The new material could be instantly heal a spacecraft

Apparently, there is no place more no friendly environment like space. There are hundreds of foreign objects moving in a speed of 13,000 km/h with the size and mass were also not small. If hit, the impact really unimaginable.

NASA's International Space Station (ISS) was recorded as a spacecraft with the most robust protective system ever created. With the sophisticated protective and impressive maneuvering systems, ISS is able to withstand the blow of many celestial objects that threaten.

Photos from the International Space Station (ISS) while in its orbit above the Caspian Sea. (Picture from:. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1NUsrZP)

ISS itself is equipped with a device called a "bumper", in which an object or space debris that slid closer will be "burned" so before touching the surface of the station, after they had been in the form of steam.

If the bumper is not functioning and the protective wall of the station is damaged, the air will be issued to provide a backup supply of oxygen for the astronaut in it, at least enough until the technicians repair those damages.

Surely nobody wants that possibility happen. Therefore, Timothy F. Scott of the American Chemical Society, and colleagues sought to create a defense tool that can be used as a backup defense device.

The material hardens once it interacts with oxygen. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1EyeFdj)

Now, they are creating a protective wall for the ISS, consisting of a dense layer of polymer. Between the two layers of the polymer, there is a layer of charged liquid reactive substances that are useful to hold and reflect the hit power. Reactive fluid in the lining will react rapidly with oxygen, forming a resilient layer to prevent damage caused by the collision of celestial bodies.

The material is an almost liquid resin that hardens as soon as it's exposed to the slightest bit of oxygen. In order for it to work, the resin has to be sandwiched between two walls; should the walls be punctured — by, say, a bullet or debris in space — the resin will immediately react with the incoming oxygen and plug the gap..

The findings of Scott and other ACS scientists published in the journal ACS Macro Letters on the edition of Wednesday, August 26, 2015. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | FORTUNE | TIME | EUREKALERT!]

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