Rocket Science for the Rest of Us

3D printing technology has been around for only a few years, but the possibilities are fantastic!  NASA has been experimenting with 3D printers to make spare parts in the ISS, and now they've funded a project to build spacecraft in space out of materials from space.



"The "SpiderFab" project received $100,000 from NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program to hammer out a design and figure out whether spacecraft self-construction makes business sense. Practical planning and additional funding could lead to the launch of a 3D-printing test mission within several years," according to Space News.

Photo from Space News.  Credit Unlimited Tethers.

It could prove to be a significant cost cutter and a major step toward pushing us further into the solar system and eventually out of it.  The biggest expense and manufacturing problem with spacecraft is escaping Earth's orbit.  See The "Tyranny of the Rocket Equation" by astronaut Don Pettit in the Fall 2012 issue of Ad Astra for more details.  Not only do we end up using most of the rocket's mass for fuel to get it into space, we also have to manufacture our craft to be able to withstand Earth's gravity and the stress of leaving our atmosphere, which means sturdier and heavier than it made need for its space mission.  Build it in space, and you can build lighter--plus you need only send the building bot up, which experts say may not need to be larger than a cubesat, smaller than one of the standard $15 mailing box you get at the post office.

In theory, if you have intricate enough plans and a good enough printer with access to the correct materials, you will be able to make the entire ship from scratch.  We're a long way from that, but imagine building the structure of the ship, then astronauts finishing the job with components sent up from Earth.  It's an exciting first start.

Speaking of 3D technologies, there is a company, RocketCrafters, that is working on using 3D printers to print solid rocket fuel.  It allows for better control of the shape of the fuel, which can mean better control of the spacecraft.  More on that another time.

Obviously, if we're going to go out into space on a more permanent basis, we need to have suits that will protect us from the environment.  That means not only oxygen, but protection from extremes of temperature and the effect of microgravity.  Until now, we've had "gas bag" type space suits, but there may be something new and more comfortable on the way.

Here's a cool video explaining how a standard spacesuit looks, feels and works:  Efficient but bulky.  (and here's a "fun fact":  one of the most common injuries sustained in EVA suits are hand related, especially fingernails falling off from the trauma of pressure against the hard "thimbles" on the fingertips.  (Good thing my man has nibbled his past the quick.  Point in his favor for astronaut!))

Researchers are looking into an alternative--the Muscular Counterpressure (MCP) suit.  This design has been in the works for at least a decade, and imagined long before that.  (For sci-fi fans, Jerry Pournelle used these suits in Exiles to Glory.)  These suits use the material itself instead of air to provide the pressure to protect you from vacuum.  Here's another cool video explaining it.  And if you really want to know more, you can find a thesis from 2005 here and a recent article here.

What could be more representative of the American space program? Yet  it is so much more!

When I told one of my friends that I was creating a blog about the space industry, she asked, "Is there a space industry after Obama killed NASA?"


First, let's assume for this article, we're talking about manned space and exploration, rather than the thriving industry of putting satellites into orbit so we can get better cell phone reception.


She's referring to Obama's 2010 budget proposal that cancelled the Constellation program, which was supposed to replace the space shuttle and eventually get us to the moon (2020.)  Here's an article in Discovery about it.  And another in Scientific American.  This might indeed seem a death knell for space, or at least for manned space, but there are several things to consider.


First, the Constellation program was already overbudget and experiencing a lot of technical problems.  (Universe  Today reported in Feb 1, 2010, "Also, its estimate costs through 2015 have risen from $28 billion in 2006 to $44 billion today.")  There was also doubts about it being able to meet its deadlines of manned flight by 2015 and the moon by 2020.


What about the shuttle?  It was simply at the end of its life.  The technology was so old, that to repair the shuttle, NASA was having to search the Internet for spare parts.  President Bush actually canceled the shuttle program because we couldn't physically support the craft any longer.  


However, at the same time that President Obama called for the cancellation of the program, he recommended increasing NASA's budget for it to concentrate on other things--increasing the life of the ISS, promoting innovation and technologies, and exploring further on.   As columnist Phil Plait said, "NASA can concentrate on what it should: innovation, pushing the limits, paving the road. Once the road is laid, let others use it."


So, are there others to use the road?  Let's start with the fact that the ISS is International, and other nations have been servicing it, including the European Space Agency and the Russians, who are--or rather were--flying the astronauts to the station when the Shuttle wasn't.  (They recently had trouble with their Soyuz capsules, and now we're not sure we will keep astronauts on the station--weep!--but that's another story.)  So the space industry as a whole will continue, even if NASA died, which it isn't.


In addition, American commercial space is growing--and Obama has given it a nice void to fill.  There are already many companies striving to fulfill the dream of manned space:

• Armadillo Aerospace (suborbital focused)
• Bigelow 
• Blue Origin (suborbital focused)
• Boeing
• Orbital
• Sierra Nevada Corp
• Space X
• United Launch Alliance (serves the military; not sure they're looking at manned)
• Virgin Galactic (suborbital focused)

(Rob gave me this list.  If we missed any, let me know.)  There are also a lot of budding industries to build the craft, make the fuel, create the engines, etc.


Later this week, I'll share an article about how some of these companies are already moving into Cape Canaveral (or negotiating to).  But for now, the answer to my friend's question is, "Yes, Virginia, there still is a space industry."

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after its test mission.

* Since I have a follower named Virginia, I'd like to state for the record that she did not ask this, but I could not resist the play off the title.