his week, NASA took a big step toward changing the way we plan for long-duration space voyages when astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore successfully installed and prepared the first 3-D printer for upcoming manufacturing operations on the International Space Station.
"This printer is a critical first step for in-space manufacturing," said Jason Crusan, director of NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Additive manufacturing with 3-D printers will allow space crews to be less reliant on supply missions from Earth and lead to sustainable, self-reliant exploration missions where resupply is difficult and costly. The space station provides the optimal place to perfect this technology in microgravity."
Wilmore installed the printer in the station's Microgravity Science Glovebox and started the printer, which extruded plastic to form the first of a series of calibration coupons, a small plastic sample about the size of a postage stamp. After calibration of the printer is complete and verified, the printer will make the first NASA-designed 3-D printed object in space. The goal of the 3-D Printing in Zero-G Technology Demonstration on the space station is to show that additive manufacturing can make a variety of parts and tools in space. The 3-D printer heats a relatively low-temperature plastic filament to build parts layer on top of layer in designs supplied to the machine.
Before the printer left Earth in September 2014 on SpaceX's fourth commercial cargo resupply mission, engineers loaded the first files to be printed. These initial parts -- primarily test coupons -- will be returned to Earth for detailed analysis and comparison to identical ground control samples made earlier this year prior to launch with the same printer while it was at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
"The goal of the first phase of printing is to verify that the 3-D printing process works the same in microgravity as it does on the ground," said Niki Werkheiser, NASA's 3-D printer project manager at Marshall. "Once we confirm that the process works, we will move to the second phase of printing which focuses more on the design and utilization of the parts we print, which will ultimately lead to establishing an on-demand machine shop in space."
NASA contracted Made In Space, Inc. at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, to design and build the printer. Going forward, Made In Space engineers will use NASA-provided software and work with controllers at NASA's Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC) in Huntsville to send commands directly to the printer from the ground. As the first objects are printed, NASA and Made In Space engineers will monitor printing via downlinked images and videos. The majority of the printing process is controlled from the ground to limit crew time required for operations.
"We're approaching the most exciting moment of this experiment after years of intensive work, which dates back to Made In Space's first microgravity testing with NASA's Flight Opportunities Program in 2011," said Aaron Kemmer, CEO of Made In Space, Inc. "Our team is on standby to send the command to print the first object in space. We are taking everything we are learning on the space station and using it to design an even more elaborate 3-D printer, which will be available for anyone to use."
That printer is scheduled to be launched to the station next year and will be available to meet manufacturing needs of both NASA and commercial users.
###
Read the original post:
3-D printer powered up on the International Space Station
- Armadillo’s Level 2 LLC attempt coming soon? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Decisions, decisions - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Armadillo versus the weather - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Photos from Armadillo’s Saturday flights - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Armadillo Level 2 Flight 1 - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Meanwhile, elsewhere in the LLC race - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Masten gets halfway there - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Xombie photos (finally!) - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Is the media clowning around? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Galactic Suite “on schedule”? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Scientist Guest Column: Using Commercial Suborbital Spacecraft for Microgravity Chemistry Research - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Building Spaceport Infrastructure: An Overview of the STIM-Grants Program - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Five Years After SpaceShipOne’s Historic X PRIZE Flight, New Challenges Await - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Masten Space Systems Makes Successful Flights to Qualify for $150K NASA Lunar Lander Prize Level 1 - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Distinguished Former NASA Astronauts Endorse Commercial Spaceflight in Wall Street Journal Op-Ed - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA Chief Praises Commercial Spaceflight, Suborbital Science, & Innovation Prizes in Speech - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- CSF Welcomes Strong Support for Commercial Human Spaceflight in White House Panel’s Report - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Commercial Spaceflight Federation President Bretton Alexander Appointed to the NASA Advisory Council - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- In November 5th Public Ceremony, NASA to Award $1.65 Million In Prizes for Commercial Spaceflight Successes - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- CSF Congratulates Winners of NASA’s $2 Million Lunar Lander Challenge - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Welcome to the NewSpace Journal - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Some things even Virgin can’t control - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- While you’re waiting for the rollout… - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- SpaceShipTwo rollout: initial impressions - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- A couple of pics - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- SpaceShipTwo slideshow - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- The Virgin party’s aftermath - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Investment in Commercial Spaceflight Grows to $1.46 Billion, Updated Industry Study Reveals - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Former Astronaut-Astronomer, Sam Durrance, Joins the CSF Suborbital Researchers Group - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Commercial Spaceflight Federation Announces Creation and Initial Membership of Spaceports Council - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- CSF President Bretton Alexander Testifies Before House Science Committee on Spaceflight Safety - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- CSF Vice-Chairman Jeff Greason Testifies Before House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Commercial Spaceflight Regulation - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Virgin Galactic Unveils SpaceShipTwo - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- So that’s why Aabar invested in Virgin? - December 15th, 2009 [December 15th, 2009]
- More about the Virgin rollout aftermath - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- Space tourism as “the final undiscovered frontier”? - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- Orion Propulsion acquired - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- Spaceport America developments - December 18th, 2009 [December 18th, 2009]
- XCOR wins a major customer - December 19th, 2009 [December 19th, 2009]
- Centennial Challenges, Spaceport Infrastructure Grants, and Suborbital Science to Receive Funds from NASA and FAA - December 22nd, 2009 [December 22nd, 2009]
- Video tour of Spaceport America - December 24th, 2009 [December 24th, 2009]
- Virgin’s web traffic planning - December 24th, 2009 [December 24th, 2009]
- List of Speakers Announced for the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in February - December 31st, 2009 [December 31st, 2009]
- Popular Science Features Commercial Spaceflight on January Cover, Discusses NASA Partnerships - January 4th, 2010 [January 4th, 2010]
- Aviation Week honors the “Space Entrepreneur” - January 5th, 2010 [January 5th, 2010]
- “The Space Entrepreneur” Named by Aviation Week Magazine As Its 2009 Person of the Year - January 5th, 2010 [January 5th, 2010]
- Additional notes about Olsen’s book - January 6th, 2010 [January 6th, 2010]
- Registration deadline approaching for suborbital science conference - January 8th, 2010 [January 8th, 2010]
- NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver to Keynote the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in February - January 11th, 2010 [January 11th, 2010]
- Cecil Field gets spaceport license – but will anyone use it? - January 12th, 2010 [January 12th, 2010]
- Training begins for suborbital scientist-astronauts - January 12th, 2010 [January 12th, 2010]
- First Class of Suborbital Scientist-Astronauts Successfully Complete NASTAR Training Program - January 14th, 2010 [January 14th, 2010]
- Is “space tour guide” in your professional future? - January 17th, 2010 [January 17th, 2010]
- What can Florida, Indiana, and others learn from Oklahoma? - January 17th, 2010 [January 17th, 2010]
- Virginia wants money, New Mexico wants laws - January 21st, 2010 [January 21st, 2010]
- Commercial Spaceflight Federation Responds to the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel’s 2009 Annual Report - January 21st, 2010 [January 21st, 2010]
- CSF Statement on NASA’s Anticipated Announcement of a $6 Billion Commercial Crew Program and NASA Budget Increase - January 29th, 2010 [January 29th, 2010]
- CSF Welcomes New NASA Human Spaceflight Plan, Congratulates Commercial Crew Development Winners - February 1st, 2010 [February 1st, 2010]
- NASA Unveils Commercial Human Spaceflight Development Agreements and Announces $50 Million in Seed Funding for Commercial Crew - February 3rd, 2010 [February 3rd, 2010]
- James Cameron Endorses Commercial Spaceflight, New NASA Plan - February 4th, 2010 [February 4th, 2010]
- Newt Gingrich and Bob Walker Endorse Obama’s New NASA Plan, Urge Bipartisan Support - February 13th, 2010 [February 13th, 2010]
- Blue Origin proposes orbital vehicle - February 18th, 2010 [February 18th, 2010]
- CSF Announces New Research and Education Affiliates Program, Initial Participating Universities - February 18th, 2010 [February 18th, 2010]
- CSF Welcomes Historic NASA Commitment of $75 Million for Commercial Suborbital Flights, Payloads - February 18th, 2010 [February 18th, 2010]
- Suborbital vehicle development updates - February 19th, 2010 [February 19th, 2010]
- Other conference announcements - February 21st, 2010 [February 21st, 2010]
- Bigger prizes to come? - February 23rd, 2010 [February 23rd, 2010]
- Gov. Bill Richardson Endorses Commercial Spaceflight, Obama’s New NASA Plan - February 23rd, 2010 [February 23rd, 2010]
- Over 250 People Attend Next-Gen Suborbital Researchers Conference, 2011 Meeting Planned for Florida - February 24th, 2010 [February 24th, 2010]
- Boston Globe, Nature, New York Times Editorial Boards Among Others Welcoming New NASA Plan - February 25th, 2010 [February 25th, 2010]
- Commercial Spaceflight Federation Commends New Mexico for Passage of Key Liability Legislation - March 2nd, 2010 [March 2nd, 2010]
- Burt Rutan’s BigThink - March 3rd, 2010 [March 3rd, 2010]
- Brief notes: Soyuz, Virgin, and… iCarly? - March 5th, 2010 [March 5th, 2010]
- Commercial Spaceflight Federation 2009 Annual Report Highlights Industry Progress - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- SpaceShipTwo flies, on schedule - March 23rd, 2010 [March 23rd, 2010]
- SpaceShipTwo captive carry flight video - March 23rd, 2010 [March 23rd, 2010]
- Over the Mojave Desert, Suborbital Vehicles Take Flight - March 28th, 2010 [March 28th, 2010]
- See WK2 and SS2 fly in New Mexico this October - March 29th, 2010 [March 29th, 2010]
- SA10: Commercial RLV Technology Roadmap update - April 9th, 2010 [April 9th, 2010]
- An evolving Armadillo - April 11th, 2010 [April 11th, 2010]