thumb|upright=1.0|right|Deployment of the WSF using the Space Shuttle robotic arm, [[Canadarm]]

Wake Shield Facility (WSF) was a NASA experimental science platform that was placed in low Earth orbit by the Space Shuttle. It was a diameter, free-flying stainless steel disk.

The WSF was deployed using the Space Shuttle's Canadarm. The WSF then used nitrogen gas thrusters to position itself about behind the Space Shuttle, which was at an orbital altitude of over , within the thermosphere, where the atmosphere is exceedingly tenuous. These included gallium arsenide (GaAs) and aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs) depositions. These experiments have been used to develop better photocells and thin films. Among the potential resulting applications are artificial retinas made from tiny ceramic detectors.

Pre-flight calculations suggested that the pressure on the wake side could be decreased by about 6 orders of magnitude over the ambient pressure in low Earth orbit (from to  Torr). Analysis of the pressure and temperature data gathered from the two flights concluded that the decrease was about 2 orders of magnitude (4 orders of magnitude less than expected).

The WSF was sponsored by the Space Processing Division in NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications. It was designed, built and operated by the Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center, since renamed the Center for Advanced Materials, at the University of Houston, a NASA Commercial Space Center in conjunction with its industrial partner, Space Industries, Inc., also in Houston, Texas.

, the Wake Shield Facility spacecraft is being preserved at the Center for Advanced Materials.

See also

  • Space manufacturing

References

  • Space Materials Science by the Center for Advanced Materials
  • Wake Shield Facility program by the Center for Advanced Materials (archive)
  • Wake Shield Facility program by the Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center (archive)