Manufacturing for Exploration
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Manufacturing for Exploration Final Report International Space University MSS Program 2019 This MSS 2019 Team Project work was conducted at the ISU Strasbourg Central Campus in Illkirch- Graffenstaden, France © International Space University. All Rights Reserved The front cover is an original piece created by Lord Jim Tuohy. It is titled ‘Manufacturing for Exploration’. Inspired by the ideas put forward in the report, it encompasses the idea that in-space manufacturing is creating a path to enable human deep space exploration. The Executive Summary and the Final report may be found on the ISU web site at http://www.isunet.edu in the “ISU Team Projects/Student Reports” section. Paper copies of the Executive Summary and the Final Report may also be requested, while supplies last, from: International Space University Strasbourg Central Campus Attention: Publications/Library Parc d’Innovation 1 rue Jean-Dominique Cassini 67400 Illkirch-Graffenstaden France Publications: Tel +33 (0)3 88 65 54 32 Fax +33 (0)3 88 65 54 47 e-mail: [email protected] Acknowledgments The Manufacturing for Exploration team would like to thank our Faculty Interface Prof. Vasilis Zervos, for expanding our vision for the report. The team would also like to expresses its gratitude to the faculty, Prof. Chris Welch, Prof. Volker Damann, Prof. Taiwo Tejumola, Prof. Hugh Hill, Ms. Danijela Stupar, Prof. Gongling Sun and Dr. Omar Hatamleh, and teaching assistants in ISU Ms. Ana Garduño Baltazar, Mr. Hameed Mohamed, and Mr. James Hurrell, who with their valuable suggestions, guidance, and feedback, helped us immensely to produce the final report. Special thanks to ISU Librarian Ms. Muriel Riester, ISU IT staff, Mr. Nicolas Moncussi and Mr. Joel Herman, ISU Administration, Ms. Claire Byrski and Ms. Christine Jenck, for granting us access to all the ISU facilities and services. We would especially like to thank Abeba Birhane from University College Dublin, James Baltitude from OrbitFab, Xavier Fruh from BeAM Machines, Stefan Siarov from Valispace, Pasi Vainikka and Juha-Pekka Pitkänen from Solar Foods Ltd., and Lord Jim Tuohy for sharing their invaluable experiences and opinions with us. Their contribution and assistance were of great value to the project. Faculty Interface Dr. Vasilis Zervos Dr. Taiwo Tejumola Teaching Associate James Hurrell Authors Marc Abi-Fadel Mazin Al Harbi Miguel Chafen Tongtong Chen Alexandria Farias Sarah Halpin Zhuhui Jiang Sara Khan Jue Liu Matthew McGrath Adam Nawal Kuren Patel Adi Rahamimoff Stephanie Rocha Ignaty Romanov-Chernigovsky Daniel Rotko Eóin Tuohy Héloïse Vertadier Hannah Woodward Faculty Preface On Behalf of the ISU Faculty: Innovation and technological change are intrinsically linked with the space sector, which though faced by definitional challenges, is nonetheless typically perceived entailing space components manufactured on Earth. Emerging technologies and developments in various fields lead to expanding the concept of space sector and industry, by emerging in-space manufacturing and 3D printing applications. The state of the art and applications feasibility of such concepts in the near and distant future is a task requiring research and synthesis within an interdisciplinary intercultural and international environment, fitting to the nature of ISU. Thus, a group of approximately twenty ISU Masters students in 2018/2019 embarked into the unknown in an effort to expand frontiers and exploit the options for a truly ‘’space-based’’ industry. As is often the case, the hard work and struggle associated with expanding frontiers is rarely felt by the authors into an environment where a perfect idea is the enemy of a good one. For them, the critical mass of research-amazed knowledge is the perfect complement to a report that provides an invaluable insight for the space sector and community. The report and auxiliaries provide a comprehensive approach to the outer space manufacturing challenges with existing and future applications and demands. Starting from the ISS and moving into future exploration scenarios supporting distant missions seems by now quite familiar with the authors who have covered significant distance in a short time. As for the faculty, we are grateful, for there is little more than positive experiences and knowledge obtained from our interactions with the group. We wish them the best, along with this and future works that will confidently challenge and add value to the space and wider society. Professor Vasilis Zervos Team Preface In 2018 our group was formed to examine and explore the topic of, in-space manufacturing. Our team was composed of nineteen Masters students at the International Space University (ISU). In keeping with ISU’s 3Is program aims (Intercultural, Interdisciplinary and International work) we came from fourteen different academic backgrounds and fifteen different nationalities. Our goal was to create a team capable of meeting deliverable goals of communicating our findings on the topic in hand. We discovered quickly that in-space manufacturing is a far reaching subject, an excellent example of a topic requiring a multidisciplinary approach. After spending time learning more about our new teammates strengths and skills, we voted on the creation of a team structure thus developing our management team consisting of our Project Manager, Faculty Interface and Chief Editor to support our efforts. Other team members’ roles remained fluid to meet the needs of the work. The output from our research is indebted to the dynamic and dedicated work of our team. Through the last six months we have learnt from each other and grown in the skills critical to the successful completion of this work. No man or woman is an island, this is particularly true when attempting to develop a critical mass of knowledge on a previously unknown topic. When spending six months exploring such a vast topic it is easy to come to crossroads, dead ends and roundabouts. We remain immensely grateful to all who kindly offered their time and expertise to allow us to find our way through. Humanity appears to be looking to the skies again, dreaming of space exploration and innovated techniques. Terrestrial based 3D printing and manufacturing techniques continue to show huge potential to be of significant use in enhancing humanity’s quality of life. Now is the time to utilize that potential to enhance humanities dreams. Abstract Humanity’s ambitious dreams of leaving footprints on far away worlds comes many challenges. Fortunately, with the advances in current technology, these challenges can be conquered from many directions. In-space manufacturing (ISM) has the potential to be one of the technologies which will bring human exploration dreams to life. ISM includes techniques such as 3D printing, recycling, and assembling, chemical and biological process. Due to its many benefits, such as minimal wastage and highly customizable products, a significant focus will be drawn to 3D printing in this report. This technology has proven itself to be fruitful to a variety of Earth applications. Hence, current initiatives are focusing on expanding 3D printing into space, more specifically to space habitats. This report discusses on the potential of ISM as a solution to enable a self-sustaining space habitat without re-supply requirements. The report is split into two sections. The first section of the report uses the International Space Station (ISS) as an analogue to identify numerous areas where ISM can be and is leveraged during expeditions. In the second section, a crewed deep space mission is defined as a space habitat with seven crew members beyond the Earth’s GEO ring for a continuous period of three years without re-supply. Since the location and duration of this mission are dissimilar to the ISS, differences in technical and crew requirements of the two space habitats are established. ISM technologies, either developed or in-development, are proposed for each of the requirements. The respective technology readiness level, challenges and risks are also mapped for each proposed technology. Furthermore, the mission is perceived through a financial, political, legal, and ethical lens. Following the two sections, the report concludes with the added value of ISM and recommendations to any gaps identified between space habitat requirements and technology capabilities. 297 / 300 Words Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 1 Motivation 2 Methodology 4 ISS ANALOG 5 1 Internal Failures and External Threats 6 1.1 Internal Failure 6 1.2 External Threats 8 1.2.1 Impact from External Objects 8 1.2.2 Extreme Temperatures 10 1.2.3 Radiation 10 2 Crew Needs 11 2.1 Atmosphere 11 2.2 Water 12 2.3 Food 12 2.4 Crew Health 15 2.5 Clothing 16 3 Additive Manufacturing on ISS 17 3.1 Current Techniques 17 3.2 In-Development Techniques 21 4 Other Manufacturing on ISS 24 Chapter 1 Summary 27 DEEP SPACE CREWED MISSION 28 1 Mission Type 29 2 Human Factors 31 2.1 Critical Crew Needs 32 2.1.1 Requirements 32 2.1.2 Technology 33 2.2 Waste Management 35 2.2.1 Requirements 35 2.2.2 Technology 35 2.3 Medicine 37 2.3.1 Requirements 37 2.3.2 Technology 38 2.4 Medical devices 41 2.4.1 Requirements 41 2.4.2 Technology 41 2.5 Mental Health 45 2.5.1 Requirements 46 2.5.2 Technology 46 2.6 Radiation (Crew) 48 2.6.1 Requirements 48 2.6.2 Technology 50 3 Technical Factors 54 3.1 Radiation 54 3.1.1 Requirements 54 3.1.2 Technology 55 3.2 Communication 56 3.2.1 Requirements 56 3.2.2 Technology 59 4 Spacecraft Parameters 61 4.1 Storage Space 61 4.2 Mass 61 5 TRL Timeline 63 6