Reflections on the Power of Making Real Things

http://www.space.com/24599-nasa-launches-3d-printing-in-space.html

When you search for 3d printing applications in space exploration, the results are overwhelming. While CubeSats utilize 3d printing, there are other aspects of smaller scale space exploration that utilize 3d printing. The photograph above is a 3d printed battery harness made by NASA interns last summer. I was fortunate enough to meet the students who worked on this particular project. This battery harness is for what is called a “sounding rocket”.  Sounding rockets are small rockets (about as tall as person) that are inexpensive to launch and used mostly by universities and researchers thanks to their low cost. The big difference between sounding rockets and CubeSats are that sounding rockets do not go into orbit. Instead, they fly parabolic trajectories exposing them only momentarily to space. This is great for experiments that don’t need to remain orbit. Putting a payload into orbit is not only technically more challenging, but also significantly more expensive.

I found the two photographs on my Facebook feed. They were posted by a fellow NASA intern and student at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. The gray component is a piece that was 3d printed to hold their particular experiment. This makes me rethink my model for CubeSat Farm. Even as CubeSats gain in popularity, a lot of research does not require an orbital flight. A short parabolic space flight is sufficient for a lot of researchers, and from what I’ve read, a sounding rocket can be launched with a small payload for less than $5000. Compare that to the current price range of a CubeSat flight ($50-100k).

In addition to this. Space exploration related technologies and themes are becoming more accessible. LitteBits just announced a partnership with NASA on a series of products for education. It’s worth mentioning that we used LittleBits products in our Maker Space Day.

Insights directly related to CubeSat Farm:

I was able to find a 23 page newsletter from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center published last year regarding CubeSats. The articles within the newsletter gave me tremendous insight. While the CubeSat standard was originally intended for academic purposes and low earth orbit flights, NASA has been seeking to expand this functionality. There is on going research on implementing the CubeSat format for advanced space science and exploration, as well as experiments and studies that are being conducted to potentially utilize CubeSats on deep space missions. Another key insight from the newsletter is that up until now, CubeSats have launched on rockets as “Secondary Payloads”. This means that they essentially take a low-priority back seat on launches. NASA’s Walls Flight Facility is working with launch providers to come up with a launch vehicle that is not only low cost, but that specializes in CubeSat launches for government, academia as well as private industry. This is also creating an interesting partnership with the Department of the Defense who is also interested in the development of a low cost dedicated CubeSat launch platform.

Insights related to space applications of 3d printing (not project related):

One area that I’m very passionate about regarding space exploration and colonization is public outreach. The reality of this kind of work is that without public support, there is no space program. The good news is, since space is not a program, its an actual place, it usually stirs up tremendous curiosity whenever the conversation comes up. One of the defending topics that space enthusiasts bring up to defend investments in space exploration is that of “spin-offs”. Spin-offs can be defined as unintended results, that are typically commercialized or become widespread, that resulted from a particular innovation. Some  examples of this regarding space exploration technologies are GPS navigation for civilian drivers, algorithms used in breast cancer detection (thanks to the John Hopkins University and the Hubble Space Telescope), miniaturized integrated circuits (the processors in laptops and smartphones), and thousands of upon thousands of other examples.

An interesting 3d printing related spin-off I found  is that in the use of outreach and education. A January 10, 2014 article from Space.com (http://www.space.com/24233-3d-printed-hubble-photos-blind-aas223.html) illustrates a wonderful example of how 3d printers are being used to create textured images of celestial objects to help the blind population learn about the universe. So far the results seem positive.

• First surface-specific planetary mobility suit to be tested in full vacuum
• First use of 3D human laser scans and 3D-printed hardware for suit development and sizing
• Most advanced use of impact resistant composite structures on a suit upper and lower torso system
• First integration of the suit-port concept with a hard upper torso suit structure
• Most conformal and re-sizeable hard upper torso suit built to date

Learn more and vote here: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/z2/

“Fablab Aachen printed the prototype of our cubesat structure.
We are developing a low cost space probe. The first system is planned to be sent into orbit in 2013. System includes reaction wheels, gas thrusters, IMU and optical navigation modules.”

 

 

3D printing of the ESO CubeSat project. This model will allow us to test its structural configuration.