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Space X looking closely at "scandium alloy" for crew dragon and Starship...


The science behind SpaceX's starship - what should it be made of? -

Jan. 28, 2019 · They have added scandium and zirconium to an aluminium alloy and created nano-sized spheres or precipitates. Then they tracked the atomic ordering, evolution and diffusion processes within the ...


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Scandium - the wonder element in aerospace

Hearing the name, you might think 'nordic drama', but the closest Scandium comes to a thriller is being used in alloys for some Smith & Wesson revolvers.

This hard-to-mine, but abundant material has already been used in the giant, An-124 transport plane, the Mig-29 fighter jet and Airbus has also developed its own alloy for high-strength aerospace structures.

Russian researchers claim such advanced alloys would offer protection to the electronic components of spacecraft from ionizing space radiation due to their high radiation absorbing elements.

Why we haven't heard of Scandium before? Because it is hard to produce, with mostly China, Russia and recently, Australia being able to commercially mine it. So, currently it is rather expensive and a gram of its various forms can cost anything between 5 and 270 US dollars.

https://www.sparrho.com/d/the-science-behind-spacex-starship-what-should-it-be-made-of-0/