NASA Scientists Study Crystal Formation in Space For Future Applications 6l2q3r Technology News

In a recent study, the scientists found that the crystals formed in microgravity could be found in better quality than on Earth. 20m63

Written by Gadgets 360 Staff | Updated: 19 April 2025 19:40 IST

NASA Scientists Study Crystal Formation in Space For Future Applications

Photo Credit: Nasa/ ISS 2c5o5o

Scientists have studied crystals in space for years and found them to be of higher quality

Highlights

Scientists research crystallisations in space rather than on Earth
Study reveals higher-quality crystals in microgravity than in gravity
Research will help in the field of medicine and technology

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ISS). The experiments are meant to determine the growth of protein crystals in space using newly developed microfluid devices. The research agenda is to examine whether space-grown crystals can achieve better quality than those formed on Earth.

It is the process of freezing of liquid or molten materials in the form of highly organised molecules called crystals. These crystals can be a blend of different types of materials. This world consists of crystal examples everywhere. It would be wrong to say that we don't live in a world of crystals.

Be it a coffee mug, cellphone or silicon that is used to form the brains of electronics and used in memory chips, everything is a result of crystallisation. Other types of semiconductor crystals are used as detectors for different radiations, such as gamma rays, infrared rays, etc. Lasers used in scanning the product are made of optical crystals. Turbine blades are an example of metal crystals used in the jet engine.

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Why and How NASA Studies Crystals? 652y3a

The scientists studied the growth of zinc selenide crystals in space, with the crystals on Earth, explained NASA. The result from the observations marked the way for the improvement of the operations of infrared wavelength in the high powered lasers. The research findings provide an insight into the strong influence of gravity on the electrical, optical and structural characteristics of the crystals.

Researchers have optimised the crystal usage for several years to study the types of crystals for growing in space.

The crystals grown on Earth have defects such as little cracks; these cracks can damage the properties of the crystals. This marks a strong reason why scientists want to study crystals in space, thus getting a complete microgravitational environment where they can grow better. Convection produced due to the presence of the gravitational force degrades the quality of crystals.

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However, this convection is not seen in the environment of microgravity, helping in the better quality crystals. The ISS is now converted to a complete lab for the study of the formation of crystals, which can be further applied in technology and medicine.

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