Silver News

Silver to Hold Down Costs of the Space Station

A new high-strength aluminum-lithium-silver alloy is slated for the main fuel tank that powers into orbit the Space Shuttle carrying components for the International Space Station. Because of its high strength and low weight, it will allow greater payloads at lower costs than materials currently being used.

The new silver-containing aluminum alloy developed at Lockheed Martin Laboratories in Baltimore, Maryland, has undergone six years of extensive field trials. It is now part of a major NASA contract for use as the main structural alloy for the external fuel tank of the Space Shuttle. In December 1997, the Space Shuttle with its new tank will begin deliveries of components for the earth orbiting Space Station.

The superior strength of the new alloy will allow an 8,000 pound reduction in the weight of the Shuttle's external fuel tank. This weight savings will permit an additional 8,000 pound payload, critical to keeping the cost of the Space Station within budget.

The new wrought-aluminum alloy dubbed Weldalite A2195, possesses a yield strength of 100,000 pounds per square inch, virtually double that of current commercial weldable aerospace aluminum alloys. It is the strongest wrought-aluminum alloy known with properties such as exceptional ductility and weldability. In addition, it maintains its superior strength throughout the entire operating temperature range down to nearly absolute zero.

Silver News - December 1995/January 1996