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3d printing in space: repair your space station with tools built inorbit - China Torque Screwdriver by vacuumse mse
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3d printing in space: repair your space station with tools built inorbit - China Torque Screwdriver by VACUUMSE MSE
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| Article Posted: 08/22/2012 |
| Article Views: 71 |
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3d printing in space: repair your space station with tools built inorbit - China Torque Screwdriver |
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Business,Business News,Business Opportunities
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Adam Ellsworth, Brinson White and Jason Dunn of Made in Spacetesting 3D printing in microgravity. Smile, guys! [Photo:madeinspace.us] Made in Space, a Silicon Valley startup located at the NASA Ames Research Center , aims to get a 3D printer into the International Space Station by 2014 . Why make parts in orbit? It s practical: Maintenance of theInternational Space Station (ISS) currently requires expensiverocket launches to carry replacement parts and tools into space. With the ending of the US Space Shuttle program, the US currently has to rely on other countries for supplying the space station. If the ISS had a 3D printer and aready supply of feedstock (the plastic, metal, or even concrete ink used by the printer), the most the astronauts would needfrom Earth is an email with a CAD file of the part they want.
As a proof-of-concept, Made in Space brought along a custom 3Dprinter and a Bits from Bytes 3D Touch with them on a two-hour reduced-gravity aircraft flight(better known as the Vomit Comet ). The parabolic flight pattern of the aircraft creates periods inwhich the plane and its passengers (including printers) are infree-fall, simulating microgravity for about 25 seconds perparabola. The Made in Space team then had about 20 minutes total ofreduced gravity to print a part, and so they did: a small wrenchthat is the first-ever tool produced in partial gravity. These parabolic flights show the feasibility of printing spareparts or tools for repairing space stations, or even reentryspacecraft.
Broke your torque screwdriver? Print another! Crack in yourthruster nozzle? Fabricate one on the fly (excuse me, while inorbit ) out of titanium. The best thing about printing things inspace? Made in Space engineer Dr. Jason Dunn pointed out that youdon t need to consider gravity while designing parts, and thatsensitive tools would no longer need to survive the intensevibrations and g-loads present during spacecraft launch. In the future, 3D printers could even use extraterrestrial soil asfeedstock: lunar regolith, a Made in Space scientific advisorpoints out, could take the place of cement powders in some types of printers. What does NASA have to say about fleets of giant 3D printersfabricating spare parts and socket wrenches while in orbit? Lastweek at the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in Silicon Valley, Gary Martin, Director of the New Ventures andCommunications Directorate at NASA Ames, said he wants space opento more minds, and sees the final frontier as the ultimate hackerspace for makers and tinkerers.
Now that it has the blessing of a NASA director, we here at PCWorld's GeekTech blog are excited about the future of 3D printing in microgravity. Fornow, turning the ISS into a small-scale factory sounds great tous--as does being able to use the phrase IN SPACE! in a legitimate context. Alessondra Springmann is a freelance writer and astrophysicist whodreams of microgravity. She tweets and blogs , occasionally about space and sometimes concurrently.
Rachel Martin spends her days fabricating things out of molten metal in MITbasements. Drop them a line and say hi. Like this? You might also enjoy... Robotic Cheetah Sets a New Robot Land Speed Record, Leaves Humansin its Dust Lego Space Shuttle Takes Flight, Returns to Earth Undamaged Researchers Develop
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