A technology that has shielded some of NASA’s highest-profile space observatories from potentially harmful molecular contamination is now being evaluated as a possible solution for protecting the Smithsonian Institution’s cultural artifacts and natural-science specimens. Under a Space Act Agreement with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, Nithin Abraham, a thermal-coatings engineer at NASA’s…

An ultra-dark coating comprised of nearly invisible shag rug-like strands made of pure carbon is proving to be highly versatile for all types of spaceflight applications. In the most recent application of the carbon-nanotube coating, optical engineer John Hagopian, a contractor at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and Goddard scientist Lucy Lim…