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As a leader in Parylene technology, over the years SCS has had the honor to work
on some of the most cutting edge, fascinating and simply historically significant
projects. This is a collection of just a few of the projects we
are especially proud to support.
RMS Titanic
 On
April 12, 1912 The RMS Titanic hit an iceberg as it made its maiden transatlantic
voyage. The wreckage of the Titanic sat undisturbed for close to 80 years in
the harsh chilled salt-water environment 5000 ft below the surface of the North
Atlantic.
Recovery efforts ran into a difficult problem when recovering
paper products such as magazines, luggage tags and boarding passes from the
wreckage site. Paper products recovered from the wreckage were left too delicate
to take the transition from a waterlogged state to a natural dried state.
SCS was called in to find a method to use Parylene to stabilize
these items so that generations would be able to see these items first hand.
Today these items can be touched, picked up, and shared by many. These items
would have been otherwise lost to ocean if not for SCS.
Mars Global Observer
Any object launched into space undergoes a tremendous amount of stress during
launch and even during space travel. The force of acceleration shocks the delicate
electronics. The rapid change in temperature and pressure can cause condensation
to develop. And the vibration and movement of the space vehicle can cause dust
and other contaminants to become dislodged and may interfere with the operation
of the electronics.
For this purpose, most electronics in space are protected with some type of coating.
Because it is difficult to impossible to repair any electronics once they are
in space, space engineers prefer to use the best available options from the start
and avoid potential problems in the future. In addition, cure forces, gasses trapped
in the coating, and the mass of coating are other unique issues scientists and
engineers need to consider in space system designs.
This is what the people from SCS had to consider when they were
asked to coat the six instrument assemblies including the Mars Orbital Camera
on the Mars Global Observer Satellite.
The Mars Global Observer was a satellite launched in 1996 to map
the surface of the Martian terrain. The mission was highly successful and gave
us the best view to date, of topography of another planets surface.
International Space Station
Neptec Design Group, Ltd. of Kanata, Ontario, Canada, is building the Space
Vision System (SVS) that will be used in the construction of the International
Space Station by NASA and the space agencies of 12 other countries.
The components of the Space Station will be carried into orbit
by a series of shuttle missions, and assembled over six year period.
The SVS uses special electronics, software and graphic displays
to give improved vision and thereby enhance control of the huge shuttle robot
arm. The system functions by tracking visual targets on items being handled,
using cameras on both the shuttle and the space station.
This tracking will give operators a precise, moving graphic image
of load position in three dimensions, and allow for more accurate control than
could be achieved using earlier robot arm controls. Before the SVS concept was
developed, astronauts had to rely on images from video cameras, and on limited
views through small spacecraft windows to guide them in controlling robot functions.
The new vision system will be used on each shuttle mission as the station is
assembled, allowing astronauts to precisely control the spacecraft's robotic
arm for docking, moving cargo, and assembling components.
 The
Canadian electronics company is supplying NASA with vision systems for both
ground training of astronauts at the Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston,
Texas, and for use with the International Space Station.
Deep Space Propulsion Test
Parylene was used in a particularly exciting aerospace project with
Southwest Research - coating objects for Deep Space 1. This 770 lb. spacecraft
was launched in July of 1998 to demonstrate a variety of new technologies that
will support ambitious future orbital and deep space missions.
This NASA project includes an ion engine for propulsion in the vacuum of deep
space. It operates by expelling positively charged atoms generated from an inert
gas, and uses solar energy to create the reaction. The engine's collimator, a
device that aligns and controls ion flow, was coated with Parylene to protect
its surface before launch, during the rigors of departure from the earth's atmosphere,
and throughout the life of the mission. While an ion engine creates only about
90 millinewtons (20 thousandths of a pound) of thrust, this force creates slow
but constant acceleration in the vacuum of deep space, builds to very high speed
over a period of months, and operates far more efficiently than conventional chemical
propulsion. Less than 12-inches long, and requiring a fuel supply of only 145
lbs., an ion engine can be carried aloft by a relatively small, inexpensive launch
vehicle.
The Deep Space 1 ion engine was fired on September 18, 1999, and
will thrust almost continuously over the next three months as the NASA probe
approaches two comets for study. Deep Space 1 is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, California, for the NASA Office of Space Science, Washington,
DC.
Holocaust Era Bibles
In late 1994, an unassuming package arrived at the SCS Coating Facility in Clear
Lake Wisconsin. This package contained six small, battered books, included a
prayer book and the first five books of the Biblical Old Testament known to
Jewish people as the Torah.
The history of these careworn volumes sets them apart, for they
survived the Nazi Holocaust. It seems that these volumes were saved through
the efforts of a Swiss physician living in Germany, a Dr. Rupp who was instrumental
in rescuing a number or Polish and German Jews during World War II.
The books were given to Dr. Rupp in Berlin by a Dr. Rosenblat;
after Dr. Rosenblat's escape from the Warsaw ghetto. They had been entrusted
to him, in turn, by a captive who requested that they be saved, treated with
reverence, and passed to a synagogue or other Jewish Institution.
It was too dangerous to take religious books out of Germany at
the time, so Dr. Rupp buried them before fleeing the city near the end of the
war. When the war ended, he returned to Berlin and dug up the books.
The years and the historic events had taken their toll on the
books. SCS was contacted to preserve the books by Yoram Curiel (An acquaintance
of Dr. Rupp's son). SCS devised a way to coat and preserve these books, and
stop the further disintegration. These books have since been donated to a Jewish
institution.
Parylene Race Car
 Parylene
has proven itself in another unusual and unexpected application - stopping oil
pan and valve cover oil leaks on an SCCA C Modified Class racing engine. According
to SCS CAD designer Rick Swarts, his Ford 1600cc 4-cylinder power plant was
plagued with oil leakage, and since the valves on this small race car engine
require frequent manual adjustment, he had to replace the cork valve cover gasket
nearly every time the valve cover was removed.
At the suggestion of one of his co-workers, Rick decided to try
coating the gaskets with Parylene N to see if performance could be improved.
He was pleased to find that oil loss was reduced to zero, and the valve cover
gasket tolerates repeated removal and replacement without tearing. Swarts explains
that engine thermal cycling appears to be a major issue in gasket life. The
coefficients of thermal expansion for the three critical components - valve
cover (or oil pan), gasket and engine block - differ substantially from one
another. While the gaskets change very little in size between hot and cold conditions
compared to the block and head, and since they tend to adhere to both surfaces,
they are mechanically stressed with every heat-up and cool-down cycle. This
eventually fractures the cork and allows oil to escape.
The racing engine has undergone at least 30 thermal cycles since
the Parylene-coated gaskets were installed, and the valve cover has been removed
and reinstalled a dozen times, yet both engine gaskets continue to perform with
no damage and no oil loss.
IRS Evidence Recovery
As one of the unique ways SCS is helping our criminal justice system, SCS
has been involved in various projects with the Internal Revenue Service on tax
fraud cases.
It seems that in some cases of tax fraud, important evidence and/or
tax records are burned beyond recognition. Parylene is used to reinforce the
burned records so that they can be examined and used for evidence.
In one particular example, the IRS forensic experts were having
problems reviewing charred evidence critical in a particular tax fraud case.
The writing on the paper was still distinguishable, however the ash segments
were curled and extremely brittle.
A light Parylene coating reinforced the ashes so that they could
be reassembled (like a puzzle) into a single document. The individual pieces
were put between glass, examined, and submitted as critical evidence in the
relevant court case.
J.J. the Whale
A dehydrated and malnourished young gray whale, affectionately nicknamed
J.J. and found washed up on a California beach in the Winter of 1996, was nursed
to health by SeaWorld in San Diego over a period of about 14 months.
SCS became involved in this unusual project through Brent Stewart,
Ph.D. senior research biologist for Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute. Stewart
played a key role in the design and assembly of tracking instrumentation attached
to the young whale before its release back into the sea on March 31, 1998 to
join other migrating gray whales on their long trip to summer waters along the
Alaskan coast.
Dr. Stewart explains that transmitters attached to J.J.'s blubbery
dorsal fin were designed to monitor her activity for approximately 18 months.
The transmitters are fastened through the whale's tough skin with several subdermal
toggle anchors or mini harpoons. The biologist wanted to ensure that the anchors
would be completely biocompatible, with no chance of rejection or ill effects
to the young whale's body over time. Dr. Stewart arranged for stainless-steel
attachment hardware to be Parylene coated.
The transmitter sends data bursts approximately every 40 seconds
to two polar satellites when the whale breaks the surface, forwarding data to
the SeaWorld institute including latitude, longitude and a record of depth as
the young whale dives and surfaces. Cable fastened to the toggle anchors are
designed to corrode and separate after about 18 months - the anticipated life
of its batteries. At that time the transmitter will fall away and sink to the
bottom of the ocean.
JSTARS Surveillance System
Parylene conformal coating makes an important contribution to the performance
of the U.S. military's recently-developed Joint Tactical Information Distribution
System - known as JSTARS. This airborne radar system, used effectively during
the Gulf War and by peacekeeping forces in Bosnia, provides high resolution
images of moving ground targets. It gives commanders timely and accurate information
on mobile enemy forces operating within a very large area.
According to Jon Harris, the JSTARS Program Manager for Electromagnetic
Sciences, Inc., Norcross, Georgia, a critical JSTARS circuit board and microwave
antenna assembly is Parylene coated to protect it from the harsh airborne environment.
This microwave phase shifter subassembly is mounted on the exterior of JSTARS
surveillance aircraft, where it is exposed to mechanical shock as well as wide
variations in temperature and humidity.
Electromagnetic Sciences (ELMG) manufactures key components of
the JSTARS system. Harris explains that the company is a long-time user of Parylene.
"This is virtually the only coating that can do the job for the JSTARS microwave
phase shifter. It provides moisture resistance, pinhole-free coverage, and dielectric
protection - without adding significant mass or thermal forces. Parylene ideally
suits our protective coating requirements," he said.
The unique protective properties of Parylene are achieved in a
thin film layer, adding very little weight to the complex radar subassembly.
JSTARS microwave phase shifter assembly.
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