Welcome to our web chat with Joyce Dever. You may begin submitting questions as soon as we see Joyce on and ready. I'm looking forward to chatting with you about your career interests or whatever. This is for a conference next week. Hi - We would like to know what types of space materials you test on.
Radiation is a great concern for spacecraft.
If spacecraft are not properly shielded, radiation can damage electrical components leading to many problems with spacecraft operations. We are concerned mostly with long-term missions such as Hubble Space Telescope and Space Station, but we also design flight experiments for the Shuttle which have 1 week or so exposure times. Materials that have been tested in space are often retrieved - many of our experiments have been on Shuttle missions that return with the Shuttle, and Hubble servicing missions have brought back samples. This can happen on longer term materials experiments. Hi Sarah, I have been fortunate to be in a working environment that does not tolerate discrimination, and I feel that I am treated as part of the team without regard to gender.