Emailing a wrench to ISS
Having overheard an ISS astronaut mention the need for a particular type of wrench, the company that made the 3D printer on the station immediately worked up a design and emailed that to him, allowing him to print it up.
No word on whether the astronaut actually printed it, but it seems to me that he should do so immediately, then test its use.
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Having overheard an ISS astronaut mention the need for a particular type of wrench, the company that made the 3D printer on the station immediately worked up a design and emailed that to him, allowing him to print it up.
No word on whether the astronaut actually printed it, but it seems to me that he should do so immediately, then test its use.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
IIRC, one of the media reports had a picture of an astronaut on ISS with said “wrench”.
since it is made out of relatively soft plastic, kind of a poor material for a tool, it takes a bit of imagination to see what a big deal this is. But it is in fact, a big deal. Printing (and other local production methods) parts and tools is a crucial enabling technology for long duration space missions.
Seems like ISS would have a 3D printer that uses metal of some kind as its production material.
Everything with time, D.K.. There are many parts that can break on ISS, and it has been figured that about 86% are plastic. Thermoplastic plastic thread melts at a far lower temperature than most metals, and can be composed of components that won’t muck up the atmospheric life support system.
Metals require far more energetic lasers or even electron beams to melt, can oxidize to airborne components that muck up life support, are a danger inside ISS habitats if their hotter melted state gets loose, and require vacuum chambers to keep oxidation from becoming a problem. Metal 3d printing *will* begin to be used in orbit when an electron beam system can be mounted to the *outside* of a space station, with an airlock for bringing finished pieces inside without a spacewalk. Then, much larger pieces can be printed as well, for use outside a space station, without a spacewalk to assemble them from pieces.