According to the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), on March 14th, at around 21:00 Beijing time, with close coordination from ground technicians, the Material Exposure Experiment Device and its sample assembly from the Chinese space station were successfully transferred by the station's robotic arm to the airlock chamber inside the station. On the 15th, astronauts will transfer the retrieved assembly from the airlock chamber to the experimental module and proceed to disassemble and store the scientific experiment samples. Subsequent experiment samples will be returned to Earth aboard the Shenzhou spacecraft for further research by scientists.
The Material Exposure Experiment Device was deployed outside the station on March 8, 2023, and has been conducting experiments in orbit for over a year. The device housed over 400 material samples in its first batch, categorized into non-metallic and metallic types. Non-metallic materials include memory polymer materials, lunar regolith reinforcement materials, solid lubricants, and gel lubricants. Metallic materials include magnesium alloys, porous copper materials, among others. Research from the material exposure experiment outside the station will advance the application of advanced materials such as large-scale space deployable mechanism materials, space lubricants, lunar base construction materials, and neutron shielding materials.
A new batch of scientific experiment samples will be sent up in phases. Passive radiation cooling materials, polyimide fiber materials, optical fiber materials, optical film materials, and space-use solid-liquid composite lubricant materials have been transported to the space station aboard the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft. It is expected that by May 2024, astronauts will install them uniformly into the Material Exposure Experiment Device for another round of exposure experiments outside the station.
