Tag Archives: space
Kentucky Students Successfully Launch 3D Printed Satellite into Orbit
Student-Created Satellite Features Windform Technology
CRP USA announced the successful launch of Windform as part of the collaborative KySat-2 project, a 1U CubeSat, by students at the University of Kentucky and Morehead State University.
The collaborative team of students from the University of Kentucky and Morehead State University, along with Kentucky Space, launched the KySat-2 into orbit as part of the NASA ElaNa IV mission out of Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
35 minutes after deployment from the launch vehicle, KySat-2 began beaconing its telemetry data and was almost immediately heard by amateur radio operators. Since then, the KySat-2 team began performing system checks for each of the various subsystems that make up the satellite. According to the KySat-2 team, all systems have been performing nominally.
“Congratulations to the KySat-2 team on a very successful launch. We are excited for the KySat-2 team, and are looking forward to following their mission,” said Stewart Davis, Director of Operations CRP USA. “As part of our overall work to expand the use of Windform beyond motorsports, this launch is another successful project that continues to add to our growing space flight heritage.”
“There were several 3d printed components on the KySat-2 made by CRP USA from CRP Technology’s proprietary material Windform XT 2.0,” explains Twyman Clements, KySat-2 Project Manager, Kentucky Space. “One of the subsystems, is the camera systems that acts as an attitude determination system called Stellar Gyro. The 3d printed parts, were produced using the additive manufacturing technology Selective Laser Sintering and Windform XT 2.0 material. The additive manufactured process 3d printed the mounting hardware for the camera system, extensions for the separation switches, clips for holding the antennas in their stowed position, and the mounting bracket for the on board batteries. The process and the material were critical to achieve the right components for KySat-2.”
Related story: First Performance Italian Electric Motorcycle Designed and 3D Printed
KySat-2’s main mission is to be an educational tool and demonstration for the students working on the satellite. KySat-2 was designed, built, and tested entirely by students and engineers, with most of the subsystems designed in-house.
This video below offers a glimpse at the development, payload and launch of KySat-2.
3D Printing and Materials for Space Applications
CRP USA together with CRP Technology produced five Windform XT 2.0 parts that are incorporated into the deployable solar panels on the KySat-2; camera annulus, lens cover, deployable extensions, antenna clips, and battery holders.
One of the highest levels of Windform materials, Windform XT 2.0 is a high performance material filled with carbon fiber and offers maximum mechanical performance for 3D printed parts. The material combines maximum toughness and robustness, yet produces an extremely light, final part that doesn’t impact the overall production weight of the KySat-2 unit. Utilizing the additive manufactured technology, Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), and Windform XT 2.0 material final parts for small productions can easily replace parts that are usually produced with traditional technology, or are otherwise unmanufacturable.
This makes Windform a material that can stretch the limits of SLS applications, even in space applications.
Related Story: Do The Mutation: 3D Printed Masks Take Art to a New Level of Personal
Project Update
KySat-2 was launched on board a Minotaur I rocket built by Orbital Sciences. Typically, operational lifetime for a CubeSat is around 1 year due to radiation exposure and damage to the batteries. The KySat-2 will remain operational as long as the team is able to make reliable contact to the satellite. Testing has already begun on the subsystems and the team is hopeful they will be able to take pictures and download them from the spacecraft in the next few weeks.
Follow the progress at @KySpace
How NASA Plans to Use a Zero-Gravity 3D Printer in Space (Video)
NASA has announced that it will be sending the first 3D printer to space in August 2014. It’s not just a PR stunt, NASA sees real utility in having 3D printing capabilities on the International Space Station (ISS).
One benefit is creating replacement parts onsite. It is hard and expensive to send parts up to the space station. When something breaks, it may take months or years to replace. With a 3D printer, this can be shrunk to hours and digital designs can be sent from ground control.
Another project that is creating excitement is the KickSat cube satellites. Instead of sending full satellites up to space, astronauts can 3D print small, cube-shaped satellites, fit them with circuit boards, and literally toss them out the window of the space station.
3D printing in space is not easy, though. The way that plastic, or other materials, extrude and bind in zero gravity is different than on Earth. NASA has partnered with Made in Space, an organization that is composed of 3D printing experts and engineers, to develop the custom 3D printer for NASA. Made in Space has already tested their 3D printer on a parabolic flight and is scheduled to send it to space in August 2014.
Read: NASA and Made in Space Launch 3D Printing Space Experiment
Watch this new video from NASA to learn more and get a glimpse of the 3D printer model, which itself was 3D printed.
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ESA Announces The AMAZE Project to Bring Metal 3D Printing to Space
The European Space Agency (ESA) is making a major push into metal 3D printing
Today, at the London Science Museum, the ESA is showcasing complex 3D printed parts made of metal that can withstand temperatures at 1000°C – fit for space and the most demanding applications on Earth.
Moving from plastic to metal
3D printers are great from rapid prototyping or creating industrial objects out of plastic, but what about metal?
The ESA and the EU, together with industrial and educational partners, are developing the first large-scale production methods to 3D print with metal. This technology would allow the creation of complex objects in space — imagine full-scale systems like reactors or rockets.
“We want to build the best quality metal products ever made. Objects you can’t possibly manufacture any other way,” said David Jarvis, ESA Head of New Materials and Energy Research, in an interview with BBC.
Above: a titanium 3D printed structure
This novel technology offers many advantages. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, can create complex shapes that are impossible to manufacture with traditional casting and machining techniques. Little to no material is wasted and cutting the number of steps in a manufacturing chain offers enormous cost benefits.
The AMAZE project – Additive Manufacturing Aiming Towards Zero Waste & Efficient Production of High-Tech Metal Products – began in January and factory sites are being set up in France, Germany, Italy, Norway and the UK to develop the industrial supply chain.
Below is a video produced by the ESA.
NASA Tests 3D Printed Rocket Engine Injector
NASA calls 3D printing “game changing for new mission opportunities”
NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne of West Palm Beach, Fla., recently finished testing a 3D printed rocket engine injector.
This space technology demonstration may lead to more efficient manufacturing of rocket engines, saving American companies time and money.
NASA‘s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland conducted the successful tests for Aerojet Rocketdyne through a non-reimbursable Space Act Agreement.
A series of firings of a liquid oxygen and gaseous hydrogen rocket injector assembly demonstrated the ability to design, manufacture and test a highly critical rocket engine component using selective laser melting manufacturing technology. Aerojet Rocketdyne designed and fabricated the injector by a method that employs high-powered laser beams to melt and fuse fine metallic powders into three dimensional structures.
“NASA recognizes that on Earth and potentially in space, additive manufacturing can be game-changing for new mission opportunities, significantly reducing production time and cost by ‘printing’ tools, engine parts or even entire spacecraft,” said Michael Gazarik, NASA’s associate administrator for space technology in Washington. “3D manufacturing offers opportunities to optimize the fit, form and delivery systems of materials that will enable our space missions while directly benefiting American businesses here on Earth.”
This type of injector manufactured with traditional processes would take more than a year to make but with these new processes it can be produced in less than four months, with a 70 percent reduction in cost.
“Rocket engine components are complex machined pieces that require significant labor and time to produce. The injector is one of the most expensive components of an engine,” said Tyler Hickman, who led the testing at Glenn.
Aerojet Rocketdyne’s additive manufacturing program manager, Jeff Haynes, said the injector represents a significant advancement in application of additive manufacturing, most often used to make simple brackets and other less critical hardware. “The injector is the heart of a rocket engine and represents a large portion of the resulting cost of these systems. Today, we have the results of a fully additive manufactured rocket injector with a demonstration in a relevant environment.” he said.
Glenn and Aerojet Rocketdyne partnered on the project with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. At the Air Force lab, a unique high-pressure facility provided pre-test data early in the program to give insight into the spray patterns of additively manufactured injector elements.
“Hot fire testing the injector as part of a rocket engine is a significant accomplishment in maturing additive manufacturing for use in rocket engines,” said Carol Tolbert, manager of the Manufacturing Innovation Project at Glenn. “These successful tests let us know that we are ready to move on to demonstrate the feasibility of developing full-size, additively manufactured parts.”
For more information about Aerojet Rocketdyne, visit: http://www.rocket.com
For information about NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/glenn
For more information about the Air Force Research Laboratory, visit: http://www.afrl.af.mil
The Manufacturing Innovation Project is supported by the Game Changing Technology Program in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, which is innovating, developing, testing and flying hardware for use in NASA’s future missions. For more information about NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/spacetech
NASA and Made in Space Launch 3D Printing Space Experiment
3D Printing Coming to an International Space Station Near You
In the world of 3D printing, some of the most amazing and seemingly far-fetched ideas that have been dreamt up relate to how 3D printing could be used in space. We have published stories about research to 3D print a lunar base or repair a spacecraft.
Well, there’s more. NASA has partnered with Made in Space, Inc. to launch a joint initiative for the first 3D microgravity printing experiment to the International Space Station.
“As NASA ventures further into space, whether redirecting an asteroid or sending humans to Mars, we’ll need transformative technology to reduce cargo weight and volume,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said during a recent tour of the agency’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. “In the future, perhaps astronauts will be able to print the tools or components they need while in space.”
If successful, the 3D Printing in Zero G Experiment (3D Print) will be the first device to manufacture parts in space. 3D Print will use extrusion additive manufacturing, which builds objects, layer by layer, out of polymers and other materials. The 3D Print hardware is scheduled to be certified and ready for launch to the space station next year.
NASA is a government leader in 3D printing for engineering applications. The technology holds tremendous potential for future space exploration. One day, 3D printing may allow an entire spacecraft to be manufactured in space, eliminating design constraints caused by the challenges and mass constraints of launching from Earth. This same technology may help revolutionize American manufacturing and benefit U.S. industries.
“The president’s Advanced Manufacturing Initiative cites additive manufacturing, or ’3D printing,’ as one of the key technologies that will keep U.S. companies competitive and maintain world leadership in our new global technology economy,” said Michael Gazarik, NASA’s associate administrator for space technology in Washington. “We’re taking that technology to new heights, by working with Made in Space to test 3D printing aboard the space station. Taking advantage of our orbiting national laboratory, we’ll be able to test new manufacturing techniques that benefit our astronauts and America’s technology development pipeline.”
In addition to manufacturing spacecraft designs in orbit, 3D printers also could work with robotic systems to create tools and habitats needed for human missions to Mars and other planetary destinations. Housing and laboratories could be fabricated by robots using printed building blocks that take advantage of in-situ resources, such as soil or minerals. Astronauts on long-duration space missions also could print and recycle tools as they are needed, saving mass, volume and resources.
“The 3D Print experiment with NASA is a step towards the future,” said Aaron Kemmer, CEO of Made in Space. “The ability to 3D print parts and tools on demand greatly increases the reliability and safety of space missions while also dropping the cost by orders of magnitude. The first printers will start by building test items, such as computer component boards, and will then build a broad range of parts, such as tools and science equipment.”
Made in Space previously partnered with NASA through the agency’s Flight Opportunities Program to test its prototype 3D Print additive manufacturing equipment on suborbital simulated microgravity flights. NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program offers businesses and researchers the ability to fly new technologies to the edge of space and back for testing before launching them into the harsh space environment.
For this mission, Made in Space was awarded a Phase III small business innovation and research contract from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. After flight certification, NASA plans to ship 3D Print to the space station aboard an American commercial resupply mission. NASA is working with American industry to develop commercially-provided U.S. spacecraft and launch vehicles for delivery of cargo — and eventually crew — to the International Space Station.
For more information about Made in Space, visit: http://www.madeinspace.us
