Chris Hadfield on BCAT-C1

Uploaded on January 23, 2013

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Chris Hadfield on BCAT-C1

2013-01-23 - CSA astronaut Chris Hadfield describes BCAT-C1, a Canadian science mission that is being conducted on the International Space Station (ISS). Its first run began on January 23, 2013. Outcomes of the study might be applied to finding innovative ways to produce plastics or extend the shelf-life of consumer products such as paint, mayonnaise and dressings. (Credits: Canadian Space Agency, NASA)

Chris Hadfield: The Kibo lab is the largest single module in the whole space station. Kibo is home to Japanese experiments in orbit as well as experiments from other countries, including ours. And one example of this is the experiment from Simon Fraser University. It's called BCAT-C1.

BCAT-C1 studies particles that are dispersed in a liquid, and it's known as a colloidal suspension, colloids. They're commonly found in such commercial commodities as paint or electronic polishing compounds and food products. And these suspensions have a unique property, that they will phase separate, like oil and water, and the particles will self-assemble into crystals that interact strongly with light, like opal. BCAT-C1 is a small rack of ten samples which I will mix and photograph. And this study can be applied to colloidal processes in the future, including finding innovative ways to produce plastics or to extend the shelf life of commercial products, consumer products. 

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