FMRG: Eco: GOALI: CAS: Understanding the Sustainability Framework for Convergent In-Space Manufacturing

随着太空的民主化和商业化将成为下一代太空技术、科学发现和探索的跳板，无论哪个国家首先建立这些“太空工厂”，在非地球环境中进行制造、组装、维修和回收，都将具有明显的优势。航天工业的最新进展使人类更接近探索利用空间资源和保护地球环境的潜在途径。随着空间制造（ISM）的新兴兴趣和技术进步，将ISM可持续性的基本原则概念化并通过这些原则指导其技术发展，以确保追求进步与环境管理和长期可行性的目标保持一致，这一点至关重要。正如国家预算优先事项和关键新兴技术清单所反映的那样，国家迫切需要推动可持续ISM成为此类知识和技术的世界领导者。从长远来看，ISM对地球和人类的好处是巨大的，特别是在气候变化、资源枯竭、环境污染和人口增长等全球紧迫挑战的背景下。该项目的总体目标是实现可持续的航天工业，最大限度地减少其对地球和空间环境的影响。该项目整合了研究、教育和劳动力发展，提供职业意识和准备，以支持未来多元化和包容性的劳动力，了解ISM的技术和社会最佳实践。该项目由数学和物理科学理事会（MPS）的材料研究部（DMR）支持，并由技术、创新和伙伴关系理事会（TIP）的转化影响部（TI）、工程教育和中心部（EEC）共同资助。以及在主任办公室综合活动办公室（OIA）设立的促进竞争性研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）。拟议的工作融合了多工艺和多材料的界面制造、可持续工程和参与性科学，作为重新设想一种新的空间商业形式的基准，即在需要的时候制造。该团队将研究如何利用太空中的现有资源，如金属空间碎片和月球风化层，来制造用于太空的产品，并减少来自地球的供应。将确定多材料和多工艺界面工程等变量影响ISM产品可持续性和质量的机制。愿景是实现一个灵活的混合ISM平台，允许使用空间中可用的资源制造一系列专业的一次性部件，并清晰准确地评估和获得对地球和空间环境的影响和效益。本研究整合了参与式建模、混合异步增材和成型工艺设计与建模、模拟空间条件下ISM的实验验证、加工后力学性能评估、前瞻性生命周期评估、场景分析和多目标决策等方法和工具，为ISM的可持续性框架的开发开辟了道路。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With the democratization and commercialization of space poised to springboard the next generation of space technologies, scientific discoveries, and explorations, distinct advantages will be realized by whichever nation first establishes these “factories-in-space” for manufacturing, assembly, repair, and reclamation in non-terrestrial environments. Recent advances in the space industry have brought humanity closer to exploring potential ways to utilize space resources and protect the Earth’s environment. With the emerging interests and technological progress in in-space manufacturing (ISM), it is of utmost importance to conceptualize the fundamental principles of ISM sustainability and to guide its technological development through these principles to ensure that the pursuit of progress aligns with the goals of environmental stewardship and long-term viability. There is a significant national need to advance sustainable ISM to be a world leader in such knowledge and technologies, as is reflected in national budget priorities and critical emerging technologies list. The long-term Earth and humanity benefits from ISM are immense, especially in the context of globally pressing challenges related to climate change, resource depletion, environmental pollution, and population growth. The overarching goal of this project is to enable a sustainable space industry that minimizes its impact on the Earth and space environments. The project integrates research, education, and workforce development to provide career awareness and preparation in support of a future diverse and inclusive workforce knowledgeable in technical and societal best practices for ISM. The project is supported by the Division of Materials Research (DMR) in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), and co-funded by the Division of Translational Impacts (TI) in the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP), the Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) in the Directorate for Engineering (ENG), and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) in the Office of Integrated Activities (OIA) in the Office of the Director (OD).The proposed work converges multi-process and multi-material interfacial manufacturing, sustainable engineering, and participatory science to serve as a benchmark to re-imagine a new form of space commerce that manufactures at the point-of-need. The team will investigate how existing resources in space, such as metallic space debris and lunar regolith, can be used to manufacture products for use in space and reduce the supply from Earth. Mechanisms by which variables akin to multi-material and multi-process interfacial engineering influence the sustainability and quality of ISM products will be identified. The vision is to realize a flexible hybrid ISM platform allowing the fabrication of an array of specialty, one-off parts using resources available in space with the Earth and space environmental impacts and benefits clearly and accurately assessed and attained. This research integrates approaches and tools, including participatory modeling, hybrid asynchronous additive and forming process design and modeling, experimental verification of ISM with simulated space conditions, post-process mechanical performance evaluation, prospective life cycle assessment, scenario analysis, and multi-objective decision-making, to pioneer the development of a sustainability framework for ISM.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.