SDSU students to develop 3D printing materials for International Space Station
South Dakota State University is one of 10 university teams selected to work on technologies to support NASA’s deep space exploration capabilities.
South Dakota State University (SDSU, Brookings, SD, US) announced on Aug. 3 it is one of 10 university teams selected to work on technologies to support NASA’s deep space exploration capabilities as part of the eXploration Systems and Habitation Academic Innovation Challenge, also known as X-Hab.
Mechanical engineering students at SDSU will help develop 3D printing materials that may one day be used at the International Space Station through a one-year, $25,000 NASA grant, according to assistant professor Todd Letcher.
A select team of four or five senior design students will collaborate with NASA, along with input from commercial partner Made In Space (Mountain View, CA, US), to develop and test innovative feedstock materials that can be 3D printed in space. Materials that show potential will then be used to print real-life objects, such as brackets, containers or wrenches, Letcher explains.
Other participating universities include the University of Michigan, University of Maryland and The Ohio State University.
Related Content
-
Industrializing additive manufacturing in the defense/aerospace sector
GA-ASI demonstrates a path forward for the use of additive technologies for composite tooling, flight-qualified parts.
-
The next-generation single-aisle: Implications for the composites industry
While the world continues to wait for new single-aisle program announcements from Airbus and Boeing, it’s clear composites will play a role in their fabrication. But in what ways, and what capacity?
-
Next-generation airship design enabled by modern composites
LTA Research’s proof-of-concept Pathfinder 1 modernizes a fully rigid airship design with a largely carbon fiber composite frame. R&D has already begun on higher volume, more automated manufacturing for the future.