SKYLAB (SL)-3 - EXPERIMENT HARDWARE

S74-19677 (April 1974) --- This crystal of Germanium Selenide (GeSe) was grown under weightless conditions in an electric furnace aboard the Skylab space station. Experiment M556, Vapor Growth of IV-VI Compounds, was conducted as a comparative test of GeSe crystals grown on Earth and those grown in a weightless environment. Skylab postflight results indicate that crystals grown in a zero-gravity situation demonstrate greater growth and better composite structure than those grown in ground-bases laboratories. The GeSe crystal shown here is 20 millimeters long, the largest crystal ever grown on Earth or in space. Principal Investigator for Experiment M556 is Dr. Harry Wiedemaier, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York. (See NASA photograph S74-19676 for an example of an Earth-grown Germanium Selenide crystal.) Photo credit: NASA