NASA’s Orion Mission to Employ 3D Printing

24 April, 2018

Lockheed Martin is already using the new thermoplastic material from Stratasys, for a critical part situated just outside of Orion’s docking hatch

Stratasys from Minneapolis, US, and Rehovot, Israel, announced that is us teaming with Phoenix Analysis & Design Technologies, Inc. (PADT) and with Lockheed Martin Space to produce 3D printed parts for NASA’s Orion deep-space spacecraft. Key to the project are Stratasys advanced materials – including an ESD variant of the new Antero 800NA, a PEKK-based thermoplastic material.

Orion is NASA’s spacecraft that will send astronauts to the Moon and beyond. Orion’s next test flight, dubbed Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), will be the first integration mission with the world’s most powerful rocket, the Space Launch System, where an un-crewed Orion will fly thousands of miles beyond the Moon during an approximately three week mission.

The following flight, EM-2, will also go near the Moon, but with astronauts on board. The mission will use more than 100 3D printed production parts on board, engineered in conjunction with Lockheed Martin, Stratasys and PADT.

The production-grade, thermoplastic 3D printed parts for NASA’s Orion vehicle are produced at the Additive Manufacturing Lab at Lockheed Martin in conjunction with PADT, which employs Stratasys 3D printers and materials. Using advanced materials such as the ULTEM 9085 resin and new Antero material incorporating critical electro-static dissipative (ESD) functionality – NASA could meet key requirements for 3D printed parts. Antero meets NASA’s requirements for heat and chemical resistance, along with the ability to withstand high mechanical loads.

Lockheed Martin is already using the new thermoplastic for a critical part situated just outside of Orion’s docking hatch. The complex part consists of six individual 3D printed components locked together to form a ring on the craft’s exterior (see photo above).

More information: www.stratasys.com/aerospace

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