How 3D Printing Could Help Keep the ISS In Orbit 200
Despite all the best intentions and meticulous overengineering, some of the equipment on spacecraft like the ISS inevitably breaks. An anonymous reader poses the question "Why carry out a very expensive launch into space to resupply the ISS, when astronauts could just manufacture replacement parts themselves?" Startup Made in Space is working on a space-oriented 3D printing system to make it easy to transmit the information needed to pop out complex shapes (as might be in delicate mechanical systems), but the founders are also talking about using 3D printers to jump-start construction if humans extend their presence from the Earth to other planets (or revisit the moon).
Re:Base materials (Score:4, Informative)
This. And it's something proponents of 3D printing regularly miss - there's more to a physical part than just it's shape. Things like conductivity, strength, creep resistance, reactivity, etc... etc.. matter. They matter a great deal, and it's why the ISS isn't all made of a single material to start with.
The counter to this argument is that you have to lift the parts too... but that leads to *another* thing that many people that have commented so far are missing - time. It takes time to print the part, while a spare can simply be unwrapped and installed straight away. With 3D printing, your MTTR (Mean Time To Repair) goes way, way up.
Re:Materials and Energy? (Score:5, Informative)
They're starting to use 3d printing in aircraft parts because they can print more complex, lighter and stronger shapes with the printers. This is being done with metal.
However, I've absolutely no doubt that the machines that are doing it are not the sort of thing that you'll be able to put on the ISS.
The moon, on the other hand, that's something worth considering.
Re:Idea (Score:5, Informative)
Volatile Organic Compounds are a huge problem in any sealed environment. Not only are there human health effects, but the effects on some delicate instruments and machinery can be quite severe. This is why there is a very tight list of approved materials that can be used for construction in human-rated space equipment.
That whole "new-car smell" is pretty toxic when that's all you're breathing.
Re:Materials (Score:5, Informative)
With 3D printing there is little to no waste. That's why it's called additive manufacturing.
The bigger issue is finishing, most 3D printed parts will need some. I'm sure they don't want metal or plastic filings floating around in the ISS, so that could be tricky.
Re:Idea (Score:5, Informative)
Cut a hole in one end for the airlock/docking unit. Leave it open to space for a month, and the hydrazine problem should mostly evaporate.
If there's still a bit of worry, then cover the hole, fill the tank with LOX and light a match, then repeat the "open to space, wait a month" thing.
All this assuming, of course, that they had hydrazine in the LOX/LH2 external tank, which they didn't.