Unveiling the Revolutionary 3D-Printed Satellite from Planetary Resources

7 responses to “Unveiling the Revolutionary 3D-Printed Satellite from Planetary Resources”

1. 

   jurvetson

   Mar 28, 2014 at 2:30 am

   The other side, with telescope / laser coms face: and I caught a glimpse of the mold at TED last week in a talk by the 3D-printing tool maker:

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2. 

   obskura

   Mar 28, 2014 at 9:22 am

   Interesting! I am wondering though why to take the detour with the mold and not sinter directly in titanium?

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3. 

   jurvetson

   Mar 28, 2014 at 3:53 pm

   I am guessing this investment casting approach (using a 3D Systems printer) might be cheaper and faster, and the 25cm build envelope of direct titanium laser sintering would have to be overcome. In this specific context, pressure vessels are not easy, and manufacturing confidence is critical for range safety clearances. The range will probably need a lot of test data and handholding before approving a 3D-printed pressure vessel on a rocket.

   Now, here’s an interesting example of convergent evolution: Moon Express showed their new lunar lander design on a panel I moderated yesterday, and it has also moved to a torus (with composites).

   

   And zooming in on the MX-1
   

   The secondary payload interface constrains the height, and the design space started with traditional fuel tanks in a ring around a central engine (e.g., Armadillo’s Texel), and then someone thought of the advantages of a torus, and in the modern era, the benefits of 3D printing make it more compelling.

   Here is the prior Moon Ex design that they inherited from NASA
   

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4. 

   scleroplex

   Mar 28, 2014 at 6:37 pm

   impressive!

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5. 

   jgury

   Mar 30, 2014 at 11:20 am

   3d hybrid investment casting has much more artistic value too, cire perdue meets topology optimization
   sffsymposium.engr.utexas.edu/Manuscripts/2012/2012-11-Mei…

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6. 

   jhagerty52

   Apr 30, 2015 at 6:08 am

   As the Soviets used to say, "we invented it first."

   Here’s the "Block-D" stage developed for the N-1 moon rocket (still in use today as the top stage of the Proton booster).

   http://www.flickr.com/photos/31160766@N02/17131391380/

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7. 

   jurvetson

   Dec 3, 2015 at 5:21 pm

   Nice find. From your book, I presume. =))

   Meanwhile, mining is now barely legal.

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