iStock\/dima_zel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe astronomical price of transporting materials in space<\/h3>\n Bringing materials into space carries a substantial price, with estimates suggesting it costs around $54,000 for the NASA space shuttle to transport one kilogram of payload into Earth orbit. This means that anything that can be forged on another planet would save weight and significant amounts of money. Moreover, if something breaks, astronauts would require a means of repairing it on site, with 3D printing providing an exciting way to facilitate this.<\/p>\n
In 2011, the team first exhibited the potential of 3D printing in space, manufacturing parts from lunar regolith from simulated crushed moon rock for NASA. Space agencies have since embraced the technology, with the International Space Station owning 3D printers to develop materials for experiments.<\/p>\n
How well do Martian 3D printing materials perform?<\/h3>\n For their research, the team employed a powder-based 3D printer to amalgamate the Martian 3D printing materials with titanium alloy, a metal that is commonly used in space exploration due to its excellent strength and heat resistance.<\/p>\n
The researchers heated the 3D printing materials to over 2,000 degrees Celsius, which, once melted, flowed onto a moving platform that allowed the team to create different shapes and sizes. Once cooled, they tested their strength and durability.<\/p>\n
The material made from 100% Martian rock cracked as it cooled, but the team explained that it still could be used to make radiation shield coating, as cracks do not matter in that context. However, the mixture with 5% regolith did not crack and showed better properties than the titanium alloy alone, meaning it could be utilised to make lighter-weight pieces that can bear heavy loads.<\/p>\n
Bandyopadhyay concluded: “It gives you a better, higher strength and hardness material, so that can perform significantly better in some applications. This establishes that it is possible, and maybe we should think in this direction because it’s not just making plastic parts which are weak but metal-ceramic composite parts which are strong and can be used for any structural parts.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Researchers from Washington State University have developed durable, high-performance 3D printing materials from Martian rock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":25319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[771],"tags":[24421,809],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Martian rock developed into robust 3D printing materials<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n