1. 16:08 14th Sep 2012

    Notes: 13

    Tags: TechnologyTechScienceSpaceSpace Exploration3D PrintingSpace Junk

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    “SpiderFab” Proposes to 3D-Print Spacecraft In Orbit From Recycled Space Junk Spacecraft could build themselves or huge space telescopes someday by scavenging materials from space junk or asteroids. That wild vision stems from a modest proposal to use 3D printing technology aboard a tiny satellite to create a much larger structure in space. The “SpiderFab” project received $100,000 from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program to hammer out a design and figure out whether spacecraft self-construction makes business sense. Practical planning and additional funding could lead to the launch of a 3D-printing test mission within several years. “We’d like someday to be able to have a spacecraft create itself entirely from scratch, but realistically that’s quite a ways out,” said Robert Hoyt, CEO and chief scientist of Tethers Unlimited Inc. “That’s still science fiction.” (via NASA Turns to 3D Printing for Self-Building Spacecraft | Unlimited Tethers | Innovationnewsdaily.com)

    “SpiderFab” Proposes to 3D-Print Spacecraft In Orbit From Recycled Space Junk

    Spacecraft could build themselves or huge space telescopes someday by scavenging materials from space junk or asteroids. That wild vision stems from a modest proposal to use 3D printing technology aboard a tiny satellite to create a much larger structure in space.

    The “SpiderFab” project received $100,000 from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program to hammer out a design and figure out whether spacecraft self-construction makes business sense. Practical planning and additional funding could lead to the launch of a 3D-printing test mission within several years.

    “We’d like someday to be able to have a spacecraft create itself entirely from scratch, but realistically that’s quite a ways out,” said Robert Hoyt, CEO and chief scientist of Tethers Unlimited Inc. “That’s still science fiction.”

    (via NASA Turns to 3D Printing for Self-Building Spacecraft | Unlimited Tethers | Innovationnewsdaily.com)

     
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