Happy Moon Day! On March 4, 55 years ago NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the Moon. Acktar has also coated India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission, which launched to the lunar surface in July 2019. It made the ISRO group only a handful of a few space agencies to reach the Moon.

India’s second lunar expedition featured our Nano black aluminum coating onboard its IIRS imaging spectrometer. Although the Lander crashed, the orbiter continued functioning. Acktar’s Nano Black coating played a crucial role in helping the orbiter function and remain warm, by ensuring it maintained a steady temperature, despite the extreme cold fluctuations of the lunar environment. This was essential in assisting the orbiter in its mission to identify water ice in the Moon’s Polar Regions.

So what’s next? While our black coatings have already ‘visited’ the Moon, we’re looking to vaster horizons and exploring the Moons of other planets. Acktar’s black coatings will be onboard JAXA’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, launching in 2026, which will study the Martian moon of Phobos, helping collect soil samples and return them to Earth.

Do you have upcoming technology destined for space? Don’t get too starry-eyed! Find out how Acktar can make your instruments more space-proof with our black coatings. Acktar will be attending the Small Satellite conference in Utah next month.  Contact Us