Tungsten Disulfide Applied in Mars Probe

Lubricious tungsten disulfide can be used under complex working conditions such as high temperature, high pressure and vacuum. Therefore, it can be applied in lubrication of Mars probe parts to ensure their long-term work.

Mars probe is a kind of man-made spacecraft used to explore Mars, including spacecraft passing near Mars, man-made satellites orbiting Mars, landers on Mars surface, and future manned Mars spacecraft. It helps human being to learn about Mars gradually. To make Mars probe work successful, a large number of the parts must be lubricated.

However, there were some difficulties in the lubrication of Mars probe parts first. Mars is basically a desert planet. The atmosphere dominated by carbon dioxide is thin and cold. So there are often sandstorms on Mars. In addition, the temperature difference between day and night on Mars is about 100°C. The temperature near the equator can reach 20°C in the daytime, and it will drop to - 80°C in the night, while the temperature at the two poles can reach – 139°C even lower. Due to the lack of atmospheric protection, there is radiation and other adverse factors. In a word, the environment on Mars surface is very complex and bad. And lubricating grease or lubricating oil becomes nearly useless under the environment.

After years of research, scientists have found that tungsten disulfide can be coated on Mars probe parts and improve their lubricating performance. It has the following advantages:

1. Tungsten disulfide coating can work normally from - 273°C to 650°C, and its friction coefficient is 0.03.

2. Tungsten disulfide coating has no viscosity.

3. The thickness of tungsten disulfide coating is only 0.5 μm.

4. Tungsten disulfide coating has good high temperature resistance and extreme pressure resistance. It can work in complex environment such as vacuum and high pressure.

5. Tungsten disulfide coating has matrix permeability. The service lives of the coated parts can be improved by 3.5-4 times.

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