Video of TEMPUS Researchers Collecting Data From Experiment (1997)

Synopsis

This video captures a small portion of a TEMPUS experiment conducted in space. A small sphere of metallic glass containing the elements zirconium, aluminum, copper, and nickel levitates within the German designed electromagnetic containerless processing facility. The series of experiments that used this device is known as TEMPUS, the acronym that stands for the German Tiegelfreies Elektromanetisches Prozessieren Unter Schwerelosigkeit. Most of the TEMPUS experiments focused on various aspects of undercooling liquid metal and alloys. Undercooling is the process of melting a material and then cooling it to a temperature that is below its normal freezing or solidification point. In addition to thermophysical properties, other TEMPUS experiments studied nucleation and solidification behavior. The goal of some of these experiments was to understand how to make materials that have desired properties. Metals and alloys are studied not only to build things in space, but to improve things that are made on Earth. Metals and alloys are everywhere around us; in our automobiles, in the engines of aircraft, in our power-plants, and elsewhere. Despite their presence in everyday life, there are many scientific aspects of metals that we do not understand.

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NASA