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Questions tagged [reduced-gravity-manufacturing]

Related to the manufacturing of products in reduced gravity environments and/or during spaceflight, or the techniques and logistics thereof.

7 votes
1 answer
170 views

Is TIG or laser welding feasable for building aluminum habitats either on the Moon or in orbit?

The question was originally spurred by Andy Weir's Artemis - in the novel oxyacetylene and neon are extensively used for cutting and welding. TIG or laser welding seem like the obvious choices for ...
Dakota's user avatar
  • 165
4 votes
0 answers
172 views

What could we produce with a space based industry?

The astroid belt is great place to start humanity’s journey through space. I want to know, what materials and items could be produced from asteroids. I’m mainly going to ask for useful items, such ...
11111's user avatar
  • 201
6 votes
4 answers
396 views

Deorbit ISS vs. Preserve ISS as raw materials for ISM?

Recent news: NASA Seeks Proposals from US Industry for Station Deorbit Spacecraft (ISS) NASA has released a request for proposal from U.S. industry for the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle (USDV), a spacecraft ...
Rob's user avatar
  • 161
3 votes
0 answers
110 views

How big does the Martian supply chain need to be, to be self sufficient?

Something I've been pondering recently is how big the manufacturing base needs to be to manufacture everything in the manufacturing base. Big in this case referring to total mass, machines required, ...
Barry Jenakuns's user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
166 views

Blowing UV-cured foam in space

Continuous hollow beams (usually called “booms”) have been proposed as useful components of space structures such as solar sails and arrays. One possible way to build booms in space is to extrude foam ...
Woody's user avatar
  • 22.9k
10 votes
2 answers
2k views

How can we source potassium fluoride outside of Earth?

Potassium fluoride is the best known terrestrial option to purify the various materials used for the manufacturing of photovoltaic panels. Many of these materials can be found in regolith. The process ...
Ismael Ghalimi's user avatar
-5 votes
1 answer
110 views

how much cheaper would the J Web Telescope be per unit if economies of scale were applied in the creation of a complete industrial complex on Luna? [closed]

very few items are manufactured as expensively as space based hardware for a lot of good reasons, yet one of those reasons can be fixed. if standard industrial practices such as, intermodal shipping, ...
Stellar Nomad's user avatar
13 votes
4 answers
1k views

Recycling space debris for manufacturing in space

There are a few companies interested in manufacturing (mostly additive) in space. Let's say that by some miracle some company comes up with a space station that is capable of sending out service ...
Jonathan L.'s user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
150 views

Why wouldn't vat photopolymerization work in space?

This question implied that VPP has been evaluated and discarded as a potential zero-G manufacturing method. That may be true for layer-by-layer resin systems, but what about a two-photon system with a ...
DJG's user avatar
  • 804
9 votes
2 answers
321 views

Why is the Space industry expected to flourish and grow in the near future?

I've been seeing a lot of videos talking about how the "space industry" is "exploding" and soon to be a trillion dollar industry. Obviously I know better than to just buy into the ...
Sidharth Ghoshal's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
147 views

What benefits or new activities could take specific advantage of variable and/or low but not microgravity environment?

Just curious really. Considering that at some point in the future there might be rotational-based habitats, this would mean there would be easy access to variable gravity and/or low gravity ...
nirurin's user avatar
  • 459
25 votes
1 answer
3k views

Have things been intentionally welded in space? If so, what kinds of metals and techniques were used, and why was it necessary?

There are several very different kinds of welding techniques used in aerospace to join pieces of metal and/or to fill small gaps (e.g. arc, TIG, friction stir, ultrasonic...) Question(s): Have things ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 149k
6 votes
0 answers
116 views

Challenges to constructing a "building" in Earth orbit (something like a hotel) 100% robotically?

Today my younger brother and I, while discussing the idea of building any commercial building (something like a hotel) in the Earth orbit, got into some debate with the assembling of the building in ...
Perfect Lord's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
64 views

How much mass do we need to send to the Moon to set up a useful factory there? [closed]

In light of SpaceX's recently winning the contract to go to the moon for NASA, I started thinking (again) about what avenues sending a rocket that size might open in our near-future. So let's assume ...
Serban Tanasa's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
76 views

Has Made in Space any track record growing specialty crystals in microgravity before? ("Industrial Crystal Facility" to fly this year)

Ars Technica's There are an insane amount of cool space things happening in 2021 mentions: This year, Made in Space's "Industrial Crystal Facility" should also fly to space. This will serve ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 149k

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