DOD Funds Space Materials Center

The University of Chicago has won a $5 million grant over five years from the US Department of Defense to lead the creation of a Center for Materials Chemistry in the Space Environment. The center will search for materials that can survive bombardment by stray oxygen atoms—which make up much of the lower atmosphere and react strongly with many materials—as well as electrons, orbital debris, ions, and ultraviolet radiation. “The current materials being used are still what I would call first-generation space materials that just happen to work at some level,” says Chicago physical chemist Steven Sibener, the new center’s leader. “We intend to go beyond such fortuitous situations.” The center brings together researchers from six universities and is part of the DOD’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, which funds basic research to the tune of $125 million a year.