NASA just emailed a new socket wrench to the space station

[3t3]

FYI - see below.

-- 
     Terry McCarty
    3t3 at comcast.net
        wa5nti



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Fwd: NASA just emailed the space station a new socket wrench
Date: 	Sat, 20 Dec 2014 19:13:33 -0600
From: 	Gil Carman <gil77546 at sbcglobal.net>
To: 	Terry McCarty <3t3 at comcast.net>




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From:.net
To: .net
Subject: FW: NASA just emailed the space station a new socket wrench
Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 15:00:10 -0600

 


  NASA just emailed the space station a new socket wrench

What began as a simple CAD file on computers back on Earth, is now a 
usable plastic wrench aboard the International Space Station.

By Brooks Hays <http://www.upi.com/author/Brooks-Hays/>   |   Dec. 19, 
2014 at 3:50 PM

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Astronauts on the International Space 
Station have a new socket wrench. But it didn't come via cargo ship. It 
was emailed from planet Earth -- beamed up into space and then printed 
by the ISS crew using their new 3-D printer.

In late September, space's first zero-gravity 3-D printer was delivered 
to the International Space Station by a SpaceX resupply mission. In 
November, astronauts finally got around to assembling the machine 
<http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2014/11/18/Space-station-gets-zero-gravity-3-D-printer/7551416340216/>, 
designed and manufactured by California-based company Made In Space. 
Astronauts successfully tested the printer in late November, and now the 
new technology is being used with a purpose.

NASA predicted that ISS might become a machine shop with arrival of the 
new printer. And sure enough, the first printed product of note is a 
ratcheting socket wrench. It's the first time hardware has ever been 
emailed into space.

"If the printer is successful, it will not only serve as the first 
demonstration of additive manufacturing in microgravity, but it also 
will bring NASA and Made In Space a big step closer to evolving in-space 
manufacturing for future missions to destinations such as an asteroid 
and Mars," NASA wrote in a September blog post 
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/3D_in_space/>.

What began as a simple CAD file on computers back on Earth, created by 
engineers and computer scientists at Made In Space, is now a usable 
plastic wrench aboard the International Space Station.
"On the ISS, this type of technology translates to lower costs for 
experiments, faster design iteration, and a safer, better experience for 
the crew members, who can use it to replace broken parts or create new 
tools on demand," Mike Chen, Made In Space founder, wrote on Medium's 
Backchannel 
<https://medium.com/backchannel/how-we-email-hardware-to-space-7d46eed00c98>. 


"When we do set up the first human colonies on the moon, Mars and 
beyond," Chen added, "we won't use rockets to bring along everything we 
need. We'll build what we need there, when we need it."                 
                  

© 2014 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

 

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