NASA and 3d printing.

I saw this article today and thought it was interesting. I've been thinking for a while that a 3d printer would be a good addition to a manned mission to anywhere.

[www.space.com]

Conscripted

... with the surrounding vacuum outside the rocket it should be no problem to build a 'MetallicaRap' ... someone other on the way too? - [forums.reprap.org]

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

3D printed moon base

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

Hell, most of the items we use in the modern world is due to space exploration and/or getting prepped for it. I welcome this addition as it could kick us into the next phase that we need to be at in the RepRap community.

akhlut Wrote:
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> 3D printed moon base


LOL.

The one thing that will have to change is what can be printed because nothing we have now could withstand the pressures, and down right viscous nature, of the vacums of space. Even a particle of dust can impale the machine with enough force that would rival our most explosive device today.

Did you read the article?

Laser-sintered moon dust from orbiting spacecraft coupled with moon based groomer? Why the hell not?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2012 11:41AM by akhlut.

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

akhlut Wrote:
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> Did you read the article?
>
> Laser-sintered moon dust from orbiting spacecraft
> coupled with moon based groomer? Why the hell
> not?
Yeah, I read it but what I meant was something a little more down to earth needs to be found to take us to the next level.

Dark Alchemist Wrote:
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> The one thing that will have to change is what can
> be printed because nothing we have now could
> withstand the pressures, and down right viscous
> nature, of the vacums of space. Even a particle
> of dust can impale the machine with enough force
> that would rival our most explosive device today.

The Apollo astronauts made it to the moon in a ship that had areas nearly as thin as aluminum foil. I don't think that space dust is as much of a problem as you think it is. Small meteoroids however can be a problem, but a reasonably thick foam-like outer covering can effectively dissipate the energy of one without fully puncturing the structure.

Oh, and the maximum pressure anything would have to withstand in a vacuum is 1 atmosphere, or about 15 psi or 101 kPa. Not a terribly high pressure. The exception is pressurized air or fuel stores.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2012 02:33PM by NewPerfection.

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Look to the shuttles to see just floating in space, not deep space but near space, and how bad they get beat up. Many people don't know how close some serious conditions have come due to just space dust up to .1mm round has caused. We don't know what it is like in the very deep parts of space. So, I suspect this printing would be for something with an atmosphere to some extent (meaning the particles of such small diameter would not make it to the surface with any amount of speed). I read a few years back that anything the size of a pea hitting the shuttle could literally destroy it and things as small as .1mm that have hit it have left holes the size of what a 44 magnum would have left. Some 'space dust' has went clean through the shuttle's wing before.

So, I think all of this is academic at best BUT I look forward to what we, as normal mortals and consumers, may get from their efforts. I highly doubt we will get moon dust that is so strong that it would allow guns and ammunition to be so easily printed.

I wasn't suggesting we mine the moon for ore and bring it back to earth to run it through a printer...

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

... the main point in 'space-born-repraps' is the ability to send a payload in the size of a refrigerator to the mars, that will be able to fab bigger structures out of local sand and other material, so the next manned 'mission to mars' will find complete bases and/or living quarters there

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

VDX Wrote:
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> ... the main point in 'space-born-repraps' is the
> ability to send a payload in the size of a
> refrigerator to the mars, that will be able to fab
> bigger structures out of local sand and other
> material, so the next manned 'mission to mars'
> will find complete bases and/or living quarters
> there



Exactly.

Although I'm kinda partial to having a fleet of small spacecraft sintering the lunar regolith into structures. Just need something to lay down additional layers of lunar soil... After all the moon is really close and has many advantages over the Earth as a leaping off point to the solar system.

Don't know if that would work on Mars though - atmosphere is bad! But I could see a printer-bot supported by a set of ancillary duty bots printing a structure on Mars.

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- akhlut

Just remember - Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!

[myhomelessmind.blogspot.com]

a lunar orbiting high powered laser , and a lunar bulldozer,

seriously though, I would put any sort of moon base under the surface, it would provide a lot of protection of space dust and such, but also because of the low gravity very large subsurface structures would be feasible,

I know there was an idea by a NASA contractor to build massive inflatable structure, the idea was to land it in a suitable bases sized crater, inflate it, then via a small remote controlled digger/bulldozer bury it , possibly with something in the lunar dust to act as a binder and make it nice and hard

I still believe in using a lunar colony or at least a lunar jumping point to mars.

agreed, there is an abundant source of oxygen in the lunar soil apparently, plus a fair bit of water it will probably the place some of the bigger space ships get built as well down the track,

they do need to develop some of the other propulsion methods, they say they don't have eg the CDVD drives that were developed during the bouncing bomb days would be a good start

... so let's shipping RepRap's to the Moon first ... then to Mars and the Asteroids ... then all the other bodies in the solar system ... and then spread out seriously

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]