Daily Archives: December 20, 2014

Minecraft Mapstravaganza! Crew Space Station, Pixel Land and Parkour Race!
Welcome to Minecraft Mapstravaganza, A series where we play your user/fan/viewer created maps, review and enjoy! Creation, Wild Card and Competitive! It #39;s YOU who will make the maps and YOUR.

By: GenerationHollow

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Minecraft Mapstravaganza! Crew Space Station, Pixel Land and Parkour Race! - Video

Space to Ground: Vantage Point: 12/19/14
NASA #39;s Space to Ground is your weekly update on what #39;s happening aboard the International Space Station. Got a question or comment? Use #spacetoground to talk to us.

By: ReelNASA

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Space to Ground: Vantage Point: 12/19/14 - Video

ISS SSTV reception on a portable setup using RTL-SDR
On December 18 the Russian ARISS team members activated the amateur radio Slow Scan TV (SSTV) experiment from the International Space Station (ISS) on 145.800 MHz FM Standing in a car park,.

By: UltraTechie

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ISS SSTV reception on a portable setup using RTL-SDR - Video

Space Tycoon
After crash landing on the moon you need to get back to Earth. To do this your mission is to build your space station, kill your foes, buy gear, weapons and perks to help you. Once you have...

By: SeraphimGolden Wings

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Space Tycoon - Video

NASA #39;Emailed #39; A Wrench To Space
Instead of waiting months for a supply flight to bring the tool they needed, instructions on how to 3-D print one were e-mailed to the International Space Station allowing astronauts to create...

By: GeoBeats News

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NASA 'Emailed' A Wrench To Space - Video

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Astronauts on the International Space Station have a new socket wrench. But it didn't come via cargo ship. It was emailed from planet Earth -- beamed up into space and then printed by the ISS crew using their new 3-D printer.

In late September, space's first zero-gravity 3-D printer was delivered to the International Space Station by a SpaceX resupply mission. In November, astronauts finally got around to assembling the machine, designed and manufactured by California-based company Made In Space. Astronauts successfully tested the printer in late November, and now the new technology is being used with a purpose.

NASA predicted that ISS might become a machine shop with arrival of the new printer. And sure enough, the first printed product of note is a ratcheting socket wrench. It's the first time hardware has ever been emailed into space.

"If the printer is successful, it will not only serve as the first demonstration of additive manufacturing in microgravity, but it also will bring NASA and Made In Space a big step closer to evolving in-space manufacturing for future missions to destinations such as an asteroid and Mars," NASA wrote in a September blog post.

What began as a simple CAD file on computers back on Earth, created by engineers and computer scientists at Made In Space, is now a usable plastic wrench aboard the International Space Station.

"On the ISS, this type of technology translates to lower costs for experiments, faster design iteration, and a safer, better experience for the crew members, who can use it to replace broken parts or create new tools on demand," Mike Chen, Made In Space founder, wrote on Medium's Backchannel.

"When we do set up the first human colonies on the moon, Mars and beyond," Chen added, "we won't use rockets to bring along everything we need. We'll build what we need there, when we need it."

2014 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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NASA just emailed the space station a new socket wrench

By Sarah LeTrent, CNN

updated 5:29 PM EST, Fri December 19, 2014 |

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- Bringing supplies to astronauts on the International Space Station can be a little screwy, leaving astronauts waiting for the next costly and risky resupply mission.

This week, thanks to 3-D printing, astronaut and ISS commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore had a wrench he needed manufactured by a printer in just four hours.

The ratcheting socket wrench was the first "uplink tool" printed in space, according to Grant Lowery, marketing and communications manager for Made In Space, which built the printer in partnership with NASA. The tool was designed on the ground, emailed to the space station and then manufactured.

From start to finish, the process took less than a week.

Made in Space's 3-D printer is the first to operate in zero gravity, and printed its first object in orbit -- a part for the printer, ironically -- in November.

"This means that we could go from having a part designed on the ground to printed in orbit within an hour to two from start to finish," Niki Werkheiser, NASA's 3-D print manager, said in a press release when the printer was sent to the ISS in September. "The on-demand capability can revolutionize the constrained supply chain model we are limited to today and will be critical for exploration missions."

The goal for the project is to create in-space manufacturing, especially as missions venture farther from Earth.

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Astronaut prints 3-D wrench in space

By Sarah LeTrent, CNN

December 19, 2014 -- Updated 2229 GMT (0629 HKT) |

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- Bringing supplies to astronauts on the International Space Station can be a little screwy, leaving astronauts waiting for the next costly and risky resupply mission.

This week, thanks to 3-D printing, astronaut and ISS commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore had a wrench he needed manufactured by a printer in just four hours.

The ratcheting socket wrench was the first "uplink tool" printed in space, according to Grant Lowery, marketing and communications manager for Made In Space, which built the printer in partnership with NASA. The tool was designed on the ground, emailed to the space station and then manufactured.

From start to finish, the process took less than a week.

Made in Space's 3-D printer is the first to operate in zero gravity, and printed its first object in orbit -- a part for the printer, ironically -- in November.

"This means that we could go from having a part designed on the ground to printed in orbit within an hour to two from start to finish," Niki Werkheiser, NASA's 3-D print manager, said in a press release when the printer was sent to the ISS in September. "The on-demand capability can revolutionize the constrained supply chain model we are limited to today and will be critical for exploration missions."

The goal for the project is to create in-space manufacturing, especially as missions venture farther from Earth.

Continue reading here:
NASA prints 3-D wrench in space

Running repairs: Astronaut Mike Hopkins on a spacewalk last year to replace a faulty water pump outside the International Space Station. Photo: Reuters/NASA

Washington:Now that the International Space Station has a 3D printer, engineers can design new tools on the ground and then beam them up to space.

In September, Made In Space shipped a 3D printer to the astronauts at the space station. In November it printed its first object - a replacement part for itself.

But this is the first time it has printed a specially designed tool on-demand, which is exactly the kind of work its designers hoped it would do.

"The socket wrench we just manufactured is the first object we designed on the ground and sent digitally to space, on the fly," Made In Space co-founder Mike Chen wrote on his blog on Medium. "This is the first time we've ever 'emailed' hardware to space."

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Why is that so great? Chen and his colleagues were responding to a request from astronaut Barry Wilmore, who needed a ratcheting socket spanner. Until now, that kind of request would take months to fulfil - Wilmore would have had to wait for the next mission to the space station to carry the tool up.

Instead, Chen and his team designed the spannerfor printing, then sent the design up to the space station by way of NASA.

"Because it's a lot faster to send digital data [which can travel at the speed of light] to space than it is to send physical objects [which involves waiting months to years for a rocket], it makes more sense to 3D-print things in space, when we can, instead of launching them," Chen wrote. And that means that astronauts can do their work more quickly and for less money.

The tech could also be a lifesaver: During the infamous Apollo 13 mission, astronauts were forced to build new carbon dioxide scrubbers on the fly out of whatever materials they had on hand. With the lunar module's clean oxygen running out, engineers on the ground raced to design a makeshift solution and relay building instructions to the astronauts on board. But what if they had been able to augment the supplies on board with custom-designed pieces that could be printed at will?

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NASA 'emails' spanner to space for the first time