What Happens To Foam In Space
Image: esa.int
16 August 2024
A fine coffee froth does not last forever. The bubbles that make the milk light and creamy are eventually torn apart by the pull of gravity
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But there is a place where foams have a more stable life - in the weightless environment of the International Space Station
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Foams are materials formed by trapping pockets of gas in a liquid or solid
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While on Earth, foam quickly starts to change, in space, foams are more stable, the European Space Agency explained
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On Earth, gravity pulls the liquid between the bubbles downwards, and the small bubbles shrink while the larger ones tend to grow at the expense of others
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Due to the drainage, coarsening and rupture of the bubbles, foam starts to collapse back into a liquid state
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But in space, foams are more stable as the liquid does not drain to the bottom in weightlessness
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ESA astronaut Frank De Winne performed a Foam-Stability experiment in 2009 by shaking liquid solutions and recording what happened next
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The samples ranged from pure water to protein-based fluids, like the ones used for chocolate foams, and anti-foaming agents
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After just ten seconds, the fluids stabilised more quickly and produced more foam than on Earth
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Scientists, therefore, discovered that it was possible to create super-stable foams in zero gravity
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Image: esa.int
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