3D Printing Could Be a Game-Changer For Space Exploration, so Why is NASA Reluctant to Use it?
Nov 18 2020
When Perseverance arrives on Mars early next year, it will be the first landfall for a rover carrying 3D-printed metal parts and a small victory for proponents of the technique in the high-cost, high-risk world of the U.S. aerospace program.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, nestled in the foothills of La Cañada Flintridge, has seen a slow cultural shift over the last decade toward the adoption of 3D printing techniques, more formally known as "additive manufacturing," in spacecraft design. The technology uses lasers to melt metal powder that is layered to precise computer modeling, until that metal takes the shape of whatever engineers need.
For years, 3D printing has been relegated to the realm of nerdy hobbyists, but its adoption by startups and big business has helped push NASA leaders toward accepting more innovation despite the risks. These days, 3D printing has been used on airplane engines, houses, hearing aids, chocolates, Tesla car components and even a pair of Adidas shoes.
"I have seen a 3D printed burrito, and it didn't look as delicious as Chipotle," said Scott Roberts, a JPL materials technologist, with a laugh.
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The evolution has been decades-long, and partly propelled by the private sector push of aerospace companies like SpaceX, Relativity Space, Blue Origin, Maxar Technologies and Lockheed Martin.
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<p>
While no panacea, some of the benefits of 3D printing come from its ability to save time in the otherwise time-consuming machining process and to engineer bespoke components that cut down on mass and simplify parts. All are crucial, as aerospace missions are often timed to planetary alignment and can cost millions more dollars per kilogram.
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<p>
The goal is to use additive manufacturing to enhance performance, solve problems and make parts "you just can't make any other way," Roberts said. "If your schedule is slipping and all of a sudden you have to wait two years, the monetary cost is enormous."
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<p>
JPL technologists are still working on understanding its uses and how to improve it. But there remains a culture and learning gap that's prevented its widespread adoption. The largest barrier, however, is the worry by old timers: Why risk screwing up a historic mission and ruining future opportunities by replacing tried-and-true manufacturing techniques?
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<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="484cdb6838d79ca9b903b850b2b55fd2"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BecJIWoXh5U?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">NASA's 3D Printing Technique</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BecJIWoXh5U&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
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<h2>The Nuts And Bolts of Printing Rover Parts</h2>
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Amid planning for the Mars rover mission, Andrew Shapiro, who manages technology formulation at JPL, said he was interested in which parts made sense to manufacture additively and which didn't.
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When Shapiro checked out work on <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/instruments/moxie/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MOXIE</a>, which is <a href="https://dot.la/moxie-mars-2020-rover-2645069343.html" target="_self">testing a technology to produce oxygen on the Red Planet</a> carried by the rover, engineers told him they had a problem sealing its crucial heat exchanger, a complex system with lots of very fine channels.
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"It was very expensive to machine, they were going to blow their budgets and schedules, and it was going to take months," Shapiro said. "My office has advanced technology experiments, so I said, 'I'll fabricate one using additive for you, see if it works. If you like it, use it.'"
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The part was far less expensive to print than it would have been to create through traditional manufacturing methods — and it solved the MOXIE engineers' problems.
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The Perseverance rover, which lands on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021, carries 11 metal parts that were 3D printed. Five of those are on its <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8759/nasas-new-mars-rover-will-use-x-rays-to-hunt-fossils/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PIXL instrument</a>, which is about the size of a lunchbox and will be used to help the rover search for signs of fossilized microbial life by shooting out X-ray beams.
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The instrument was designed with a two-piece titanium shell that has to be extremely thin, which made traditional machining methods very challenging, time consuming and therefore costly. Using metal 3D printing, JPL outsourced the work to Carpenter Additive, in Camarillo, Calif., which created components that were several times lighter than they would have otherwise been able to achieve.
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The MOXIE heat exchanger, however, was 3D printed in-house at Caltech, which manages JPL. Rather than welding together two separate parts, JPL's engineers 3D printed it in one single piece.
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Andre Pate, the group lead for additive manufacturing at JPL, called the use of 3D metal printing on the rover "a big win for us at JPL."
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"We are trying to convince our own people here who are more conservative and less willing to take on risk -- rightfully so," Pate said. "We're trying to prove that, that there isn't as much risk or that there's ways to mitigate that risk."
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<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDc4NjAyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMjU3NTYyOH0.RYUk3tzLFeg34jKItg6S6XPqeMO7DFw-XyLj2NXQJFM/img.jpg?width=980" id="b7f18" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2f1fa16823484efda03776d5e60901d4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">This X-ray image shows the interior of a palm-size 3D-printed heat exchanger inside Perseverance's Mars Oxygen In-situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE)</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">NASA/JPL-Caltech</small>
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<h2>The Private Sector Forges Ahead</h2>
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In the meantime, a broader ecosystem of startups is pushing ahead with incorporating additive techniques.
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SpaceX is hiring for multiple roles, including a materials engineer and a manufacturing technician, who can "support 3D printing technology for production of components used on both the Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon spacecraft." Its rocket resupply, which recently <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/spacex-dragon-heads-to-space-station-with-nasa-science-cargo-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">traveled to the International Space Station</a>, had 3D printed parts, Shapiro said.
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Canoo, the electric vehicle company, is also hiring an additive manufacturing lead as it prepares for its first vehicle launch. And of course, Relativity Space is 3D printing rockets with the ultimate goal of doing so on Mars.
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<p>
"JPL is very slow moving in this way," Shapiro said. "Places like SpaceX or Maxar, they 3D print dozens of parts. [These] other companies have been quicker to adopt the technology. Interestingly enough, I think we know more about the technology than they do because SpaceX isn't willing to pay a lot of universities to develop models and that kind of thing."
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Plus, Shapiro added, "they all want to keep their stuff secret and don't want to share it with the rest of the world. But the rest of the world passes them by when they do that."
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Regardless, as more of its subcontractors and other aerospace companies use 3D manufacturing techniques, JPL has been pushed to gain a better understanding, and it has shared that expertise with the companies even if lab leadership is less willing to incorporate it themselves, Shapiro said.
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"JPL will actually adopt things more easily from the outside than the inside," Shapiro said. "So it's easier for me to go buy a part from a subcontractor using additive than it is for me to say 'we should design this using additive'."
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<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<a href="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDc4NTk5OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NjE5MjAyM30.AlUy1wykZ2nRuxnGGXMVX7pP_6pnvdG4x6zBFvWNQLY/img.jpg?width=980" target="_blank"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDc4NTk5OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NjE5MjAyM30.AlUy1wykZ2nRuxnGGXMVX7pP_6pnvdG4x6zBFvWNQLY/img.jpg?width=980" id="5876d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="03be5a984dedc5e3de19fa498caf456a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /></a>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Relativity Space hopes to make Mars-bound rocketships with 3D printing.</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">
<a href="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDc4NTk5OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NjE5MjAyM30.AlUy1wykZ2nRuxnGGXMVX7pP_6pnvdG4x6zBFvWNQLY/img.jpg?width=980" target="_blank">assets.rebelmouse.io</a>
</small>
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Part of the reason is that NASA management is still reluctant to adopt new untested technologies for building parts that have otherwise been effectively created using longstanding conventional manufacturing processes.
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"So when someone says 'would you...risk a billion dollar mission on it'? You have to argue, it isn't really that risky," Roberts said.
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Several years ago, JPL vendor Lockheed Martin built the spacecraft Juno to collect data and take photos of Jupiter. Lockheed slipped in a couple additive parts into that spacecraft, Shapiro said.
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"They didn't tell us until after it had launched," Shapiro said, noting that "our vendors are willing to go a little further than we are."
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It became the first planetary spacecraft to make use of 3D printed parts, <a href="https://www.engineering.com/3DPrinting/3DPrintingArticles/ArticleID/12572/Junos-3D-Printed-Parts-Survive-Trip-to-Jupiter.aspx" target="_blank">specifically titanium metal brackets</a>.
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<h2>A Slow Start</h2>
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The first time Andrew Shapiro — now a JPL thought leader in additive manufacturing — was approached by a colleague about using 3D printing for metal parts was around 11 years ago, when he was the chief technologist of the engineering enterprise division. Shapiro was aware of the tech, but it was not taken seriously for space flight.
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"I told him to go away," Shapiro said. "I said, 'Naw, I don't think this will ever work.'"
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Shapiro said he gave in to his colleague's persistence and traveled to a spin-off company of nearby Sandia Labs in Albuquerque, New Mexico to take a look. Soon, JPL was studying how to create a gradient of metal from, say, steel on one end of a part to titanium on the other, enabling the steel ends of two separate parts to be bolted together more effectively if need be.
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"It turns out this is not easy to do. It took us about 10 years to figure it out," Shapiro said. "That's because that transition between the two metals can create brittle structures that break or fracture."
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JPL ended up sponsoring a slew of studies at universities, with Shapiro urging professors to look into how additive manufacturing works. At the time, Shapiro said, JPL realized nobody understood the process. JPL worked with the universities to set standards so that results were comparable and compatible. Today, every major university with an engineering program in the country has a significant program modeling additive processes.
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Adopting and proving out the technology also required computer power to improve to study variables like air vortices created by a laser hitting metal powder and massive temperature gradients that go from a couple thousand degrees to room temperature in a tiny area, Shapiro said.
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"I don't think the culture is there yet," Shapiro said. "It's being selectively adopted still [but] we haven't turned our whole design force into using additive."
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Roberts said that sometimes it's a matter of an engineer saying " 'Oh man, we need this part,' and to make it traditionally is going to take two years" and that's when additive manufacturing, which can instead make the part in six months, gets its chance.
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<h2>Known Unknowns</h2>
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Another problem is there aren't great classes out there for teaching 3D printing at JPL's level.
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And, the reality is that some people are intuitively very good, while other engineers just don't think that way, Shapiro said. "Designing parts of a spacecraft really shouldn't be just left to intuition," he said.
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Shapiro said he believes the future of 3D printing includes integrating functions — much like today's phone is a combination of telephone, calendar, calculator and notepads. One example of this might be printing the antenna on a spacecraft directly as part of its structure. But no one knows how to design for this yet, Shapiro said, there's no guidebook or design rules. That's why he is working with colleagues to put together a course and some guidelines.
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<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-html5_video">
<video controls id="5a5f7" width="100%" caption="A 3D printer head scans over each layer of a part, blowing metal powder that is melted by a laser. -" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0a3a1f8fee03af86a56e86b6cc4d0d64" expand="1" feedbacks="true" mime_type="video/mp4" photo_credit="s3.amazonaws.com" photo_credit_src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/runner%2F20704-5973_C1-PIA23972_-_3D_printing_video_final-%25281%2529.mp4" shortcode_id="1605655065385" url="https://roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/runner%2F20704-5973_C1-PIA23972_-_3D_printing_video_final-%25281%2529.mp4" videoControls="true"> <source src="https://roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/runner%2F20704-5973_C1-PIA23972_-_3D_printing_video_final-%25281%2529.mp4" type="video/mp4"> Your browser does not support the video tag. </video>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption..."> A 3D printer head scans over each layer of a part, blowing metal powder that is melted by a laser. - NASA/JPL-Caltech</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">
<a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/runner%2F20704-5973_C1-PIA23972_-_3D_printing_video_final-%25281%2529.mp4" target="_blank">s3.amazonaws.com</a>
</small>
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"It's quite complex, and it's probably going to take me another 10 years to come up with it," Shapiro said. "We've just scratched the surface in terms of what the capabilities are."
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For now, Shapiro believes JPL will continue to put more 3D-printed pieces into spacecraft, but doing larger prints like an entire space craft requires a major shift in culture and engineering understanding.
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"It's difficult to answer when will people change their minds," Shapiro said. "JPL management tends to reflect NASA management, and NASA management is extremely risk averse, because they don't want to spend billions of dollars on a spacecraft, have it fail, and have a congressional hearing on why their multi-billion dollar spacecraft failed."
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Even though many in JPL management would like things to progress faster, there are concerns that proposals that include 3D printing won't get the necessary buy-in, and could potentially put JPL's competitive edge at risk for NASA projects.
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Still, Roberts is optimistic:
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"We didn't have the computational power to do it until 10 to 15 years ago," he said. but with that power, "it's going to change the way we design things in the future."
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<p>
<em>__</em>
</p>
<em>Are you using 3D printing in new ways? My DMs are open on Twitter </em><a href="https://twitter.com/latams" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>@latams</em></a><em>. You can also email at</em><em> tami[at]dot.la</em><em></em><em>, or ask for my Signal.</em>
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In the not so distant future, U.S. aerospace companies may build commercial space stations, apply for mining contracts in space and create a new economy on the moon — and eventually Mars, according to NASA's deputy administrator, who spoke to dot.LA earlier this month.
Jim Morhard, who was nominated by President Donald Trump in October 2018, doesn't have a space technology background but he does have an MBA, and it showed. In a wide-ranging interview after his first visit to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, Morhard talked about the administration's efforts to build up and support the space industry so that the government can step back and reap the benefits of private innovation. That effort includes setting up a legal framework for how countries should conduct themselves in space. Last week NASA and its international partners signed the accords. China and Russia were not signatories.
<p>
Morhard said the agency envisions private enterprise will help build out what he described as a flourishing economy on the moon and Mars. He said he hopes that given the aging 20-year-old International Space Station, U.S. companies will step in and build new commercial space stations. Morhard also noted that companies like Google and SpaceX have recognized the financial opportunity in mining Psyche, an asteroid with an exposed core, that could ultimately create the Earth's first trillionaire.
</p><p>
Southern California has historically been a major site of aviation and aerospace innovation due to its good weather that enables year-round testing and its talent pool from local universities. The region is home not only to
<a href="https://dot.la/tag/spacex" target="_self">SpaceX</a>, which joined NASA in launching astronauts into space this May, but companies like <a href="https://dot.la/relativity-space-2646249484.html" target="_self">Relativity Space</a>, <a href="https://dot.la/techstars-starburst-space-accelerator-2647464575.html" target="_self">Northrup Grumman</a>, <a href="https://dot.la/us-space-force-turns-to-socal-aerospace-firm-and-hollywood-for-its-next-gen-training-platform-2648136495.html" target="_self">Slingshot Aerospace</a>, and <a href="https://dot.la/rocket-lab-launches-secret-payload-from-new-zealand-for-u-s-spy-satellite-agency-2644994218.html" target="_self">Rocket Lab</a>, <a href="https://dot.la/abl-space-systems-rs1-2646874622.html" target="_self">among others</a>.
</p><p>
Morhard likened
<a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">JPL's summer launch of its Mars Perseverance rover</a> to the 23 precursor missions that took place before the Apollo mission landed the first humans on the moon. He pushed for more STEM education and also declared that he believes in global warming.
</p><p>
<em>This interview was edited for clarity and length.</em>
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-proxy-image">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/SpaceX_Crew_Dragon_%28More_cropped%29.jpg" target="_blank"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vbWVkaWEucmJsLm1zL2ltYWdlP3U9JTJGd2lraXBlZGlhJTJGY29tbW9ucyUyRjMlMkYzMyUyRlNwYWNlWF9DcmV3X0RyYWdvbl8lMjhNb3JlX2Nyb3BwZWQlMjkuanBnJmhvPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGdXBsb2FkLndpa2ltZWRpYS5vcmcmcz01OTEmaD01MWY1ODc4YzgwYmI5Y2Y4NzdmNDM1ZDJiNzgzN2M2NDMyMmNmNmQ1M2YwZTM0ZGYwOTg4ZmEzMzUxOWE2MDVkJnNpemU9OTgweCZjPTE0MzA2NzQxODAiLCJleHBpcmVzX2F0IjoxNjQ0OTM2MjE5fQ.NHE0Tp9HZU2xVzhZ3SCFWjYVjxwIEOv7G3xNRwcWiq0/img.jpg" id="5c53c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d9685958cfab6c4359d7206bad0917b3" /></a>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">SpaceX Crew Dragon</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Wikimedia Commons</small>
</p><h4>
There have been many partnerships between NASA's JPL and companies in Southern California. Can you talk about NASA's work with regional businesses like SpaceX?
</h4><p>
I'm not getting into the granularity of partnerships. But I'll tell you, when you mentioned SpaceX, here's a company that started from nothing, and here we are, we're going to send up four astronauts to the Space Station scheduled for October 31. And it really started with a public-private partnership. And we did it in a way where SpaceX was competing with Boeing. SpaceX did things correctly. Were there difficult times at times? Absolutely. But working with Elon Musk and all those people has just been a tremendous experience. They took the two astronauts that just came back — Bob [Behnken} and Doug [Hurley], and they embedded them in their plant so that a line worker got to know them. Those are the types of [companies] we're looking for in Southern California, as well as around the country and in the world.
</p><h4>What role do you see NASA playing in terms of business partnerships and the commercialization of space exploration? Should it lead the way or should private companies?
</h4><p>
J: It depends on the company. There were times where SpaceX needed a lot of help, they did not have the technical chops to in the beginning to do what they were doing. And we certainly provided that, along with a lot of money. As they grew, they learned and they hired and built their own team — a lot of them NASA people.
</p><p>
Look, we want to be one of many customers to many providers. But we're going to do that in a way where these guys get up to speed. It's performance based. So far, SpaceX is performing and we want them to run with it. We're certifying this capsule and rocket; This will be the first certified transportation system that we've had in nine years since the [Space Shuttle]. That's all because of this partnership. There are others that haven't gone so well. I'm not going to get into names. Have we given up on other companies? No. It's a big tent, and we want to bring partners together. But we need to help them get where they need to go. As they get competent, we will back off. Will we back off completely? Absolutely not. We've got to guide and lead. And we certainly are going to be always pushing the technology . But if we can end up where we are buying the services, [even better]. Think of Apollo: We designed, developed, built and operated the spacecraft and the rocket. We are now in a situation where we're buying those services.
</p><h4>It sounds like NASA can be a partner in development, but at the end of the day the agency hopes to outsource technical savvy to companies rather than do it all in-house yourselves.
</h4><p>
J: Yeah. There's another part of it. The Low Earth Orbiting, or LEO, economy is about a $400 billion economy. We're hoping that we are able — through these processes, where we build an economy on the moon, and then on Mars — hopefully down the road, where these companies want to go out there and make money. And so that economy, whether it's that company that provides the Human Landing System, or does mining on the moon for water rights, [they're] providing services to NASA. So we're taking that economy much farther past lower low Earth orbit. We're trying to expand the economy of space. We're trying to create a sustainable space program, despite what's going on with our own economy. And this is how we're trying to do it.
</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUzNjA0MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNDIyMzk1Nn0.Fzcbvz-Jr-tzOJV5Y5gKy2T8tp9h2XL4DA_HQNuA69A/img.jpg?width=980" id="ce590" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f9441d0b5ebc89233a473243d2603374" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Morhard's official portrait
<h4>Does the U.S. hope to jointly develop the space economy in a global manner or is the goal to independently lead that effort?</h4><p>J: We set up the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-accords/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Artemis Accords</a> to set standards for folks on how they should comport themselves in space, help others that are in trouble, sharing timely data, being honest, having integrity in space, something called due regard, which is basically, "hey, I'm out here doing this, have regard to what I'm doing, and I'll have due regard to what you're doing." So it's those types of standards of behavior that we're trying to set up. And we've got folks that are going to come on board with us and I think you'll see that soon. There are others that don't want to behave under our norms or our values. We want to make space a place that does promote free market enterprise, and that's not having one country control all of space.</p>
<h4>There has been some coverage about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/us/astronaut-space-investigation.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the first criminal allegation in space</a>. So are you planning to build out details for those norms when you start building that economy on the moon and eventually Mars?
</h4><p>
J: Over time, they will get built out. You may have seen we've set up a construct where
<a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/bridenstine/2020/09/10/space-resources-are-the-key-to-safe-and-sustainable-lunar-exploration/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">we're going to buy some dirt on the moon</a>, so t<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/consideration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hat we literally have created a legal transaction with consideration</a> on the moon, where there's going to be work done, delivery of this regolith or rock, and at a later time, we'll pick them up. That sets a standard of a legal instrument. A contract has been made that is going to transpire on the moon.Is it that momentous in the dirt? No. But is it momentous in that we're setting up a legal framework? Absolutely.
</p><h4>Who are you buying the dirt from?
</h4><p>
J: We have not gotten that far yet. We have gone out for requests for proposals. And we've opened it up even to folks outside the United States. So we're starting the process right now.
</p><h4>What can people expect in terms of future space exploration efforts?
</h4><p>
J: All the different things that transpired because of Apollo are going to happen again. Just off the top of my head: digital imaging, heart monitors, renewable energy, fire protection. We're working on an all-electric aircraft, we're working on a low-boom flight demonstrator, which basically won't have the sonic boom. When it goes supersonic, there will just be a thump. And if that happens, we're going to provide the technology so that we can have our manufacturers hopefully start flying supersonic across the United States. We've got an upper solar probe on its way to the sun right now to study the heliophysics of the sun, which is very important to understand solar radiation, our weather, the weather that will be on Mars [and] on the moon.
</p><p>
The story goes that if Buzz Aldrin and (Neil) Armstrong had stayed a couple more days, they might have been killed because of a solar storm that occurred right after they left. We need predictability to have safe space travel. There's new information about phosphine coming out of Venus [a potential sign of life]. And we're looking at a mission [in 2022] called
<a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/psyche/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Psyche</a>, (which) is an asteroid that has an exposed core. It may be able to show us what our Earth looks like at its core. Now, folks like Google, they're interested in mining Psyche. SpaceX is also interested. If they were able to figure out the economics of bringing back precious metals, you could have your first trillionaire on Earth, and they know it.
</p><p>
If you look at our budgets, even since the last administration, we didn't cut Earth Sciences in any way. We're still going at the same clip that they were going at, because it is important. I do believe in global warming, and that man has had an impact on it.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-proxy-image">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Artemis_program_astronauts_lunar_craterv2.png" target="_blank"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vbWVkaWEucmJsLm1zL2ltYWdlP3U9JTJGd2lraXBlZGlhJTJGY29tbW9ucyUyRmUlMkZlOCUyRkFydGVtaXNfcHJvZ3JhbV9hc3Ryb25hdXRzX2x1bmFyX2NyYXRlcnYyLnBuZyZobz1odHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnVwbG9hZC53aWtpbWVkaWEub3JnJnM9MjI1Jmg9ODUxYzgyNjEwZDI3ZGM1ZGZhMmQ1MThlOWJjNzA4MTVjNjcwYTdiNGZiNWFhYjg3ZmU3ZmI2ZmFhMjZlNTQ0YiZzaXplPTk4MHgmYz0yMDI0MTM3NTUzIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNzIwMDAyNH0.5_-1PTkwTE0ZAVm4GrSLnitZX1ZRw3kBshEYwJfwYnQ/img.jpg" id="30b8e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cc75af8d8c50bf30f907bc34330f4752" /></a>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Artemis program astronauts lunar crater</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
Wikimedia Commons
</small>
</p><h4>There was a <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/39/eaaz1334" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">recent study</a> that looked at solar radiation levels for astronauts on the moon. If NASA is planning to build a first moon base by 2030, would it be underground, and when?
</h4><p>
J: We're still figuring that out. But think about it this way: We land by 2024. And then it's real. And then it's really looking and saying, "OK, we have got to have a sustainable base at the South Pole of the moon." We use the term a lot. With Apollo it was "flags and footprints." This time, we're going back to stay. And when I say that, it's a lot of robotics. I mean, whether it's mining, whether it's scientific experiments, whether it's robotic rovers, these things will be there but we'll have the ability to have humans come and go to service these robots. So it may not be that we have someone there all the time. But we certainly are going to have accessibility through a human landing system and an outpost that's going to be orbiting around the moon called Gateway. It's going to be very small and nothing like the Space Station. But it will be a transfer point to get down to the lunar surface.
</p><p>
It's not going to be like we're going to have folks living there year round, I think it's more of there's going to be a lot of robotic activity using artificial intelligence, 3-D printing, along with robotics. So, are we going to be underground? I don't know, but if we find lava tubes for instance that give us access and protection from radiation, a reasonable person would say we're probably going to pursue that and see if it works.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-proxy-image shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-16x9">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Asteroide_psiche.jpg" target="_blank"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUzNjA5MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NTAxMjE2NX0.5xUM4nGC5vw92shdfplqVAbxvSxryvkIPjpmjYIDmwM/image.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C38%2C0%2C38&height=700" id="94544" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d1344fed461e0f908e5ee6dc8153a410" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /></a>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Google and SpaceX are both interested in mining an astroid called Psyche.</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Wikimedia Commons
</small>
</p><h4>Do you expect any specific medical breakthroughs from space exploration?
</h4><p>
J: Yes, and I say that because of the microgravity at the Space Station, we've been able to create human tissue a lot easier than on Earth. And the reason being is that on Earth because of gravity, structures just collapse and you don't have that issue in microgravity. Right now, Chris Cassidy is our only astronaut up there. When we send up these four astronauts, we're going to have a full complement at the space station and our ability to do research is going to increase by 300% by the end of this month. There's so much more to be done. The Space Station is going to get old. We're going to celebrate its 20th year next month. Our hope is that there's so much demand for this research that the commercial space industry is going to start providing their own space station. If we can get commercial space stations up there, then we've got commercial transportation and commercial space stations, and a continuum of this research and development.
</p><h4>Is NASA worried about brain drain and extra costs when former NASA employees end up contracting on government projects?
</h4><p>
J: It's always a concern. Do we have enough engineers and scientists and mathematicians and folks that have the technological capabilities that we need? We don't. We're trying to promote an expansion of STEM education. Part of why we're doing what we're doing is to inspire the next generation [to be] part of it.
</p><p>
<em>_</em>
</p><p>
<em>Do you have a story that needs to be told? My DMs are open on Twitter </em><a href="https://twitter.com/latams" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>@latams</em></a><em>. You can also email me at tami(at)dot.la, or ask for my Signal.</em>
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Beyond Limits, a Glendale, Calif.-based company that builds human-like reasoning into its artificial intelligence, has taken its tech from outer space onto factory floors and to hospitals.
Now as it seeks to expand its global footprint, the company said it raised $133 million in Series C funding. In addition to an expansion of its services, it hopes to build up its software platforms.
The round was led by Group 42, an artificial intelligence and cloud computing company in Abu Dhabi, and its longtime and ongoing partner bp ventures, an investment arm of the British energy group. Founded in 2014, Beyond Limits is based on technologies developed at Caltech and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and funded by NASA and the Department of Defense.
<p>"We are seeing unprecedented, world-wide demand for systems that go beyond the limitations of conventional AI," said AJ Abdallat, CEO and co-founder of Beyond Limits, in a statement. "Our cognitive software has the ability to understand situations and place problems in real-world contexts as well as to learn over time."</p><p>The company joined up with bp ventures early on when BP was looking for technological ways to prevent another industrial disaster like Deepwater Horizon, the largest recorded marine oil spill. The explosion and spill from an oil rig leased by BP killed 11 people and devastated sea and avian life in the Gulf of Mexico.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQyODg0Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzYzMzMzMX0.VG6Sk1y1R4yQjc00wG5nri3T-rrbtyGie3qJBbole90/img.png?width=980" id="feb4d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d932eaadcced7d7d22daee20060d9b12" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption..."> Beyond Limits co-founders AJ Abdallat (L) and Mark James (R). </small></p><p>Beyond Limits' technology uses bio-inspired algorithms that attempt to imitate how the human brain works and provide explainable, transparent data rather than conventional "black box" AI results.<br/></p><p>Beyond Limits has worked with a giant energy production company to help expand and increase their production in mature subsurface reservoirs to lower the cost of production. It's also worked with healthcare providers to accurately diagnose patient conditions and major financial institutions on applying cognitive reasoning to fintech. </p><p>Beyond Limits said Tuesday it plans to use the Series C raise to launch Beyond Limits Asia, regionally based in Singapore and operating in Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo as it develops AI software that mimics human deduction and reasoning. The company also plans to expand into advanced manufacturing and financial services, a representative told dot.LA.</p><p>In 2019, the company received $25 million in financing from Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy to build an AI-controlled power plant.</p>
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