Microgravity

This graph depicts the increased signal quality possible with optical fibers made from ZBLAN, a family of heavy-metal fluoride glasses (fluorine combined zirconium, barium, lanthanum, aluminum, and sodium) as compared to silica fibers. NASA is conducting research on pulling ZBLAN fibers in the low-g environment of space to prevent crystallization that limits ZBLAN's usefulness in optical fiber-based communications. In the graph, a line closer to the black theoretical maximum line is better. Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center