From The Archives: Mercuric Iodide Crystal Grown During Space Shuttle/Spacelab 3 Mission

A mercuric iodide crystal grown on the shuttle/Spacelab 3 mission is shown on the cover of the Oct. 7, 1985, issue, just before cutting at the EG&G Energy Measurements, Inc. Research Laboratory in Santa Barbara, California.

EG&G shuttle payload specialist Lodewijk van den Berg grew the crystal in space as part of a program to understand how space processing can provide new industrial materials.

Prior to cutting, the crystal weighed 7.2 g and measured 12 x 8 x 12 mm. At the time of going to press, a slice had been taken from the crystal for electrical testing to assess how well it was able to detect X-rays and gamma rays compared with crystals made on Earth.

See the cover and read the full issue dated October 7, 1985.

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