/ News

22.06.2015

ESA successfully tests 3D printed thruster

3D-printed combustion chamber and nozzle made from a platinum-rhodium alloy (Credit: Airbus Defence and Space)

The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully test fired a 3D printed platinum alloy thruster combustion chamber and nozzle. The world first test is further evidence that the 3D printing approach is a viable one for the aerospace industry, with the potential to cut costs by streamlining production methods and adding a greater level of flexibility in terms of supply and demand construction.

The 10 N hydrazine thruster combustion chamber and nozzle was printed in layers from a platinum-rhodium alloy, using a laser printing machine ordinarily used for creating jewelry. The engine was then put through 618 ignition tests during which reached a maximum temperature of 1253 °C (2287 °F). According to ESA, theses results are on a par with thrusters produced via conventional machining methods.

"The aim was to test this alternative manufacturing method as a way of reducing material costs," states ESA engineer Laurent Pambaguian regarding the project. "At the start we were by no means certain it could be done, or even whether the metal powder could be prepared to the appropriate quality."

The thruster component prior to testing

By printing a component layer by layer, a manufacturer produces only negligible amounts of waste when compared to the standard technique, which involves creating the combustion chamber from a solid block of material. The waste, and therefore expense, of so unrefined a process mounts when one considers that Airbus Defence & Space produce 150-200 hydrazine thrusters each year and that platinum currently costs €40 (US$63) a gram.

SpaceX has also been experimenting with 3D printing. Back in 2014 the company finished qualification testing for its SuperDraco thruster, which also featured a 3D printed combustion chamber made from a nickel-chromium alloy.

With multiple agencies and commercial companies embracing the potential of 3D printing in the aerospace sector, we are sure to see the technology become heavily relied upon as we set our sights ever deeper into space. It will influence the design of future spaceships, and is likely to play a part in the construction of outposts on other planets and moons.

The next step for ESA and its partners will be to print the components out of a new alloy, platinum–iridium, which offers performance enhancements over platinum-rhodium.

Source: ESA

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/esa-3d-printed-platinum-thruster/38112/




/ About us

Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.

The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies. 

The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.

A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.

The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.

An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.

 

Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society

2015-2020

The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.

2020-2025

Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning  bodily life. Such technologies will  greatly enlarge  the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make  all  kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.

2030-2035

Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness  with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness  onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of  cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence,  expand human capabilities  and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times.  The final result  at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.

2045

This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive!  Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.

Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots  will become affordable  and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however:  humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover,  prerequisites for a large-scale  expansion into outer space will be created as well.

 

Key elements of the project in the future

• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of  the project of "Immortality”.

Login as user:

If you are registered on one of these websites, you can get a quick registration. To do this, please select the wesite and follow the instructions.

Login to 2045.com

Email:
You do not have login to 2045.com? Register!
Dear colleagues, partners, friends! If you support ​the 2045 strategic social initiative goals and values, please register on our website.

Quick registration:

If you are registered on one of these websites, you can get a quick registration. To do this, please select the wesite and follow the instructions.

Registration

Name:
Surname:
Field of activity:
Email:
Password:
Enter the code shown:

Show another picture

Восстановить пароль

Email:

Text:
Contact Email:
Attachment ( not greater than 5 Mb. ):
 
Close
avatar project milestones