Self-Repairing Material Could Prevent Spaceship Catastrophes

From acs.org (Aug. 26):

For astronauts living in space with objects zooming around them at 22,000 miles per hour like rogue super-bullets, it’s good to have a backup plan. Although shields and fancy maneuvers could help protect space structures, scientists have to prepare for the possibility that debris could pierce a vessel. In the journal ACS [American Chemical Society] Macro Letters, one team reports on a new material that heals itself within seconds and could prevent structural penetration from being catastrophic.

The researchers made a new kind of self-healing material by sandwiching a reactive liquid in between two layers of a solid polymer. When they shot a bullet through it, the liquid quickly reacted with oxygen from the air to form a solid plug in under a second. The researchers say the technology could also apply to other more earthly structures including automobiles. [read more]

Cool. Hope it works as planned.