[TheForge] ISS & 3D Printers was Re: 3D printers

[terry l. ridder]

hello Mike;

Below is the BBC URL to the news story.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30549341

it is the first time hardware has been "emailed" to space.

Nasa was responding to a request by ISS commander Barry Wilmore for a
ratcheting socket wrench.

Previously, if astronauts requested a specific item they could have
waited months for it to be flown up on one of the regular supply
flights.

Mike Chen, founder of Made In Space, the company behind the 3-D printer,
said: "We had overheard ISS Commander Barry Wilmore (who goes by
"Butch") mention over the radio that he needed one, so we designed one
in CAD and sent it up to him faster than a rocket ever could have."

Mr Wilmore installed the printer on the ISS on 17 November. On 25
November he used the machine to fabricate its first object, a
replacement part for the printer.

Nasa says the capability will help astronauts be more self-reliant on
future long duration space missions.

Mike Chen added: "The socket wrench we just manufactured is the first
object we designed on the ground and sent digitally to space, on the
fly.

"It also marks the end of our first experiment is a sequence of 21
prints that together make up the first tools and objects ever
manufactured off the surface of the Earth."

The other 21 objects were designed before the 3D printer was shipped to
the space station in September on a SpaceX Dragon supply flight.

Analysis: David Shukman, BBC science editor

If a 3D printer can churn out something as useful as a tool in space,
what else is possible?

Spare parts, components, even equipment, according to the company behind
the printer, Made In Space. And that's just the start.

As one might expect from an energetic Silicon Valley start-up, the
vision is mind-boggling. Already it plans to send a larger 3D
manufacturing machine into orbit next year.

The ambition is for Nasa or other space agencies or companies to
routinely send their printing orders up to the International Space
Station and for a range of objects to be produced.

This would open the way to create hardware not only for the ISS itself
but also for equipment to be deployed beyond it, conceivably such as
satellites.

And, looking further ahead, the thinking becomes even more radical. Made
In Space says it's been trying out possible raw materials for its
printers including a substance similar to lunar soil.

So in theory, a 3D printer despatched to the Moon might be able to dig
into the lunar surface, scoop up what is called the regolith, and
transform it into the elements needed for a moon base.

That prospect is extremely distant, obviously.

For the moment, the astronauts on board the ISS will be happy to know
that if they need a new spanner, they can make one in under an hour.

More on this story

     Nasa plans first 3D printer space launch in 2014
     30 September 2013
     http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-24329296

     'Flying 3D printer' could play key role in emergencies
     7 May 2014
     http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27311292

     Video A 3D tour of the International Space Station
     7 November 2014

     International Space Station life 'to be extended'
     8 January 2014
     http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27311292

On Mon, 4 May 2015, CGRAF wrote:

>
>
> On 5/4/2015 3:19 PM, Marc3rd at marc3rd.com wrote:
>> A Blacksmith or a 3 d printer?
>> 
>> 
> That is just the point.
> The 3D IS the blacksmith on the station.
> They can sent up schematics for a replacement part and make it there.
>
> If I remember correctly task one was something for the water processor.
>
>
> Mike Graf
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-- 
terry l. ridder ><>