Foaming in Place for Outer-Space Applications

A report discusses the adaptation of foaming-in-place techniques and materials to outer-space applications. Foaming in place is used commercially in terrestrial sealing, insulating, bonding, and retrofitting applications. The room-temperature outer-space versions of foaming in place are expected not to differ much from the terrestrial versions, and experiments have confirmed that a commercial two-component liquid polyurethane foaming system could be used on Mars at and near room temperature. However, chemical formulations different from the commercial ones would be needed for foaming at low temperatures.