Lauren B. Worley
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
lauren.b.worley@nasa.gov
Jennifer Stanfield
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
jennifer.stanfield@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 13-062
NASA CHIEF TOURS ADVANCED MANUFACTURING FACILITY, HIGHLIGHTS SPACE PROGRAM'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO INDUSTRY SECTOR
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden toured Friday a
cutting-edge facility at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center
where high-tech manufacturing is creating parts for a next-generation
rocket that will launch astronauts to the most distant destinations
ever.
NASA's National Center for Advanced Manufacturing Rapid Prototyping
Facility is just one of the ways the agency is helping to revitalize
America's manufacturing sector. According to a study by the
Washington-area-based Tauri Group, the agency contributed $5 billion
to U.S. manufacturing industry in 2012.
Specifically, the study found development of NASA's Space Launch
System (SLS) cumulatively had contributed about $930 million to the
chemical, machinery, transportation equipment, fabricated metal, and
computer and electronic product manufacturing sectors.
"Our team's innovative work here at Marshall and the NASA National
Center for Advanced Manufacturing is just one example of how NASA is
helping to reinvigorate America's manufacturing sector," Bolden said.
"As NASA pushes the boundaries of exploration, our use of innovative
techniques will allow us to build parts for everything from
satellites to spacecraft more quickly and more affordably."
NASA is using additive manufacturing, more commonly known as 3-D
printing, to create a diverse portfolio of parts, from small
satellites to rocket engines, at six of its centers. Additive
manufacturing is a process that makes three-dimensional solid objects
from a digital model. During his visit to Marshall, Bolden watched a
type of additive manufacturing called selective laser melting create
complex parts for the J-2X and RS-25 rocket engines without welding.
Selective laser melting saves time and reduces the cost of creating
component parts for what will be the largest launch vehicle ever
built.
Bolden said The Tauri Group study shows the agency's technology
investments are spurring America's manufacturing base.
"Last year, NASA invested a combined $17 million in advanced
manufacturing in five NASA programs analyzed by a just-released study
-- SLS, commercial crew, the James Webb Telescope, the International
Space Station and the Space Technology Program," Bolden said. "These
investments in innovation are enabling future space missions,
bettering life on earth and benefiting America's economy."
For more information and a video on Marshall Space Flight Center's use
of selective laser melting, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/selective_melting.html For more information on NASA's Space Launch System, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/sls
