Engineers send 3D printer into space

Think about a crew of astronauts headed to Mars. About 140 million miles away from Earth, they uncover their spacecraft has a cracked O-ring. However as an alternative of counting on a dwindling cache of spare elements, what if they may merely fabricate any half they wanted on demand?

A crew of Berkeley researchers, led by Ph.D. pupil Taylor Waddell, might have taken a large leap towards making this selection a actuality. On June 8, they despatched their 3D printing technology to space for the primary time as a part of the Virgin Galactic 07 mission.

Their next-generation microgravity printer—dubbed SpaceCAL—spent 140 seconds in suborbital space whereas aboard the VSS Unity space aircraft. In that brief time span, it autonomously printed and post-processed a total of 4 check elements, together with space shuttles and benchy collectible figurines from a liquid plastic known as PEGDA.

“SpaceCAL carried out properly beneath microgravity conditions in previous checks aboard parabolic flights, nevertheless it nonetheless had one thing to show,” stated Waddell. “This newest mission … allowed us to validate the readiness of this 3D printing know-how for space journey.”

He added, “We hope that sometime it could be used to fabricate every part from elements and instruments for spacecraft to new contact lenses and dental crowns for crew members.”

3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, has developed significantly because it was first patented within the Nineteen Eighties. Hayden Taylor, affiliate professor of mechanical engineering, led a crew of UC Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore Nationwide Laboratory (LLNL) researchers that invented Computed Axial Lithography (CAL) know-how in 2017.

This new kind of additive manufacturing, which makes use of gentle to form solid objects out of a viscous liquid, expanded the vary of printable geometries and considerably elevated the pace at which 3D elements could possibly be printed. And it functioned properly in microgravity circumstances, opening the door to purposes associated to space exploration.

CAL know-how can be what introduced Waddell to Berkeley to pursue his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. As an undergraduate on the College of Wisconsin, Madison, and a Pathways Engineer at NASA, Waddell grew to become captivated by 3D printing—from its seemingly magical skill to remodel an thought right into a bodily type, to its affordability and accessibility.

Upon studying about CAL, he reached out to Taylor and shortly discovered himself at Berkeley. There, he spent numerous hours in Taylor’s lab, working with different pupil researchers on new methods to leverage this know-how for the larger good.

Reaching new heights

CAL stands aside from different 3D printing applied sciences due to its unimaginable pace—creating elements in as little as 20 seconds—and effectivity. By enabling astronauts to print elements shortly in an emergency and on demand, CAL probably eliminates the necessity to convey hundreds of spare elements on long-duration space missions.

“You may scale back that upmass, make these missions go quicker and scale back danger by bringing manufacturing applied sciences with you,” stated Waddell.

As well as, CAL’s distinctive skill to print properly in microgravity circumstances permits engineers to discover the bounds of 3D printing from space.

“With CAL, we had been in a position to display—first on these zero-G[ravity] missions and now on this spaceflight—that we will print elements in microgravity that aren’t potential on Earth,” stated Waddell.

Up to now, CAL has proven that it could efficiently print with greater than 60 completely different supplies on Earth, corresponding to silicons, glass composites and biomaterials. In keeping with Waddell, this versatility might turn out to be useful for each the cabin and the crew.

“So, with the cabin, in case your spacecraft is breaking down, you possibly can print O-rings or mechanical mounts and even instruments,” he stated. “However CAL can be able to repairing the crew. We will print dental replacements, pores and skin grafts or lenses, or issues personalised in emergency drugs for astronauts, which is essential in these missions, too.”

Sometime, CAL could also be used to print much more subtle elements, corresponding to human organs. LLNL has obtained a grant from NASA to check this know-how on the Worldwide Area Station.

“They’ll mainly do bioprinting on the Area Station,” stated Waddell. “And the lengthy, long-term purpose is to print organs up in space with CAL, then convey them again all the way down to Earth.”

Subsequent, Waddell and his colleagues hope to start work with NASA on growing and validating a single object that might help crew well being and wellness, like a dental crown for an astronaut or a surgical wound closure device.

“These experiments are actually targeted on pushing know-how for the betterment of everybody,” stated Waddell. “Though it is for space, there are at all times tons of how it could profit folks again right here on Earth.”

It is also the kind of know-how that the Berkeley Area Middle envisions being developed at its new 36-acre campus presently beneath growth. The Berkeley Area Middle will likely be a house for innovation and entrepreneurship, bringing collectively applied sciences developed by NASA and UC Berkeley, and commercialized by non-public trade.

“Think about a spot the place non-public firms can take innovations like these created by Taylor Waddell and make it potential for these essential discoveries to interrupt out of the lab and into the general public realm,” stated Darek DeFreece, a regent emeritus of the College of California and the pinnacle of UC Berkeley’s efforts to develop the Berkeley Area Middle. “We had been cheering as we watched the historic Virgin Galactic 07 flight.”

A collaborative effort

In some ways, the June 8 space mission was a end result of years of analysis by all the scholars in Hayden Taylor’s nanoscale manufacturing lab. Collectively, they’re pushing the boundaries of a comparatively new know-how to see what is feasible.

“This venture is constructed on a crew of many, many individuals,” stated Waddell, together with pupil researchers Dillon Balk, Skyler Chan, Sean Chu, Brian Chung, Ameera Elgonemy, Jacob Gottesman, Anthony Moody, Jake Nickel, Dylan Potter, Austin Portinause, Anusri Sreenath and Audrey Younger.

He additionally credit his advisor for offering essential help and the chance to take an energetic function within the evolution of CAL know-how.

“Hayden is without doubt one of the finest PIs on the market. He provides me the duty to decide on the place I need to push this analysis,” stated Waddell. “Along with his final three SpaceCAL missions, he lets me lead them, from deciding who to rent and what we need to analysis to planning the entire journey. He actually lets me be the place I am most passionate and use him because the useful resource to make that occur.”

Virgin Galactic performed a pivotal function in taking this venture to the following stage. “The crew at Virgin Galactic helped us every step of the way in which, particularly throughout the week getting ready for the rocket launch,” stated Waddell.

“There have been lots of wonderful engineers and passionate individuals who wished to ensure that we had been profitable.”