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Basically they launched a little milling machine on the end of a robotic arm that had one objective: cut through a piece of composite that simulated the exterior of a rocket's upper stage. The concept being that cutting and welding are very messy processes, but on Earth the debris just falls to the ground, in space it's kind of a problem. The experiment was to do it cleanly in microgravity, and it was a success.
Pretty cool!
It wasn't a 100% success: there were two other samples to be cut through, and that didn't happen and they don't know why.
The experiment was launched on SpaceX early this year and was carried out in May, the results announced Friday.
https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/16/nanoracks-metal-cutting/
https://science.slashdot.org/story/22/09/16/2226205/nanoracks-cut-a-piece-of-metal-in-space-for-the-first-time
Pretty cool!
It wasn't a 100% success: there were two other samples to be cut through, and that didn't happen and they don't know why.
The experiment was launched on SpaceX early this year and was carried out in May, the results announced Friday.
https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/16/nanoracks-metal-cutting/
https://science.slashdot.org/story/22/09/16/2226205/nanoracks-cut-a-piece-of-metal-in-space-for-the-first-time
