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Gecko inspired OA-6 Mission Experiment and Biological Diversity on Kennedy Space Center Grounds:

Last week I was invited by NASA to get a behind the scenes look at current NASA projects and watch the March 22nd launch of the OA-6 spacecraft and rocket to the International Space Station. One of the payloads on board the OA-6 Cygnus spacecraft was a relatively new invention/concept called a Gecko Gripper. In space astronauts often use Velcro to stick instruments and items to surfaces, however these have several limitations. Velcro can release small inhalable dust particles (dust is always a problem in the microgravity of space) and you also need to have a mating surface application. The Gecko Grippers create directional stickiness where adhesion can be turned on and off without leaving a residue or mating surface and do not create any dust particles. Aaron Parness of NASA’s JPL lab explained that gecko’s fingers are not sticky but they use microscopic hairs that have a tremendous surface area when pressed against a smooth surface. Van der Waals forces then allow the gecko to walk up a wall and appear to “stick” to a ceiling. Van der Waals forces are very weak, but because there are so many tiny hairs, the addition of all those individual weak forces add up and provide pretty impressive sticking power. The Gecko Grippers attempt to recreate this amazing tool for adhesion that mother nature has made through millions of years of evolution. In addition to allowing astronauts to move and easily mount objects in microgravity, Aaron Parness hopes this technology will allow small robots to walk or stick to the outside of the space station and perform continuous inspections evaluating micrometeorite damage and structure anomalies.

This technology can also be used in many products on Earth, for example you could mount a flat screen tv to a wall just by pressing it onto the position you want it. If you want to move it later no problem, just unstick it and there will be no residue on the wall. I wish my cell phone case had this as my cats would have a much more difficult time lopping it off of a table. Picture frames, lights, blinds, curtains, the possibilities are endless! Gecko Grippers have limitations as they work best on smooth surfaces, researchers at NASA’s JPL facility are also working on devices that use microscopic hooks, spines and claws to scale or adhere to rougher surfaces.

Aaron Parness with Grippers

Microscope view of gecko foot hairs.

For more information visit this site below and watch Aaron Parness discuss and demonstrate this amazing gecko inspired technology.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4688

I found it fitting that a payload bound for the International Space Station had such a clear link between biology and cutting edge science because of the coexistence of the space industry and nature has on the Kennedy Space Center grounds. Because I arrived a day early I was able to explore the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge which surrounds the Kennedy Space Center. I was amazed by the biological diversity and healthy ecosystems I was easily able to observe. During my tours of the NASA facilities they explained how they take ecosystem preservation very seriously. We even saw areas that just last week were subjected to controlled burns to help Florida’s Scrub Jay population. Scrub Jays need areas of oak trees adjacent to more open areas. Fire prevention over decades has caused the open areas to regrow which in turn hurts the Jay populations. By controlled burning portions of the Cape it helps preserve the natural ecosystem in which the Scrub Jay populations rely on. I was fascinated by the wildlife and was able to take the following pictures in just a few hours of exploring around the Kennedy Space Center grounds. The relationship NASA has with nature is truly a model that all industry should strive to attain.