NASA funds Thermal Solutions for Moon Vehicles & 3D Printing is the Future of the Space Industry
Advanced Cooling Technologies (ACT) received a $5 million grant from NASA to develop a heat transport system for astronauts on the Moon. The company's goal is to enable them to operate in harsh environments without a power source.
“There are currently no commercial options currently capable of surviving the full lunar day and night cycle”
James Eckard, Astrobotic Technical Project Manager
Developing cheaper and more cost-effective ways to tackle thermal challenges on the moon without an active heat source opens up new commercial opportunities for the space industry.
“Another wrinkle to consider is that thermal systems designed to keep heat in during the night can easily cause the system to overheat during the hot days unless you can switch the system over to reject and radiate heat during the day”
Eckard added.
This opens up new commercial opportunities in the space industry, as the need of developing cheaper and more cost-effective thermal solutions to enable vehicles and other equipment to survive on the moon increases.
NASA (partnering with Lockeed Martin and Makerbot) and the ESA (partnering with Incus) have recently launched new projects in partnership with different startups based on their 3D printing capabilities. These kinds of additive manufacturing projects are growing more and more in recent years, as the technology is opening up new possibilities for the space industry.
As an example, Fleet Space, an Australian satellite developer, announced a few months ago the future launch of fully 3D printed satellites called Alpha.
They will have up to 64 all-metal antennas, which will allow for a significant increase in customer IoT data throughput and therefore serve a larger number of terminals.
