Atomic force microscopy in zero-g

The International Space Station (ISS) is being assembled with various experimental apparatus and instrumentation in mind. However, a scanning probe microscope (SPM) has not been intended. With the past few years, there has been interest in sending an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) to Mars(2000). However, the operation of such an instrument in micro-gravity/nontraditional laboratory environment has not been tested until recently. According to S. Parker and R. Friedfeld (2001) initial tests of such instruments provides important information for any future developments of this technology for either a Mars mission or for use on the ISS. We present the result from a recent test flight of an Atomic Flight Microscope (AFM) on NASA's KC-135 reduced gravity aircraft to test the feasibility of such an instrument to micro-gravity research. The results indicate good feasibility for the performance and operability of an AFM in the zero-g since it has passed the test of the acoustically noisy environment of the KC-135 aircraft.