Based on Auburn College, Masoud Mahjouri-Samani and his staff have efficiently examined a nanoparticle 3D printer aboard a NASA-sponsored zero-gravity flight.
The compact system, referred to as LASED (Laser Ablation and Sintering Allow Deposition), was flown in Could aboard a modified Boeing 727 close to Salina, Kansas. Throughout roughly 30 parabolic arcs — every simulating 23 to 25 seconds of microgravity — the machine printed with no hitch. “This was a one-shot win. From the very first parabola, the machine printed fantastically. That stage of success on a primary flight is extraordinarily uncommon,” Mahjouri-Samani mentioned.
The flight was a part of the $870,000 NASA-funded mission, “In House Dry Printing Electronics and Semiconductor Gadgets.” The purpose: to allow astronauts to print electronics on demand — together with antennas, sensors, and displays — while not having shipments from Earth. “In house, you need to print what you want, while you want it,” he defined.
The LASED system, simply 24 inches per aspect and drawing below 500 watts, integrates nanoparticle era, nozzle-based supply, and sintering — all absolutely automated. “It’s a completely practical machine. All the things is built-in. You possibly can program it to finish advanced duties in 20 seconds,” he mentioned.
The machine was additionally engineered for space-rigors, examined to tolerate as much as 18Gs. Efficiency exceeded expectations. “Different techniques typically want a number of flights to even get one usable print,” he mentioned. “Ours labored completely on parabola one.” With time to spare, the staff printed additional samples — foundational circuit patterns — to verify consistency and accuracy.
The Auburn College staff has submitted a post-flight technical report back to NASA, with a full comparative examine forthcoming. “The abstract is… the machine works extraordinarily properly in zero gravity,” mentioned Mahjouri-Samani. “What we printed up there was both equal to, or in some instances higher, than what we printed on Earth.”
“Subsequent yr, we’re going to attempt printing semiconductors,” mentioned Mahjouri-Samani. “This was one small step for our printer, one big leap for space-based fabrication.”
