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Would suction cups work in space? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 4 months ago by Apytele@sh.itjust.works to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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You know like the kind that go on a window or bathroom mirror or on the wall or in the shower. They need the atmosphere pushing down on them to work, right?

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[-] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 4 months ago

If it's metal, just rub a bit of it against another piece of metal and it will cold weld/fuse to it.

[-] papalonian@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

This only works on "virgin" metal iirc - if it's been exposed to Earth's atmosphere, it won't work. If you shave off some from the surface I believe it works again.

[-] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 4 months ago

Like I said- "rub it". The oxidized layer on metal is very, very, thin. It doesn't take much at all to get rid of it.

[-] papalonian@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

I didn't realize that the layer was thin enough to rub away with minimal friction. I'd learned about this years ago so I could be misremembering things, but the source I read made it out as if it wasn't a major concern with space exploration because it took substantial effort to cold weld things that had been exposed to air.

[-] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

Actually, it's believed that some of the failures in early satellites was due to cold welding.

[-] papalonian@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

Neat, the more ya know!

this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2024

137 points (97.2% liked)

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