Students 3D Print a Tool for Exploring Beneath Ice in Outer Space

IMTS

Share this Article

NASA not only uses 3D printing frequently itself, it encourages others to do so, particularly students, with programs such as the CubeSat Launch Initiative, for example. In return for its support of the technological experiments of students, NASA often is rewarded with new tools for use in space exploration. Recently, a team of students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University developed a 3D printed tool that could help astronauts to explore underneath ice-covered surfaces like those on Jupiter’s Europa and Saturn’s Enceladus. According to NASA, microbial life could potentially survive beneath these surfaces.

The tool was developed as part of the Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams Challenge (Micro-g NExt), which tasks undergraduate students to develop a tool that addresses a real, current space exploration challenge. The project is designed to encourage students to research, explore and develop new technologies and to engage them in real-world engineering and problem-solving concepts.

“NASA Microgravity Project provides a unique out-of-class learning experience for our students dealing with the aerospace environment,” said Sathya Gangadharan, Ph.D., Professor of Mechanical Engineering and co-advisor on the project along with Pedro Llanos, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Spaceflight Operations and Payload and Integration Lab Supervisor.

[Image: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University]

The Under Ice Sampling Device was one of four challenges, the others being a Module Leak Repair System, Sharp Edge Detection and Removal/Covering, and Zip Tie Cutters. The Embry-Riddle Microgravity Club chose to take on the ice device challenge, which required the creation of a tool that would collect, seal and store at least one core sample and would interface with a NASA engineered submersible vehicle to obtain a subsurface ice sample in an underwater environment.

“The device was required to be stored in a 3″x 6″ cylinder, not including the aluminum mounting plate,” said Cory White, Microgravity Club President and Aerospace Engineering major. “The purpose of the device is to extend the drill bit 5 inches from its stored configuration to the surface of the ice and then another 3 inches into the ice to collect a half inch core sample.”

Embry-Riddle’s 3D Printing Club helped with the inner support structure of the device, and the Embry-Riddle Future Space Explorers and Developers Society created the fiberglass cylinder that holds the stainless steel drill bit.

The devices were tested at NASA’s Johnson Space Center’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, which includes a 6.2 million-gallon indoor pool used to train astronauts for spacewalks. Unfortunately, the team was unable to collect a core sample due to an electrical short during testing, but White said that the project was still valuable for the real-world experience it offered the students.

“The opportunity to use these skills outside of the classroom is supplemental and incredibly beneficial to our learning here at Embry-Riddle,” White said. “I hope that our contributions to the challenge also proved to be beneficial to NASA in providing them with a student perspective.”

In addition to developing a successful proposal and designing, fabricating, integrating and testing their idea, the student team also had to write a professional report to NASA with the results of their project, participate in a successful fundraising campaign and work with K-12 students to raise awareness of STEM education as it applies to the aerospace industry. Despite the electrical mishap, Llanos calls the experiment a success and hopes that NASA will one day use technology similar to that designed by the students.

“Knowing our students were able to test their experiment in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center was a great satisfaction,” he said.

Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below. 

 

Share this Article


Recent News

Liquid Metal 3D Printing Sector Emerges with Fluent Metal’s $5.5M Investment

3DPOD Episode 191: Amy Alexander, 3D Printing at the Mayo Clinic



Categories

3D Design

3D Printed Art

3D Printed Food

3D Printed Guns


You May Also Like

3DPOD Episode 190: Generative Design for 3D Printing with Novineer CEO Ali Tamijani

Ali Tamijani, a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, has an extensive background in composites, tool pathing, and the development of functional 3D printed parts,...

Featured

3DPOD Episode 189: AMUG President Shannon VanDeren

Shannon VanDeren is a consultant in the 3D printing industry, focusing on implementation and integration for her company, Layered Manufacturing and Consulting. For nearly ten years, she has been involved...

3DPOD Episode 188: Clare Difazio of E3D – Growing the Industry, and Growing With the Industry

Clare DiFazio’s journey into the 3D printing industry was serendipitous, yet her involvement at critical moments has significantly influenced the sector. Her position as Head of Marketing & Product Strategy...

Featured

Printing Money Episode 15: 3D Printing Markets & Deals, with AM Research and AMPOWER

Printing Money returns with Episode 15! This month, NewCap Partners‘ Danny Piper is joined by Scott Dunham, Executive Vice President of Research at Additive Manufacturing (AM) Research, and Matthias Schmidt-Lehr,...