Comments by "mpetersen6" (@mpetersen6) on "Space Factories - Building 3D Printed SpaceCraft in Space." video.

  1. When the Schuttle was under development in the 70s one side project was something called the Beam Builder. A machine to take rolls of Aluminum/Aluminium and run them through a set of forming fies to make tubes and weld the parts into beams that would be similiar to the towers used in some areas for radio or television antennas. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19820002206&ved=2ahUKEwjjqbabqOjxAhVTaM0KHfYUDoEQFnoECAcQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2UW1KUd5b20vnd1g-B1arD As a concept it never really went anywhere due to lack of application/need. Eventually I would expect a great deal of basic manufacturing of spacecraft meant for deep space applications to built primarily on the Moon or from lunar resources. One reason is the resources Aluminum/Aluminium, Iron, Titanium, Silicon etc area readily available along with the solar energy for processing the ores (regolith mostly). Some of the more complex systems may still be built on Earth especially life support but the basic structures, tankage etc is better built off Earth. Especially once space craft get large enough to where launching them in one piece is pretty much impossible. The idea of 3D printing the components would probably be better performed in a vacuum.
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  2. @TheFastAndThe Dead As I look at the flat tires.
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  3. Close on 20 years ago I went to a training seminar at a machine tool builder (Ingersoll Machine Tool) and they demonstrated some machining centers that were being built for a company or government agency in India. The slides on the machines were not controlled via ball screws as in most CNC machinery. The slides and slidesways were linear electric motors with the position encoders built int the machine bases. Fast, very very fast.
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  4.  @TechnologistAtWork  Weightless does not mean massless plus there is inertia etc involved. Robotic printer tries to move beam around and robot changes orientation. In actuality it might be better to do the basic manufacturing on the lunar surface. Lifting components from Luna to say L1 can be done with chemical rockets burning LOX and Aluminum. Infact it can be used as a monopropellant where the Aluminum is suspended in the LOX as slurry.
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