Military applications are an obvious area that will benefit from self-healing systems. Aircraft such as UCAV systems could mitigate minor damage which would increase their survivability and durability. Damage could be the result of flak and blasts. With further development, small projectile damage could be mitigated by even partial healing of the impacted area. This could be extended to manned applications. Ground vehicles could heal from minor impacts in hostile environments or could be embedded in tires to heal punctures. Aquatic vehicles could similarly benefit from the same self-healing materials. Temporary structures such as tents like field hospitals or chemical and biological warfare shelters could benefit by having the capability to heal from minor damage. Similarly, biological, chemical, and hazardous material suits for soldiers could be healed in the event of a breach. This can be extended to non-military suits for hazardous materials responders.
Self-healing materials potentially have a broad range of applications for NASA. These include extra-terrestrial habitats, orbital modules, solar sails, flexible solar arrays, deep space systems, structural components, and space suits. For example, unmanned missions such as the planetary probes and telescopes could see great benefit. The thin film shade for JWST could self-heal from potential damage from cosmic particles flying through interplanetary space. This will help mitigate degradation in the performance of the shade. Similar benefits could be seen with probes sent to investigate asteroids or comets where the likelihood of damage from small objects will increase. Missions such as New Frontiers spacecraft to the larger planets and outer planets will benefit by self-healing components such as arrays, antennas, and other structures.
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