Artificial Solar Wind for Space Material Developments

Investigating materials under space environment conditions requires the artificial recreation of both corpuscular and electromagnetic radiation under ultra-high vacuum conditions. DLR’s Complex Irradiation Facility combines a proton and an electron accelerator as well as electromagnetic radiation sources with broad wavelength range from ultraviolet radiation to infrared radiation in one facility. It is used to investigate the aging of materials in simulated space environment.

Patric Seefeldt is a 37 years old mechanical engineer with a diploma (RWTH Aachen 2010) and a PhD (University of Bremen 2018). As deputy head of the Mechanics and Thermal Systems Department (since 2016) and head of the Material Aging Group (since 2019) at DLRs’ Institute of Space Systems he is pursuing research in the field of innovative applications of new materials for space technologies.