HTS Bulk Experiments Performed for and Under Space Conditions

In the shadow of dominant long-length high-temperature superconductors bulk HTS show a considerable effort of magnetic engineering application. Bulk HTS are capable of providing easily magnetic fields of several tesla, levitates self- stabilized mirrors or measuring instruments, and can be used as a passive magnetic shield. By simulating space conditions we have been investigated the possible degradation of YBCO material under 160 MeV proton irradiation at a radiative dose of 10-20 krad. We report the successful preparation of an HTS bearing cosmic background radiation, the fabrication and testing of a bulk superconducting device operating in the Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station (ISS). The Magvector/MFX experiment operates the last four years at the ISS. It measures the interaction of a YBCO HTS with the Earth magnetic field using sensitive flux gate sensors in μT level. Laboratory shielding results are given. Dependent on the bulk conductivity at T>T
_c
and T<;T
_c
the Earth magnetic field interaction causes distortions of the surrounding electromagnetic (EM) field. Possible benefits of HTS bulk devices on applications in space will be discussed.