral basis as well as within the framework of ESA/Russia cooperation. She also held an interactive TV conference with the ISS crew and was able to discuss with them the experiments being conducted on the Russian segment with Germany’s participation.

A number of subjects came up during her fruitful meeting with Anatoly Perminov, the Head of the Federal Space Agency. These included:

• intensifying German-Russian cooperation in the area of space exploration
• Russia’s participation in the European Galileo programme
• cooperation in the area of robotics (example - RokvISS)
• cooperation in joint scientific experiments onboard the ISS.
• participation in the Mars Isolation Study proposed by the Institute of Bio-Medical Problems (IBMP)
• the long-duration Mission of ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter onboard the ISS