NASA Explores 3D Printing: 5 Cool Projects
What can NASA do with 3D printing? Take a look at these pioneering ideas for current and future missions.
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What if there were a more efficient -- and less expensive -- way to develop tools and science instruments for space missions? NASA may have found the answer with 3D printing. The agency has introduced a number of programs focused on prototyping tools using this manufacturing technique.
3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, offers NASA an alternative to traditional manufacturing approaches, given the agency's requirements for highly customized spacecraft and instrument components. The process involves computer-aided device (CAD) models and sophisticated printers that lay down successive layers of material in different shapes.
"We're not driving the additive manufacturing train; industry is. But NASA has the ability to get on board to leverage it for our unique needs," Ted Swanson, the assistant chief for technology for the Mechanical Systems Division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a written statement. Swanson is the center's point of contact for 3D printing.
[See how NASA research can turn into tools for industry. Read NASA Launches Online Tech Licensing Tool.]
Goddard's Internal Research and Development (IRAD) has been evaluating the usefulness of 3D printing for the past two years. One area of interest is electronics -- or more specifically, the techniques for removing heat from heat-sensitive computer chips. Goddard, for example, used additive manufacturing to develop a system-on-a-chip for monitoring everything from voltages and currents to temperature levels.
Nearly all NASA centers have started using additive manufacturing for various applications, according to the agency.
The Langley Research Center in Virginia has come up with a "green" manufacturing process called the electron beam freeform (EBF3), which uses an electron-beam gun, a dual-wire feed, and computer controls to remotely manufacture metallic structures for building parts and tools. The Kennedy Space Center in Florida is researching the use of soil on extraterrestrial bodies as feedstock for building 3D habitats as well as other structures. And the Ames Research Center in California is exploring the possibility of using synthetic biology to manufacture biological materials.
In addition to different programs running at its centers, NASA has been working with Made in Space to launch equipment that will be used aboard the International Space Station, as shown in the picture above. In the near future, the agency sees astronauts using 3D printing in space to create parts and tools they need.
NASA is also taking part in a public-private partnership called America Makes, formerly known as the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII). NASA, along with four other government agencies -- the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Commerce, and the National Science Foundation -- have jointly invested in a pilot institute created to transition 3D printing into mainstream US manufacturing.
Check out our slideshow to see more of NASA's achievements in 3D printing.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center has already taken its first additive-manufactured device into space: a battery-mounting plate used for a sounding rocket mission. The part was created using a material called polyetherketoneketone and was demonstrated during a mission testing a thermal-control device.
Goddard technologist Tim Stephenson worked with EOS of America Inc. to develop the first 3D-manufactured object made with invar, a bendable material that's resistant to shrinkage and expansion due to temperature changes. The material is ideal for optical benches and other instruments that require stability.
Goddard has developed a system-on-a-chip with a housekeeping function. According to NASA, the "structured, radiation-hardened, application-specific, integrated circuit" consumes less than half a watt of power. Pictured is a closeup of the chip bonded onto an electronics board.
Goddard principal investigator Jean-Marie Lauenstein has been researching how 3D printing can solve an electronics challenge: protecting circuitry from damage due to exposure to space radiation. In this image, Lauenstein is holding a printed "spot shield" created for an electronic component.
Under a contract with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Made In Space is developing the first 3D printer for space. As part of the 3D Printing in Zero-G Experiment, it's scheduled to fly to the ISS this fall to demonstrate how additive manufacturing works in microgravity.
Under a contract with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Made In Space is developing the first 3D printer for space. As part of the 3D Printing in Zero-G Experiment, it's scheduled to fly to the ISS this fall to demonstrate how additive manufacturing works in microgravity.
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