How Made In Space's 3-D Printer Could Revolutionize the Final Frontier

What a calm, measured, competent, and technical response - refreshing change of pace from the tech media. Good quote:

"Many of the claims made in the popular press about this technology have been exaggerated." said Robert Latiff, chair of the committee that wrote the report, president of Latiff Associates, and a former Air Force Major General. "For in-space use, the technology may provide new capabilities, but it will serve as one more tool in the toolbox, not a magic solution to tough space operations and manufacturing problems. However, right now NASA and the Air Force have a tremendous resource in the form of the International Space Station," Latiff added. "Perfecting this technology in space will require human interaction, and the Space Station already provides the infrastructure and the skilled personnel who can enable that to happen."

Additive manufacturing is the process of joining materials -- usually layer upon layer -- to make objects from 3-D model data. The addition of material one layer at a time, placed in very specific regions, significantly reduces the amount of waste created during production. Additive manufacturing offers unique economic incentives for space operations by cutting raw material costs, reducing payload sizes, and eliminating the need to frequently launch spare or replacement parts into orbit. Although additive manufacturing is a fairly mature technology for components that can be manufactured on the ground, its application in space is not feasible today, except for very limited and experimental purposes, the report says.

The committee found that multiple limitations preclude fully automated additive manufacturing in space from becoming an immediate reality. The vacuum of space, zero gravity, and intense thermal fluctuations all pose extreme and harsh environmental obstacles. These factors are important not only in terms of completing the manufacturing process but also in how they can alter the integrity of the final product.

They may be cautiously trying to counter growing opinion that all future space missions will need to do is upload a 3D printer and some extruding plastic rods, and they'll be all set, whereas we haven't yet adequately tested the strength and resistance of materials extruded in low gravity and we still need to focus on being prepared and thinking ahead. How intelligent.

I'm going to have to add the National Academies to my RSS reader. I'm getting tired of all the hype in the media and am glad to listen to people who think carefully through problems before speaking.

(Great article, by the way - thanks for posting it).