Today, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) has announced a new program to advance “Tipping Point” technologies that will bring on a new era of space exploration and commercial endeavors. And, while all 22 of the partnerships the space agency has partnered with 22 U.S. companies to drive the creation of new space technologies, one of the most exciting might be来自太空制造的项目建议. The Archinaut project will see Made In Space work with Northrop Grumman and Oceaneering Space Systems to create the first system for 3D printing and assembling large structures in space, without direct, manual intervention on the part of an astronaut.
今年早些时候，在太空制造能够证明该公司有能力3D打印在真空中, providing them with the evidence needed to go ahead and与Nanoracks合作到国际空间站上的3D打印立方体带有新的Lowe的添加剂制造工厂，将于2016年上半年推出。随着Archinaut，他们现在将能够超越小型立方体和3D打印，更大，更复杂的结构。太空主席安德鲁·拉什（Andrew Rush）谈到新闻时说，“Archinaut is being designed from the ground up to be a truly cross-cutting technology, providing entirely new space capabilities for NASA and other government missions as well as both pre-existing commercial satellite manufacturers and emerging commercial space platforms.”
Together with Northrop Grumman and Oceaneering Space Systems, the company will work to first perform technology demonstrations as a part of their Phase I program, before, ultimately, aiming for 3D printing and assembling unlaunchable structures in space, including large-scale antennas and even base stations. Made In Space will, naturally, be providing their space-based 3D printing expertise, while Northrop Grumman will lend its knowledge around electronic interfaces and external thermal control analysis and Oceaneering Space Systems will go to work on designing and constructing the Archinaut’s manipulator arm.
Mike Snyder, Co-Founder and Chief Engineer for Made In Space, comments,“In addition to transforming the current state-of-the-art for space manufacturing, the development of the Archinaut capability will be a great opportunity for Made In Space to collaborate with established space companies which possess complimentary resources and proven expertise.”
Jason Dunn, Co-Founder and CTO of Made In Space, adds,“ Archinaut是将大规模制造到太空的路线图上的主要里程碑。这一公告是自公司成立以来一直在进行的技术开发的结果，并为公共和私营部门的情况奠定了基础。”
除了Archinaut项目外，NASA还为其他一些转折点和协作机会计划提供资金，这些计划范围从轨道ATK到纳米质量，小型航天器，火箭发动机和绿色推进剂的额外空间制造项目。要查看项目的完整列表，在此处查看NASA新闻稿并准备提升！
