The recent SpaceX Dragon flight to the International Space Station, which signaled a groundbreaking start to commercial spacecraft, used a protective coating from engineering and information technology firm Alion Science and Technology.
The company, which focuses on solutions for national defense, homeland security, energy and the environment, applied a conductive thermal control coating to the “Dragon Trunk,” or cargo portion of the Dragon spacecraft. Sending aerospace hardware to a facility for proper coatings can often be difficult, costly and time-consuming, so Alion engineers developed a portable application system that can be more easily transported to the hardware for coating instead.
With its new system, Alion’s experts were able to spray protective coatings on the Dragon capsule onsite at SpaceX facilities. Chris Amos, senior vice president and manager of Alion’s technology solutions group, called the solution “game-changing” and said it can help make the entire launch preparation process more efficient.
“We are excited to support such an important test mission that could radically impact the way cargo is delivered to the International Space Station,” he added. “Alion chemists pioneered the development of unique materials to protect aerospace components, and now our portable application system is a cost- and time-saving alternative to shipping components to our coatings lab.”
