Abstract :
The success of space-age endeavors depends greatly upon the materials used to construct a certain module, part, or subsystem, and the interaction between these materials and their immediate environment. A metal, for example, must retain its physical integrity in shape, ductility, and tensile strength over stringent stress and temperature ranges; it must be able to withstand proximity with other materials, metallic and nonmetallic, while maintaining chemical stability. Nonmetallic materials must be compounded to prevent such reactions as outgassing or decomposition at high altitudes; others, such as ablative ceramics, must disintegrate in a certain manner. In short, the demand for more specialized, more durable substances has created a new materials technology.
