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>> And right now we're ready for our interview,
and we'll welcome Matt Lynch to Space Station Live today.
Welcome aboard the International Space Station
and into Mission Control, Matt.
>> Well thank you, Kelly.
It's very nice nice to be here with you this afternoon.
>> Well, we've already kind of given a preview
of the experiment that you are working with
and that the crew aboard the space station has been working
with this week.
Tell us a little bit about the experiment you're working on.
>> Sure, sure.
Let me give you a little bit of background to start with.
Most of the nuclear products that we make,
they contain very very small micron-sized particles.
It helps to make the product stable.
These particles are really, really small.
And in fact, they're about the size of a pinhead
or even smaller, and so we need microscopes to see them.
But what we're trying to do is structure them correctly,
and if they assemble themselves into these small structures,
can weave their way through that liquid
and help prevent separation such as settling of large drops
and particles that we try to put into these products.
And we call these assembled structures strands.
And if done correctly the strands have
certain characteristics.
They have a width.
They have a length, and we like to maintain those strands
over long periods of time,
typically for months, for years for us.
At the same time, we're going to set these up and we're going
to keep them together.
There are processes such as Brownian motion,
and these are kind of those little thermal jiggles
that you see where small particles tend to move,
and it has the effect of basically moving all
of these particles around, changing the strands on us,
and you know really we don't understand the physics behind
that and current theories are lacking, so for us
and for the community at large, it's really hard to be able
to control and develop systems in predictable ways
because we don't understand how to do this correctly.
So, in our experiment that we're doing
for the ACE we have these mixtures.
They're kind of idealized particles.
We keep large ones.
We keep small ones together.
This kind of reflects somewhat the reality
of the commercial mixtures that we deal with.
These mixtures are placed into small cylindrical cells,
and those are mounted on microscopes so we can see them.
And the large and small particles can be magnified
with the scope.
Then we have fluorescent tags on each of them so we can look
at the small ones independent of the large ones
and ask how they assemble into those strands
and how they move over time.
So, for example, I think I have a picture here that is taken,
actually some laboratories at Harvard
with some of our colleagues.
You see green ones which are kind of big and red ones
that are kind of small.
You see the strands on the left side that are all put together,
and that forms the stability in our product.
And so with the experiments
in general what we do is we actually have an astronaut
who comes in and tries to randomize the sample.
Inside that little cylindrical cell is a stir bar.
We take the stir bar by a magnet.
He moves that stir bar back and forth,
and that takes the samples, breaks up all those strands
that you see there and the sample is randomized.
And then what we do is we watch that structure redevelop
into those strands, and we ask over time how
that sample then begins to change,
and so how the individual particles move.
How the strands move.
And that gives us the insight and the data that we need then
to develop our theories.
>> So how does microgravity make your experiment possible?
>> Yeah, so it's kind of critical.
So let me use that same picture to kind
of illustrate this for you.
So on the left side is the strands
after we totally mix the sample up.
This was done again on earth in gravity.
You see the red, and you see the green.
And you see that there's a lot of material in that field
of view that we can measure.
And what will happen is that over about 5 minutes' timeframe,
you see the picture on the right.
And the picture on the right doesn't show much
in the way of mass at all.
And it's not as if we're creating or destroying mass.
What's happening is that mass is settling out on us.
And so if we try to measure
over long time periods how these structures are evolving,
I really can't do that because they are settling
and making all the changes that we see in those pictures.
So recall that we're looking at this over,
or thinking about these changes over the course
of days, months, years.
Five minutes on earth [inaudible].
So really microgravity is critical for us in order
to do these kinds of experiments, get the data
that we need to develop these theories.
>> Well so, you know, on earth with gravity, if you have a can
of paint or stuff, you have to mix it
up really good before you go off to use it
if you've let it sit for a while.
What in simple terms are you trying to learn
about these things in microgravity?
>> Yep, so from our perspective, we've got product designers,
and what they want to do is they want to be able to choose
in a sense those particles.
Here we show them as red and green, but for us there's kind
of a pallet of things that we could use.
And what one would want to do is be able
to design the right pallet, use the right tools in a sense
to make that work in given products.
Right now it's kind of a trial and error process.
You know, we go through them.
We try to, and you can think about paints as well,
but you can go through and you try to pick the right flavors
or colors, the right sizes to make it all work right.
The problem tends to be that it takes a very long time.
If you think of all the permutations of things
that you might pick, and then you have to measure these
over long periods of time.
So even the paints settling example, you have to wait,
let the pain sit around for months to know whether
or not you have something that works reasonably well.
And even if you spend that time, there's no guarantee
that it works, and so really what we're hoping
to learn is basically the fundamental rules
that govern the formation of these structures,
how those structures change over time, and by doing
so we can make a much better directed experiment
and more rational design of our products.
All right.
>> So.
>> Um hum?
>> So, Matt, I understand you guys were on a bit
of a break this week, but you have been working
through a number of samples.
Tell us a little bit about that.
>> Yeah, well for the break, the break is not
as if there are any issues with the project per se.
It turns out, and I don't know all the details honestly,
but it turns out that the orientation of the station,
its electrical panels that are light and solar panels
that collect all the electricity,
they have to be oriented in such a way
that the antenna can actually transmit data back
down to earth.
Right now over the course of this week they're
in an orientation that then kind of prevents them
from sending a transmission efficiently,
at least for our facilities.
So we actually through the last number of experiments
that we've done, we've been doing these probably
for about 3 or 4 months now.
We've collected a lot of interesting data.
We actually have had some really unexpected results,
and it led us to really think a lot
about how we're doing our experiments,
how we're doing our measurements,
how our optics are set up.
So the break is actually a good opportunity right now
to gather all that information together, try to figure out how
to make our experiments even better.
I would point out that we are really the first of a number
of certain experiments fort ACE program itself,
and so in many ways we're trying to figure out how
to make all these things work.
So the break is a fantastic time to just take a good breath,
make sure we get all of our measurements correct.
>> And what's your background?
Where are you from?
Where'd you go to school?
Where do you work now and how does that help get you involved
in the space station research?
>> Well, yeah, so, you know it's interesting, I guess.
I mean, I grew up in New England and spent a few years
in high school in Virginia.
And I could remember through that time, and I don't know
if you're old enough for this or not, but there was a series
from Carl Sagan, who used to talk about the cosmos, billions
and billions of things,
and it kind of gets people interested in science.
Always had an interest in science from that, from there on
and received a degree in chemistry at Virginia Tech,
a PhD in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin
in Madison, and my thesis background revealed
around optical physics and properties
of molecules on surfaces.
Joined P and G about 20 years ago in research and development,
but along the same lines maintained real strong
academic ties.
In fact, to hold adjunct positions at Cincinnati
and adjunct position in chemical engineering at University
of Delaware, and what this does for you is it allows you
to take otherwise really, really complicated
and sophisticated problems that we deal with in an industry,
and we can tie it and work it together
with our academic partners.
And then through those partnerships
that we had then the opportunity to work with NASA again.
I got introduced to NASA and got into the ACE program.
>> So you know a legitimate question
of tax payers is what's in it for me.
How can you apply your research results
to benefit people here back on earth?
>> Yeah, I think this is really quite simple.
You know, we as a company make products
that are designed really to include the quality of life just
of ordinary people, and all the things
that we're learning here help us bring more products,
better products, detergents, shampoos, fabric conditioners,
things like this, to increase the quality
of life for those people.
And I would also point out that the science that we're doing
as well is very basic science,
and so it helps the academic world to grow their basis
of understanding of materials as well.
So on both levels I think it's great.
>> Well, Matt Lynch from Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati.
Thank you so much for joining us, a principal investigator
for the advanced colloids experiment.
We wish you a lot of good luck and good data gathering
with your experiment and look forward
to a progress report in the future.
>> Fantastic, Kelly.
It was a pleasure talking to you.
Thank you for your time.
>> Thank you.
>> Okay, bye bye.
>> Again, that was Matt Lynch from Proctor and Gamble,
who is working with the advanced colloid experiment aboard the
International Space Station looking
at how small particles suspended in fluids that are used
in our everyday lives in many different ways react
in microgravity, bringing that fundamental research back
to activities that can help us here on the earth.