Microgravity

A 3 mm-diameter droplet of aluminum oxide, heated to 2371 deg. C (4,300 deg. F), is suspended in midair by six acoustic transducers. A gas jet (from the nozzle below the drop) helps position the drop for study, and a 500-watt laser melts the sample. Glasses made from aluminum oxide are highly promising for optical transmission and other properties. They are also highly reactive when molten. Containerless processing allows studies of how to form amorphous (glassy) rather than crystalline metal oxides. Credit: Bill Jellison, Containerless Research, Inc.