Manufacturing in Space Milestone
Credit: Nanoracks
Nanoracks and Maxar; $MAXR, performed a first ever manufacturing demo of cutting structural metal in space. This is the first Outpost demonstration mission, called Outpost Mars Demo-1 (OMD-1) created to demonstrate on-orbit, debris-free, robotic metal cutting. The friction milling uses a cutting tool that in essence, melts the metal in such a way, no debris is generated.
The demonstration occurred in about 9 minutes into flight, had about one hour to complete cutting three pieces of metal, made of corrosion resistant steel.
The equipment launched to space on SpaceX‘s Transporter 5 on May 25th, 2022 as part of SpaceX’s fifth dedicated rideshare program mission, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
“This successful demonstration of cutting metal in orbit marks a significant milestone in the journey to building infrastructure in space,” said Marshall Smith, Nanoracks Senior Vice President of Space Systems. “We will dig into why the two extra coupons were not cut. This is exactly why we test, examine, and test again when forging new technology in space. With the lessons we’ve learned so far, we are incredibly eager to make the necessary adjustments to be able to conduct another metal cutting experiment in the near future.”
Please visit the blog post for even more information about this important first in space manufacturing!
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