Space for Innovation: Industry Forum for Material Research and Microgravity
8 May 2008, Düsseldorf, Germany
Weightlessness provides unique conditions for scientific, application-oriented and industrial research. On Earth, if a substance is heated, melted, solidified, crystallised, mixed, sprayed of burnt, then gravity has a strong influence over what will happen. Studying those processes in the absence of gravity allows uncovering the fundamental effects at work.
With the deployment of the European space laboratory Columbus on the International Space Station (ISS) in February 2008, the research capacity of the ISS was nearly doubled and a new era has begun for ESA’s activities onboard. The facilities and resources available on Columbus not only allow scientists to carry out their research, but also offer companies the opportunity for their research and development as well as for testing innovative technologies.
The workshop 'Industry Forum for Material Research and Microgravity', organised by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in cooperation with the Max Planck Institut für Eisenforschung (MPIE), aims at informing companies about the opportunities which are available on the ISS and on Columbus for R&D and technology demonstration.
The workshop illustrates the relevance of microgravity for application oriented material research, the existing opportunities and the kind of support which is available to industry interested in performing experiments under microgravity.
Workshop proceedings
Workshop proceedings (in German) are available to IBC members. To apply for IBC membership, please send an email with your name, job title, company name and postal address to: ibc@esa.int