The BuildUp | AM for Extreme Lattices: Surviving the Crash Landing From Mars
The most captivating part of the Mars Sample Return mission is the crash landing. NASA engineers think about that landing in this way: If the spacecraft that will transport Mars rocks back to earth in 2033 was to be equipped with a parachute, then engineers would have to plan for the potential failure of that chute as a contingency. VIEW THIS EMAIL IN BROWSER
The most captivating part of the Mars Sample Return mission is the crash landing.
NASA engineers think about that landing in this way: If the spacecraft that will transport Mars rocks back to earth in 2033 was to be equipped with a parachute, then engineers would have to plan for the potential failure of that chute as a contingency. So, given that the craft has to be ready for a crash landing anyway, why not just ditch the weight of the parachute and bank on the crash? Easy!
Additive manufacturing makes this possible. Lightweight lattice structures designed to crush on impact will protect the rock samples on arrival. For a bonus episode of The Cool Parts Show, we traveled to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to learn about this work, which involves more than 3D printing. Mars Sample Return protective lattices have also needed NASA-invented digital tools to design and simulate lattice forms, plus chemical etching to remove material from the 3D printed forms to make them even more lightweight still.
Then there is also the drop-tower-plus-bungee-cord system used to simulate a return-from-Mars crash landing. Learn all about this extreme lattice work: watch the episode.
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The Mars Perseverance Rover relies on 3D printed components — specifically, EBM parts supporting an X-ray lithochemistry device. As in the case above, part of postprocessing was getting the components even thinner and lighter than the initial 3D printing process was able to make them.
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EBM parts are on their way now to the asteroid Psyche, in the form of the structural node components on the spacecraft of the same name. The Psyche Spacecraft is expected to reach its namesake in 2029.
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What is the farthest additive manufacturing has traveled from earth? Answer: to Jupiter, via the EBM waveguide bracket on the Juno spacecraft. As you will see in the photo at that link, the AM part made in 2016 is rudimentary by today’s standards. By hey, it went the distance (literally).
Meanwhile, in planning for habitats on Mars, the better choice may be to simply send a 3D printer that can build using regolith, or the rock that is already waiting on that world.
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