metal 3d printing readied for ISS

http://aviationweek.com/space/metal-...es-readied-iss

This machine has the unique ability to not only 3D print metal, but to
machine the printed part to precise tolerances. In other words, you'd
print the shape (which isn't terribly precise with metal), and then mill
the connection points with precision.

Unfortunately, according to the article, "It is not yet certain when
Vulcan might launch to the station." So, it's quite hard to tell from
this article exactly how close they are to actually flying the machine
to ISS for testing.

How this all works in zero gravity will be quite interesting to see.

Jeff
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On 11/20/2017 9:20 AM, Jeff Findley wrote:

http://aviationweek.com/space/metal-...es-readied-iss

This machine has the unique ability to not only 3D print metal, but to
machine the printed part to precise tolerances. In other words, you'd
print the shape (which isn't terribly precise with metal), and then mill
the connection points with precision.

Unfortunately, according to the article, "It is not yet certain when
Vulcan might launch to the station." So, it's quite hard to tell from
this article exactly how close they are to actually flying the machine
to ISS for testing.

How this all works in zero gravity will be quite interesting to see.

Jeff


I suspect the milling operation is conducted with some time of
uni-directional air flow to keep the shavings confined. You certainly
wouldn't want conductive metal shavings drifting around the ISS!

Dave