ISS's 3-D Printer Creates Its First Object In Space

An anonymous reader writes: NASA reports that the 3-D printer now installed on the International Space Station has finally finished its first creation. After it was installed on November 17th and calibrated over the next week, ground control sent it instructions yesterday to build a faceplate for the extruder's own casing. The process was mostly a success. "[Astronaut Butch Wilmore] Wilmore removed the part from the printer and inspected it. Part adhesion on the tray was stronger than anticipated, which could mean layer bonding is different in microgravity, a question the team will investigate as future parts are printed. Wilmore installed a new print tray, and the ground team sent a command to fine-tune the printer alignment and printed a third calibration coupon. When Wilmore removes the calibration coupon, the ground team will be able to command the printer to make a second object. The ground team makes precise adjustments before every print, and the results from this first print are contributing to a better understanding about the parameters to use when 3-D printing on the space station."

Comments

Next step - Semiconductors

[mykepredko]

Things will start to get interesting when astronauts can create semiconductors in in space. I believe there are some demonstration technologies using ink-jet printers.

I would imagine it will be a long time before we can see the amazingly tiny devices that can be built on Earth, but I would expect that replacement electronics for communications and actuator drivers should be achievable in fairly short order. I would guess that replacement solar panel segments and power supply components (including batteries) would be on the menu as well.

myke

Re:Next step - Semiconductors

[TWX]

it's that you can't stock Digikey on the space station, but can "print" all of the knobs, buttons, and switches you need when one breaks. It reduces the number of spare parts needed in inventory and might offer a solution for a broken part that was not anticipated for, or to make something new when otherwise macguyvering a temporary solution.

think of the cheese spacer from the pizza box scenario as the eggheads are prototyping a solution.

Re:Next step - Semiconductors

[Noah Haders]

But the same troll was likely used about GPS. Fuck cost effective. Banks create 10 times more money than governments. Fund space at zero cost through the Fed because it is a good idea, in the General Welfare. Why would creating money for space exploration cause inflation?

Btw Europe texted, they want their economic paradigms back

Re:Next step - Semiconductors

[TWX]

I think that now that the craziness that was building it so incredibly slowly is over, it's actually doing something useful in that it's teaching us what it takes to live in space, and giving us means by which to test living in space where the consequences of screwing up are relatively minor. We've already learned the full-Russian approach and gained insight from their moments, and ISS is allowing us to see if we've learned from those mistakes.

I look at it along similar lines to Biosphere II down near Tucson, Arizona. It was the first major attempt to build a self-sufficient (within the scope of allowing for the ambient conditions in the local climate to influence heat) habitat that was supposed to be independent of outside assistance. It failed, but why it failed is important and can be learned from. Unfortunately I don't think that those lessons are being applied to the original facility, so we're not continuing to learn in ways that we should, but hopefully all of the studies of what happened will inform future scientists and engineers of the pitfalls in their plans and designs.

Re:Next step - Semiconductors

[l0n3s0m3phr34k]

Biosphere II's main failure was not waiting until the concrete had completely cured before sealing it off resulting in too much CO2 for the "self regulating" system to handle.

Re:Next step - Semiconductors

[Anonymous Coward]

How is it cost effective to put up an ISS, train and send astronauts, tweak and twiddle a free fall 3D printer, so you can save 5$ on a part you can buy at Digikey?

Because while the part might be cheap from Digikey, the delivery charge is a killer. And the package tends to float away when the delivery guy leaves it beside the airlock.

What is it about space that shuts off critical thinking?

Usually nothing. Your symptoms seem to be unique.

Re:Next step - Semiconductors

[Dunbal]

I think the argument is that if you need a critical replacement for which you have to wait 6 months for until the next launch, it's better to print one and have it right away even if it costs 10 times as much.

Re:Next step - Semiconductors

[Rei]

They did. But first off, to correct the GP: Concrete does not release CO2. It absorbs CO2 (slowly taking back the carbon that was released during the cement's creation). So this messed up their balance equation. Metabolism was supposed to consume O2 and make CO2, while photosynthesis was supposed to consume CO2 and make O2. But with the concrete locking up the CO2, the output of metabolism was being locked up and not being converted back to O2, so the O2 levels declined.

It's a simple oversight, but one that we're very lucky was made on Earth and not on, say, Mars. More foresight could have caught it, but there's always something that slips through the cracks. A number of other issues showed themselves, such as unexpected condensation adding rain to areas supposed to be rainless, less light than anticipated making it into the habitat, certain inspect species proving incompatible with the environment while others proving to be pests, so and so forth. They also had big problems with wild fluctuations in CO2 by time of day and season - they didn't have a massive amount of atmosphere to buffer it, so levels collapsed during the day and shot up at night. A lot of people complained that the project wasn't focused enough on the science, but I think they learned an awful lot of important things that could prove critical if ever trying to grow crops on another planet.

(The psychological aspects and how the crew split into two bitterly divided factions is also a real cautionary tale)

So anyway: after the first Biosphere 2 experiment was terminated, they sealed the concrete and started another one. But the second experiment was more doomed by politics than anything else. The on-site management was foreceably evicted by federal marshals. Former biosphere members broke into the facility so that the people inside could know what was going on outside (in the process, ruining the sealed environment). And then a couple months later the management company was dissolved. Altogether the second mission lasted less than half a year. It was a total disaster.

Re:Next step - Semiconductors

[Rei]

Close, but your syllable count is a bit off. Something like this would work:

fuck ink jet printers
fuck all those fucking printers
i fucking hate them

Technically, though, you're supposed to have a connection with nature for it to be proper haiku. So maybe something more like

ink jet printer rests
at the bottom of the bog
piece of shit printer

Re:Coupon?

[bored_engineer]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...

In this context, they're talking about a test sample. Perhaps the summary should have been edited to say so in plainer English.