rus
Issue #1/2026
B.A.Loginov, V.A.Bespalov, Yu.V.Khripunov, A.B.Loginov, V.B.Loginov, D.Abduzhalalov, S.Konakbayeva, S.Kurlysov, A.Makarova, I.Maxutov, B.Mukhibayev, Z.Nurkanova, A.Nurmashev, A.Okanov, K.Seytzhan, I.Soprygin, A.Shanshar, S.Aisha, P.Loginova
STUDY OF THE MECHANISM OF MATERIAL SURFACE RECOVERY IN SPACE BY SUNLIGHT
STUDY OF THE MECHANISM OF MATERIAL SURFACE RECOVERY IN SPACE BY SUNLIGHT
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22184/1993-8578.2026.19.1.8.15
Based on the analysis of unique frames from the world’s first space scanning probe microscope SMM-2000S, which captures changes in the relief of a gold mirror under outer space influence with nanometer precision, a hypothesis was proposed and confirmed in experiments on Earth about the existence of a mechanism for the self-repair of material surfaces in space by sunlight.
Based on the analysis of unique frames from the world’s first space scanning probe microscope SMM-2000S, which captures changes in the relief of a gold mirror under outer space influence with nanometer precision, a hypothesis was proposed and confirmed in experiments on Earth about the existence of a mechanism for the self-repair of material surfaces in space by sunlight.
Received: 23.01.2026 | Accepted: 02.02.2026 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.22184/1993-8578.2026.19.1.8.15
Original paper
STUDY OF THE MECHANISM OF MATERIAL SURFACE RECOVERY IN SPACE BY SUNLIGHT
B.A.Loginov1, 4, 5, Head of Project, ORCID: 0000-0001-5081-1424 / b-loginov@mail.ru
V.A.Bespalov1, Doct. of Sci (Tech), Corr. Member of RAS, Scientific supervisor, ORCID: 0000-0003-4976-8515
Yu.V.Khripunov2, 5, Cand. of Sci. (Physics and Mathematics), Docent, ORCID: 0000-0003-2250-0420
A.B.Loginov1, 3, 4, Cand. of Sci. (Physics and Mathematics), ORCID: 0000-0003-2090-5301
V.B.Loginov1, 4, Leading Designer, ORCID: 0000-0002-2116-7411
D.Abduzhalalov5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0009-8472-8093
S.Konakbayeva5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0005-8809-1086
S.Kurlysov5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0003-0756-7747
A.Makarova5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0003-4289-2123
I.Maxutov5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0009-5678-408X
B.Mukhibayev5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0006-5825-8639
Z.Nurkanova5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0000-7555-2318
A.Nurmashev5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0009-8648-1645
A.Okanov5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0003-0113-7818
K.Seytzhan5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0004-6789-3699
I.A.Soprygin5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0000-0775-4065
A.Shanshar5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0005-7708-8965
S.Aisha5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0006-0653-6289
P.P.Loginova7, ORCID: 0009-0000-8015-8999
Abstract. Based on the analysis of unique frames from the world’s first space scanning probe microscope SMM-2000S, which captures changes in the relief of a gold mirror under outer space influence with nanometer precision, a hypothesis was proposed and confirmed in experiments on Earth about the existence of a mechanism for the self-repair of material surfaces in space by sunlight.
Keywords: scanning probe microscope, Earth satellite, light exposure
For citation: B.A. Loginov, V.A. Bespalov, Yu.V. Khripunov, A.B. Loginov, V.B. Loginov, D.Abduzhalalov, S. Konakbayeva, S. Kurlysov, A. Makarova, I. Maxutov, B. Mukhibayev, Z. Nurkanova, A. Nurmashev, A. Okanov, K. Seytzhan, I. Soprygin, A. Shanshar, S. Aisha, P. Loginova. Study of the mechanism of material surface recovery in space by sunlight. NANOINDUSTRY. 2026. Vol. 19. No. 1. PP. 8–15. https://doi.org/
10.22184/1993-8578.2026.19.1.8.15.
INTRODUCTION
On June 27, 2023, Russia launched the world’s first [1] satellite scanning probe microscope of the SMM-2000C model into space on the Earth’s satellite "NANOZOND-1" (https://r4uab.ru/satdb/nanozond-1/), which continues to operate successfully in open space and provides new observation images of a surface exposed to space. In order to engage the entire global scientific community, these frames were published in [2] for the analysis of surface changes of the mirror that are not immediately obvious. For example, there are frames showing surface destruction of a gold mirror, with subsequent restoration in some cases in the form of smoothing of the relief (Fig.1). However, while the surface destruction had previously been explained [3] by the impact of a stream of fast ions from the solar wind, which was experimentally confirmed in ground-based vacuum setups and by ion streams similar to those in space, as well as in ground-based versions of a space microscope, the effect of surface restoration still required study.
HYPOTHESIS AND EXPERIMENT
The emergence of the hypothesis about the mechanism of the restoration of the gold mirror’s surface occurred after taking into account that the impact of fast ions from the solar wind and light from a solar flare does not happen simultaneously, since light reaches near-Earth space in about 8 minutes, while the solar wind takes about 2 days. Also considering that the satellite with the gold mirror rotates during flight, it became clear that the damage to the mirror’s surface by solar wind ions occurs only when it is facing the solar wind. There was also a hypothesis that at the moments when the solar wind is absent, the mirror is turned toward the Sun and receives intense light both from solar flares and from the Sun in general. It is possible that all this radiation hitting the mirror heats the small bumps on the damaged surface, and atoms from them spread across the surface, getting stuck in the hollows and crevices, thus smoothing the surface.
To experimentally confirm this hypothesis, experiments were conducted. In the ‘MAG-5A Vacuum Apparatus’ (manufacturer Proton Plant, Zelenograd, Russia, www.microscopy.su), either a tungsten wire was heated by a strong electric current to a temperature of 3500 K, just below the melting point of tungsten, or the tips of graphite electrodes pressed together were heated to a temperature of 4000 K, causing graphite to evaporate (Fig.2). The sample was placed on top, with the surface under study facing down on a thin cover glass, which prevented evaporating tungsten or graphite atoms from settling on the sample during heating. During the ‘1st Talent Summit’ held in Almaty by the Sirius Educational Center, with the participation of gifted students from Kazakhstan (Fig.2), the change in the gold surface under the influence of light was studied. The gold film had been applied to copper on a fiberglass laminate using an immersion method over a nickel sublayer.
A schoolgirl from Moscow (Fig.3) conducted independent similar experiments with a sample of pyrolytic graphite of the ‘ZYH’ type, which consists of many layers of carbon stacked on top of each other with a high degree of misorientation. As a result, when preparing the sample by peeling off its top layer using tape, many small fragments of graphite film with thicknesses ranging from several atoms up to a single-atom-thick graphene formed on its surface (Fig.4).
All samples were illuminated once for 10 seconds by the heated tungsten wire. The tips of the graphite electrodes evaporated by fractions of a millimeter within 1 second and the heating current was interrupted; the pyrolytic graphite sample was illuminated once during this 1 second. The gold sample, due to its better thermal conductivity and, consequently, the need for more energy to heat the surface with light, was illuminated three times for 1 second each, each time pressing the tips of the graphite electrodes together again after their evaporation.
No precise measurement of the light’s intensity and spectrum was carried out; this will be done later, following this urgent report on the results of preliminary experiments. Visually, the light from the graphite electrodes matched the solar spectrum in intensity, while the light from the tungsten wire was several times weaker and shifted toward the infrared region of the spectrum.
Experiments in the vacuum chamber were conducted at a pressure of 10–3 mbar in order to simulate the worst-case conditions of atmospheric gas content for a space microscope in outer space at the Kármán line – the conventionally accepted boundary at 100 km above sea level. The satellite with the space microscope gradually lowers its orbit, approaching the Earth, and if it descends below the Kármán line, it will heat up due to interaction with the dense layers of the atmosphere and burn up, tentatively in the summer of 2026.
For studies of the sample surfaces before and after exposure, a serially produced ‘SMM-2000 Scanning Probe Microscope’ (manufacturer: PROTON Plant, Zelenograd, Russia, www.microscopy.su, number 46918 in the State Register of Measuring Instruments of the Russian Federation) was used, a modification of which became the world’s first space probe microscope. Surface topography was obtained using a sharpened platinum tip in the scanning tunneling microscopy mode, due to the electrical conductivity of the surfaces, both gold and pyrolytic graphite.
CONCLUSIONS
The results of the study (Fig.4) confirmed the following hypothesis: after exposure to light, there are fewer small irregularities (bumps, steps) on the surface, and the scatter of surface relief heights, Rmax, decreases, resulting in a smoother surface. For pyrolytic graphite, another effect was visually observed – under stronger light from the graphite electrodes, the top layer seemed to disintegrate. This can be explained by the fact that the layers of graphite do not have covalent bonds between them, and the lower layer does not reinforce the upper layer lying on it. For the same reason, the destruction of pyrographite and graphene can easily occur under the impact of a directed stream of solar wind ions [4].
Thus, the hypothesis is confirmed that in space the surfaces of spacecraft can be smoothed by sunlight, including after the surfaces are damaged by ions from the solar wind. The hypothesis will be further tested experimentally on various metals and other materials in similar experiments on Earth, as well as directly in space [5] on future spacecraft-mounted probe microscopes.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The work was carried out in partnership with the National Research University MIET and JSC "Proton Plant" (Zelenograd), Orel State University named after I.S. Turgenev (Orel), the Educational Center "Sirius" (Sochi), schools in Moscow and Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the Foundation for Assistance to Innovations (Moscow), under the program "Planet Duty" with financial support for the launch of the world’s first space probe microscope.
PEER REVIEW INFO
Editorial board thanks the anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. It is also grateful for their consent to publish papers on the journal’s website and SEL eLibrary eLIBRARY.RU.
Declaration of Competing Interest. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Original paper
STUDY OF THE MECHANISM OF MATERIAL SURFACE RECOVERY IN SPACE BY SUNLIGHT
B.A.Loginov1, 4, 5, Head of Project, ORCID: 0000-0001-5081-1424 / b-loginov@mail.ru
V.A.Bespalov1, Doct. of Sci (Tech), Corr. Member of RAS, Scientific supervisor, ORCID: 0000-0003-4976-8515
Yu.V.Khripunov2, 5, Cand. of Sci. (Physics and Mathematics), Docent, ORCID: 0000-0003-2250-0420
A.B.Loginov1, 3, 4, Cand. of Sci. (Physics and Mathematics), ORCID: 0000-0003-2090-5301
V.B.Loginov1, 4, Leading Designer, ORCID: 0000-0002-2116-7411
D.Abduzhalalov5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0009-8472-8093
S.Konakbayeva5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0005-8809-1086
S.Kurlysov5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0003-0756-7747
A.Makarova5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0003-4289-2123
I.Maxutov5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0009-5678-408X
B.Mukhibayev5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0006-5825-8639
Z.Nurkanova5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0000-7555-2318
A.Nurmashev5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0009-8648-1645
A.Okanov5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0003-0113-7818
K.Seytzhan5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0004-6789-3699
I.A.Soprygin5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0000-0775-4065
A.Shanshar5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0005-7708-8965
S.Aisha5, 6, ORCID: 0009-0006-0653-6289
P.P.Loginova7, ORCID: 0009-0000-8015-8999
Abstract. Based on the analysis of unique frames from the world’s first space scanning probe microscope SMM-2000S, which captures changes in the relief of a gold mirror under outer space influence with nanometer precision, a hypothesis was proposed and confirmed in experiments on Earth about the existence of a mechanism for the self-repair of material surfaces in space by sunlight.
Keywords: scanning probe microscope, Earth satellite, light exposure
For citation: B.A. Loginov, V.A. Bespalov, Yu.V. Khripunov, A.B. Loginov, V.B. Loginov, D.Abduzhalalov, S. Konakbayeva, S. Kurlysov, A. Makarova, I. Maxutov, B. Mukhibayev, Z. Nurkanova, A. Nurmashev, A. Okanov, K. Seytzhan, I. Soprygin, A. Shanshar, S. Aisha, P. Loginova. Study of the mechanism of material surface recovery in space by sunlight. NANOINDUSTRY. 2026. Vol. 19. No. 1. PP. 8–15. https://doi.org/
10.22184/1993-8578.2026.19.1.8.15.
INTRODUCTION
On June 27, 2023, Russia launched the world’s first [1] satellite scanning probe microscope of the SMM-2000C model into space on the Earth’s satellite "NANOZOND-1" (https://r4uab.ru/satdb/nanozond-1/), which continues to operate successfully in open space and provides new observation images of a surface exposed to space. In order to engage the entire global scientific community, these frames were published in [2] for the analysis of surface changes of the mirror that are not immediately obvious. For example, there are frames showing surface destruction of a gold mirror, with subsequent restoration in some cases in the form of smoothing of the relief (Fig.1). However, while the surface destruction had previously been explained [3] by the impact of a stream of fast ions from the solar wind, which was experimentally confirmed in ground-based vacuum setups and by ion streams similar to those in space, as well as in ground-based versions of a space microscope, the effect of surface restoration still required study.
HYPOTHESIS AND EXPERIMENT
The emergence of the hypothesis about the mechanism of the restoration of the gold mirror’s surface occurred after taking into account that the impact of fast ions from the solar wind and light from a solar flare does not happen simultaneously, since light reaches near-Earth space in about 8 minutes, while the solar wind takes about 2 days. Also considering that the satellite with the gold mirror rotates during flight, it became clear that the damage to the mirror’s surface by solar wind ions occurs only when it is facing the solar wind. There was also a hypothesis that at the moments when the solar wind is absent, the mirror is turned toward the Sun and receives intense light both from solar flares and from the Sun in general. It is possible that all this radiation hitting the mirror heats the small bumps on the damaged surface, and atoms from them spread across the surface, getting stuck in the hollows and crevices, thus smoothing the surface.
To experimentally confirm this hypothesis, experiments were conducted. In the ‘MAG-5A Vacuum Apparatus’ (manufacturer Proton Plant, Zelenograd, Russia, www.microscopy.su), either a tungsten wire was heated by a strong electric current to a temperature of 3500 K, just below the melting point of tungsten, or the tips of graphite electrodes pressed together were heated to a temperature of 4000 K, causing graphite to evaporate (Fig.2). The sample was placed on top, with the surface under study facing down on a thin cover glass, which prevented evaporating tungsten or graphite atoms from settling on the sample during heating. During the ‘1st Talent Summit’ held in Almaty by the Sirius Educational Center, with the participation of gifted students from Kazakhstan (Fig.2), the change in the gold surface under the influence of light was studied. The gold film had been applied to copper on a fiberglass laminate using an immersion method over a nickel sublayer.
A schoolgirl from Moscow (Fig.3) conducted independent similar experiments with a sample of pyrolytic graphite of the ‘ZYH’ type, which consists of many layers of carbon stacked on top of each other with a high degree of misorientation. As a result, when preparing the sample by peeling off its top layer using tape, many small fragments of graphite film with thicknesses ranging from several atoms up to a single-atom-thick graphene formed on its surface (Fig.4).
All samples were illuminated once for 10 seconds by the heated tungsten wire. The tips of the graphite electrodes evaporated by fractions of a millimeter within 1 second and the heating current was interrupted; the pyrolytic graphite sample was illuminated once during this 1 second. The gold sample, due to its better thermal conductivity and, consequently, the need for more energy to heat the surface with light, was illuminated three times for 1 second each, each time pressing the tips of the graphite electrodes together again after their evaporation.
No precise measurement of the light’s intensity and spectrum was carried out; this will be done later, following this urgent report on the results of preliminary experiments. Visually, the light from the graphite electrodes matched the solar spectrum in intensity, while the light from the tungsten wire was several times weaker and shifted toward the infrared region of the spectrum.
Experiments in the vacuum chamber were conducted at a pressure of 10–3 mbar in order to simulate the worst-case conditions of atmospheric gas content for a space microscope in outer space at the Kármán line – the conventionally accepted boundary at 100 km above sea level. The satellite with the space microscope gradually lowers its orbit, approaching the Earth, and if it descends below the Kármán line, it will heat up due to interaction with the dense layers of the atmosphere and burn up, tentatively in the summer of 2026.
For studies of the sample surfaces before and after exposure, a serially produced ‘SMM-2000 Scanning Probe Microscope’ (manufacturer: PROTON Plant, Zelenograd, Russia, www.microscopy.su, number 46918 in the State Register of Measuring Instruments of the Russian Federation) was used, a modification of which became the world’s first space probe microscope. Surface topography was obtained using a sharpened platinum tip in the scanning tunneling microscopy mode, due to the electrical conductivity of the surfaces, both gold and pyrolytic graphite.
CONCLUSIONS
The results of the study (Fig.4) confirmed the following hypothesis: after exposure to light, there are fewer small irregularities (bumps, steps) on the surface, and the scatter of surface relief heights, Rmax, decreases, resulting in a smoother surface. For pyrolytic graphite, another effect was visually observed – under stronger light from the graphite electrodes, the top layer seemed to disintegrate. This can be explained by the fact that the layers of graphite do not have covalent bonds between them, and the lower layer does not reinforce the upper layer lying on it. For the same reason, the destruction of pyrographite and graphene can easily occur under the impact of a directed stream of solar wind ions [4].
Thus, the hypothesis is confirmed that in space the surfaces of spacecraft can be smoothed by sunlight, including after the surfaces are damaged by ions from the solar wind. The hypothesis will be further tested experimentally on various metals and other materials in similar experiments on Earth, as well as directly in space [5] on future spacecraft-mounted probe microscopes.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The work was carried out in partnership with the National Research University MIET and JSC "Proton Plant" (Zelenograd), Orel State University named after I.S. Turgenev (Orel), the Educational Center "Sirius" (Sochi), schools in Moscow and Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the Foundation for Assistance to Innovations (Moscow), under the program "Planet Duty" with financial support for the launch of the world’s first space probe microscope.
PEER REVIEW INFO
Editorial board thanks the anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. It is also grateful for their consent to publish papers on the journal’s website and SEL eLibrary eLIBRARY.RU.
Declaration of Competing Interest. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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