In Earth’s low orbit, where debris travels at about 27,000 kilometers per hour, even a grain of dust can hit like a bullet. That’s a big problem for satellites and spacecraft.

Researchers from Texas A&M University and MIT have developed a super-thin plastic film that could help solve this problem.

Designed with space protection in mind, the material can absorb and heal from micrometeoroid-scale impacts at speeds over 750 meters per second (almost the speed of a bullet). When hit with a microprojectile in the lab, they absorb the impact, close up more than 80 percent of the hole and keep going strong.

This isn’t your everyday plastic wrap; it’s made from Diels-Alder polymers — molecules with bonds that break and reform under heat and pressure.

While it’s not meant to stop bullets, this self-repairing film offers a glimpse into the future of lightweight, resilient materials for extreme environments — like orbiting satellites, deep-space missions or protective layers in harsh industrial settings.

The film is only nanometers thick, super strong, flexible and smart enough to patch itself up mid-impact.

The paper was published in Materials Today.

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