Nanotechnology and MEMS -- A look at the future

During my last chat, I was asked about nanotechnology and MEMS, or MicroElectrical Mechanical Systems. I thought it would be helpful to explain these two technologies just a little further.

Nanotechnologies are basically technologies where everything is so small it takes a microscope to see it. Everything is on a smaller level, a sub-micron sub-millimeter level. In the beginning, an ASIC chip was used. ASIC stands for Application Specific Integrated Circuits and is very small. Now we have advanced to the ASIM chip or Application Specific Integrated Micro-instrument. The ASIM chip consists of a CPU (central processing unit), power, communication, signal processing, etc. -- as opposed to several different chips being used to supply all these necessities. With everything located on that one nanochip, a lot of space is saved and technology can go to new lengths in reduction of size, weight, and power. This is what nanotechnology is all about.

Some nanotechnologies use actuators, which have actual moving parts, though, again, they can’t be seen with the naked eye. This is amazing, considering these are built by man. We need to use nanotechnology or MEMS to go to Mars because of the size, weight, and power it will take with current technology. Nanomaterials are in the research phase at this time, and it is difficult to make them in bulk quantity as they are made up of carbon-based materials. The resulting material is extremely strong yet very lightweight, very powerful stuff.

MEMS technology, or Micro Electrical Mechanical Systems technology, is nanotechnology on a more detailed scale. A lot of the MEMS technology used now is in the form of micro-devices -- actuators, pumps, micro-propulsion systems, pressure and temperature sensors and the like. An example of this technology is a possible way to measure the vibration of the shuttle when it takes off. By placing some peel and stick sensors (which use MEMS) around the shuttle and the launch pad, and using their wireless telemetry, information and measurements on the vibrations can be monitored. This type of technology has been tested and used by the Department of Defense, among others.

NASA is beginning to look into both of these technologies for applications that could be used with our existing technology, particularly for the spacesuit. That brings us back to one of the projects I have been working on for a while now. My redesigned spacesuit is now in the evaluation phase, and it uses both NANO and MEMS technologies in a smart suit design. Only time will tell how far we will go with these two new advanced technologies in the exploration of space.

To read more about nanotechnology, you can check out the following link to an article published in the JSC Roundup: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/pao/roundup/weekly/050799p4.pdf