Euro Material Ageing (EMA), an experiment developed by CNES composed of the combination of equipment SESAME and IR-COASTER has been launched on November 5th 2024 from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida to the International Space Station (ISS) with the SpaceX-31 Falcon 9 rocket into Cargo Dragon CRS.
SESAME studies in-flight ageing of new materials and advance knowledge of the space environment and its effects on materials. The material properties (thickness, weight, thermo-optical properties) will be studied before and after flight. These materials could be passive (only exposed to the space environment) or active (power supply providing telemetry such as temperature, voltage, or electrical resistance).
IR-COASTER studies direct exposure to UV and cosmic radiation and to the vacuum of space of organic molecules of interest to exobiology.
EMA equipment has been fully integrated and prepared within ISS by the astronauts and then installed before Christmas on the Bartolomeo European module placed outside the ISS without the necessity of Extravehicular activity (robotic arm).
In collaboration with COMAT (the EMA payload Prime Contractor), Kayser Italia has carried out the design, manufacturing, and assembly of the electronic unit and the external electrical harness of the SESAME equipment.
Photo: Preparation of experiments for the first EMA mission (Credit NASA, ESA and CNES)