Weekly Recap From the Expedition Lead Scientist

NASA astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore installs a 3-D printer in the Microgravity Science Glovebox on the International Space Station.

Image Credit: 

NASA

(Highlights: Week of Nov 17, 2014) - NASA astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore successfully installed and prepared the first 3-D printer in space for upcoming manufacturing operations on the International Space Station as part of NASA's 3-D Printing in Zero-G Technology Demonstration. Wilmore installed the printer in the station’s Microgravity Science Glovebox and started the printer, which extruded plastic filament to form the first of a pair of calibration test prints about the size of a postage stamp, verifying the printer is operational. The 3-D printer heats a relatively low-temperature plastic filament to build parts layer on top of layer in designs supplied to the machine.
The goal of the 3-D printer on the orbiting laboratory is to show that additive manufacturing can make a variety of parts and tools in space, removing the need to send replacement parts and tools from Earth. It is the first step toward establishing an on-demand machine shop in space, a critical enabling component for sustaining deep-space crewed missions and in-space manufacturing.
Wilmore prepared the Light Microscopy Module for the Advanced Colloids Experiment-Microscopy-3 (ACE-M-3) study. Activities included replacing an objective lens, installing a new target and installing a new camera. The ground team -- working with the controllers at NASA's Payload Operations Integration Center in Huntsville, Alabama -- began characterizing the microscope and performing functional checks of the newly installed hardware.
ACE-M-3 observes the design and assembly of complex, three-dimensional structures from small particles suspended within a fluid medium. The NASA investigation in microgravity will provide insight into the relationship between the particle's shape, crystal symmetry and structure. These structures are vital to the design of advanced optical materials. Optical technology utilizing such materials may offer solutions to unavoidable heat generation and bandwidth limitations facing the computer industry -- worth billions of dollars annually to the world-wide economy.
The second science run of the Magnetic Flux Experiment (MAGVECTOR) in the European Drawer Rack (EDR) was completed. The ground team is now analyzing the results. The European Space Agency's MAGVECTOR investigation studies the interaction between a moving magnetic field and an electrical conductor.
Earth's magnetic field is constantly flowing around us. Aside from protecting us from solar winds, it also makes a compass work and birds find their destination when migrating. This same force can interact and interfere with equipment and experiments on the space station. Using extremely sensitive magnetic sensors placed around and above an electrical conductor, MAGVECTOR will help scientists gain insight into how the field influences conductors. The results will help protect future station experiments and electric equipment, and could offer insights into how magnetic fields influence electrical conductors -- the backbone of current technology.
Other human research investigations continued for various crew members including Salivary Markers.

Vic Cooley, Lead Increment Scientist
Expedition 41/42