3D Printing in Space (2014) / Chapter Skim
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The realities of what can be accomplished today, using this technology on the ground, demonstrate the substantial gaps between the vision for additive manufacturing in space and the limitations of the technology and the progress that has to be made to develop it for space use. What can be accomplished in the far future depends on many factors, including decisions made today by NASA and the Air Force.1 When looking at the potential values of in-space additive manufacturing, the Committee on Space-Based Additive Manufacturing found that ground-based additive manufacturing for aerospace systems has more immediate and long-term impacts to reduce cost and increase performance of space systems, as well as establish the technical basis of later, space-based additive manufacturing.
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The Air Force Space Command, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate charged the National Research Council with evaluating the prospects of in-space additive manufacturing. After examining the various technologies available and in development and hearing from a wide range of experts on the subject, the committee concluded that in-space additive manufacturing is likely to have a significant impact on crewed space operations.
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This led the committee to its first recommendation. Recommendation: NASA and the Air Force should jointly cooperate -- and possibly involve addi tional parties, including other government agencies as well as industry -- to research, identify, develop, and gain consensus on standard qualification and certification methodologies for different applications.
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In some cases, it may be possible to reduce costs by eliminating the requirement to launch spare or replacement parts into orbit. Recommendation: As the technology evolves and when projects utilizing this technology are consid ered, NASA and the Air Force should jointly undertake a cost-benefit analysis of the role of space based additive manufacturing in the construction of smaller, more reliable, less massive satellite systems or their key components.
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NASA should build on the considerable experience gained from its Space Technology Roadmaps. The space-based additive manufacturing roadmap objectives should include, but not be limited to the following: • Developing goals for using the technology to assist the agency in meeting its key missions, covering all appropriate mission directorates, especially long-duration human spaceflight and planetary operations, which would require defining, understanding, evaluating, and prioritizing the direct and supporting technologies for autonomously or minimally attended space-based additive manufacturing, and robotic precursor and free-flyer missions; • Identifying flight opportunities, such as on the International Space Station, during its next decade of operations, • Targeting the full technology-development life-cycle and insertion strategies through 2050, aligned with target agency missions, for all appropriate mission directorates, and related collaborations; and
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To prevent duplication of effort, the government-led consortium America Makes can serve a clearinghouse role by creating an additive manufacturing in space working group that includes participation from government, industry, academia, and international partners. Both NASA and the Air Force could be active leaders within the working group and ensure that each builds on the knowledge of the broader additive manufacturing community.
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The space-based additive manufacturing roadmap should include, but not be limited to the following: • Developing goals for using the technology in key Air Force missions, especially for autonomously or minimally attended, space-based additive manufacturing and free-flyer missions; • Identifying flight opportunities, including those on non-Air Force platforms, such as the International Space Station, during its next decade of operations; and • Targeting the full technology-development life-cycle and insertion strategies through 2050, aligned with Air Force missions, and related collaborations. Although the Air Force's path forward is not clear, the military can capitalize on the fact that NASA has already developed some of the infrastructure that will make it easier for the Air Force to research the potential capabilities of space-based additive manufacturing and is already engaged in current research of its own.
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Chapter 3 addresses the many technical and manufacturing issues that must be addressed, both terrestrially and extra-terrestrially, before creating and utilizing additive manufacturing in a space environment. Finally, Chapters 4 and 5 outline the next steps for NASA and the Air Force.
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