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Apr 8, 2016 | By Alec

Futurists, riding the wave of recent technological advancements, are again dreaming of exploring space and colonizing Mars. Unfortunatey, one problem that held us back two decades ago is still holding us back today: costs. Building a tech institute can cost millions on earth, so one can only imagine what it would cost to build in space. NASA, which has been looking for a way to solve this by efficiently manufacturing structures in space with local materials, may have found the answer in 3D printing technologies. USC professor Behrokh Khoshnevis, who has developed a new 3D printing process called Selective Separation Sintering (SSS) that uses materials readily found on Mars as building material, has won first place in the NASA In-Situ Materials Challenge for his efforts.

This isn’t, of course, the first of NASA’s forays into 3D printing as NASA has kept a close eye on 3D printing applications, including for 3D printed metal engine parts for next-gen spacecraft. In last year’s NASA and America Makes’ 3D Printed Habitat Challenge, first prize was even won by a 3D printed ice house. Since then, NASA has continued to support space-bound manufacturing solutions its In-Situ Materials Challenge, held in collaboration with the Kennedy Space Center and Swamp Works. The goal? To advance construction in space (planetary or aboard spacecraft), using regolith, crushed basalt rock or other materials found on Mars and the moon. To do so, the Johnson Space Center provided synthetic materials that mirrored the qualities of those particles.

Behrokh Khoshnevis is no stranger to space-bound 3D printing either. As the Dean’s Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering, Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering and Astronautics Engineering, and director of the Center for Rapid Automated Fabrication Technologies at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering, he even won a NASA Innovative Advanced Concept competition in 2014. His winning project, Contour Crafting, developed a mega-scale 3D printing process that uses a mix of sulfur and regolith to build structures – for instance on the moon.

While Contour Crafting was suitable for very large scale monolithic structures, this new Selective Separation Sintering (SSS) is far more widely applicable. Essentially, it’s a powder-based method for building smaller objects, such as bricks or interlocking tiles, but can also be used for more functional objects such as metallic components. Featuring a robotic fabrication process that uses high melting-point ceramics, such as magnesium oxide (very common on Mars and the moon), and planetary soil, it is perfect for objects with high heat and pressure resistance properties. “SSS is the only powder-based process that can effectively work in zero gravity condition and as such it is ideal for use in the International Space Station for fabrication of spare parts and tools,” Khoshnevis said.

Most importantly, it’s far cheaper than launching existing parts to Mars. Some estimates suggest it could cost up to $100,000 to send a one-kilogram load to the moon (let alone to Mars), so the professor feels that this is can be a huge cost saver. “It could make space pioneering more cost-effective and feasible,” he said. “There are no viable, direct, high-temperature metal, ceramic or composite fabrication methods that can work in zero-gravity conditions. SSS will be the first such process.”

Aside from that, it is also a very useful technology. It functions at a very high speed, doesn’t require any expensive laser or electron technologies, and certainly rivals (or exceeds) existing technologies in terms of accuracy. “There is high potential for the space and planetary use of this technology. SSS is a minimally complex but highly capable technology that can effectively assist planetary exploration, utilization and colonization,” he said.

For more technical details on this intriguing space-bound 3D printing technology, check out Khoshnevis’ open-access paper Selective Separation Sintering (SSS) A New Layer Based Additive Manufacturing Approach for Metals and Ceramics, available through the website of the 2016 Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium. Khoshnevis and his team, meanwhile, will be working to further test and optimize the SSS 3D printing process in the vacuum chamber of USC’s Astronautics Rocket Lab and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center facilities. They are also looking to collaborate with LA aerospace companies. Could this be the technology that takes us to Mars?

 

 

Posted in 3D Printing Technology

 

 

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