Normal Freezing Space Furnace (NFSF)
Designed by Drazen E. Premate and Bill Aldrich
Normal Freezing Space Furnace (NFSF) was designed by Drazen E. Premate and Bill Aldrich between 1982 and 1987 under the International Space Corporation (ISC), a private company formed by Drazen in 1982. This furnace was supposed to fly on the Space Shuttle seven times starting in November 1987 with Drazen as a mission specialist on one of the flights. Challenger accident in 1986 stopped this project and ISC in 1988. NFSF was designed to utilize directional solidification technique to solidify tri-component and very expensive crystals in space such as Mercury Cadmium Telluride shown below made in ISC’s NFSF on the ground. Zero gravity of space allows for a more perfect and single crystal to be grown. Use of this tri-component crystal is in the high-speed switching and infrared detection circuits. Estimated market value of such pure space made crystals is at $200,000-$300,000/pound still today! Drazen is still the only East European with a Masters Degree in Space Technology. (Photos from slides)
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