{"id":30994,"date":"2018-11-13T00:59:35","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T05:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\/"},"modified":"2018-11-13T00:59:35","modified_gmt":"2018-11-13T05:59:35","slug":"to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\/","title":{"rendered":"To Infinity and Beyond \u2013 3D Printing in Space"},"content":{"rendered":"

Space travel is becoming both increasingly important and newsworthy as the 21st<\/sup> century accelerates towards the start of its third decade. Further, space exploration is no longer the sole domain of state-owned enterprises like NASA, with organizations such as SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic focused on leading the race to push humans further into the unknown. It is interesting to consider just how challenging it would be to hit one of the abovementioned firms\u2019 targets of commercial space travel or colonizing new planets, if feasible at all. Are celebrity entrepreneurs trying to push humanity or their personal brands forward?<\/p>\n

Taking aim at SpaceX, Elon Musk is set on Mars. How far away is Mars? It depends on the orbits of Earth and the Red Planet, but, give or take, it is roughly 56 million kilometers (34.8 million miles) away.1<\/sup> The longest commercial flight in the world is between Singapore and New York \u2013 10,357 miles.2<\/sup> Mars is 3,360 Singapore \u2013 New York flights. Packing the right tools for such a long, one-way trip can be tricky – a lot can go wrong on a trip to find other potentially inhabitable planets. The more complex the mission, the more contingencies one would have to plan for, the more technical equipment would have to be included and the increased (already limited) space to be used to house all these technical pieces. Space that could have been used for other important resources for the trip \u2013 say, oxygen.<\/p>\n

Enter Made In Space, a start-up that envisions \u201ca future where life and work in space are commonplace.\u201d3 <\/sup>3D printing on Earth relies on one critical, universal input \u2013 gravity. The absence of gravity in space should not be taken lightly when considering layering particles on top of each other in the hope they bind as intended. In order to combat this, Made In Space partnered with NASA in 2014 to evaluate the effect of microgravity on the fused deposition modelling (FDM) system.4<\/sup> To figure out the differences of printing on Earth and in space, the teams printed identical objects both at ground-level as well as on the International Space Station (ISS). Discrepancies between in the mechanical properties and specimen structures were studied, with follow-on studies developed to identify sources of variability.5<\/sup><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
[9]<\/figcaption><\/figure>As the team continues to make progress, ideation around the potential the technology has is on overdrive. CEO and co-founder of Made In Space, Aaron Kemmer, noted that \u201cthe possibilities range from building on-demand parts for human missions to building large space habitats that are optimized for space.\u201d6<\/sup> And in space, size matters: the bigger you can build the better for solar arrays that power technology in orbit, telescopes that explore the galaxy and satellites that deliver internet services to those of us down here. To manufacture these larger parts on Earth and send them into orbit is just not feasible, but Made In Space claim that they could do it by sending up a printer the size of a small refrigerator7<\/sup><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
[10]<\/figcaption><\/figure>This has the potential to change space exploration from both a cost and planning perspective. Before launching a mission to distant planets or galaxies, teams must carefully consider the entirety of the mission beforehand to ensure the requirements of whatever they are hoping to measure will be met by the tools they pack in. Going forward, it is possible that more spontaneous expeditions can be launched with shorter planning timelines protected by the assurance that as needs change, so can equipment.<\/p>\n

Although engineering is often front-of-mind when considering the challenges of space exploration, another problem is our own human condition. To address this a study on 3D printed surgical instruments was evaluated by a Mars simulation team in 2016. The four simulated surgical tasks conducted were all successfully completed by team members who had no prior surgical experience.8<\/sup><\/p>\n

Depending on your disposition, we are either extremely lucky or not to live in an era of technologies that will push humanity to never before imagined frontiers. As time passes, it will be interesting to see how the priorities of state-owned and private-sector space exploration companies differ. Who will win this new space race? Who will benefit most from which winners? And what rules are at play over ownership of whatever it is we find out there? It is not inconceivable to consider a future where private companies rival nation states when drawing borders on Mars, and we must ask what that means for the future of democracy when equity-protected commercial enterprises own and control civilizations? Humans have long adored a good competition, and this may just be the most exciting race yet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Word Count: 788)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1] Nola Taylor Redd, \u201cHow Long Does It Take To Get To Mars?\u201d, space.com, November 14, 2017, [URL], accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n

[2] Benjamin Zhang, \u201cThe 11 longest flights in the world, ranked\u201d, www.businesinsider.com, October 12, 2018, [URL], accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n

[3] Made In Space, \u201cMission\u201d, http:\/\/madeinspace.us\/mission\/, accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n

[4] Prater, Bean, Werkheiser, Beshears, Rolin, Rabenberg, . . . Bell. (2017). A Ground-Based Study on Extruder Standoff Distance for the 3D Printing in Zero Gravity Technology Demonstration Mission. NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI). Reports, NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI). Reports, Jun 1, 2017.<\/p>\n

[5] Prater, Bean, Werkheiser, Beshears, Rolin, Rabenberg, . . . Bell. (2017). A Ground-Based Study on Extruder Standoff Distance for the 3D Printing in Zero Gravity Technology Demonstration Mission. NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI). Reports, NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI). Reports, Jun 1, 2017.<\/p>\n

[6] Writers, S. 2011,\u00a03D Printing Now Possible in Zero-Gravity Conditions, Washington.<\/p>\n

[7] Oliva Solon, \u201c\u2019It\u2019s about expanding Earth\u2019: could we build cities in space?\u201d, www.theguardian.com, April 21, 2018, [URL], accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n

[8] Wong JY, Pfahnl AC.\u00a03D printed surgical instruments evaluated by a simulated crew of a Mars mission.\u00a0Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2016; 87(9):806\u2013810.<\/p>\n

[9] Image source: Oliva Solon, \u201c\u2019It\u2019s about expanding Earth\u2019: could we build cities in space?\u201d, www.theguardian.com, April 21, 2018, [URL], accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n

[10] Image source: Oliva Solon, \u201c\u2019It\u2019s about expanding Earth\u2019: could we build cities in space?\u201d, www.theguardian.com, April 21, 2018, [URL], accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They say it is not about the destination, but about the journey. What if that journey is designed to last forever?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11585,"featured_media":31019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[4102,4471,285,4226,96,453,911,1318,450,286],"class_list":["post-30994","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3dprinting","category-addititive-manufacturing","category-aerospace","category-blue-origin","category-elon-musk","category-international-space-station","category-jeff-bezos","category-mars","category-nasa","category-spacex","hck-taxonomy-organization-made-in-space","hck-taxonomy-industry-aerospace","hck-taxonomy-country-united-states"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/rc-tom-challenge-2018\/","yoast_head":"\nTo Infinity and Beyond \u2013 3D Printing in Space - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"To Infinity and Beyond \u2013 3D Printing in Space - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"They say it is not about the destination, but about the journey. What if that journey is designed to last forever?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/Space-2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1654\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1082\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\\\/\",\"name\":\"To Infinity and Beyond \u2013 3D Printing in Space - Technology and Operations Management\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/Space-2.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-13T05:59:35+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/Space-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/Space-2.png\",\"width\":1654,\"height\":1082},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"To Infinity and Beyond \u2013 3D Printing in Space\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Technology and Operations Management\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"To Infinity and Beyond \u2013 3D Printing in Space - Technology and Operations Management","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"To Infinity and Beyond \u2013 3D Printing in Space - Technology and Operations Management","og_description":"They say it is not about the destination, but about the journey. What if that journey is designed to last forever?","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\/","og_site_name":"Technology and Operations Management","og_image":[{"width":1654,"height":1082,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/Space-2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\/","name":"To Infinity and Beyond \u2013 3D Printing in Space - Technology and Operations Management","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/Space-2.png","datePublished":"2018-11-13T05:59:35+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/Space-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/Space-2.png","width":1654,"height":1082},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/to-infinity-and-beyond-3d-printing-in-space\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"To Infinity and Beyond \u2013 3D Printing in Space"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/","name":"Technology and Operations Management","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/30994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11585"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/30994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}