Wichita State University will lead a three-year project to support NASA’s paradigm shift in manufacturing from “factories on Earth” to “factories in space.”
“This project will pioneer a new in-space manufacturing technology based on electrospinning,” said Dr. Wujun Si, assistant professor in WSU’s College of Engineering. “It will significantly overcome some fundamental challenges faced by the current ISM technology based on additive manufacturing.”
The project, titled “Physics-Informed-AI Enabled Smart Electrospinning of Nanofiber Membranes Towards In-Space Manufacturing,” is funded by a $750,000 NASA grant. Successful completion of the project will enable Wichita and Kansas to develop a new research enterprise focused on long-term, self-sustaining, nationally competitive aerospace research capabilities in ISM, contributing to the Kansas aerospace economy and expanding the national base for aerospace research and development.
“Spirit AeroSystems will use its manufacturing expertise to support the development, characterization and enhancement of nanofiber electrospun membranes in collaboration with the project partners,” said Kim Caldwell, senior director, Spirit AeroSystems Global Research & Technology. “This research will make it more feasible to eventually fabricate parts on space factories enabling new scientific and economic missions.”
The innovative system will enable a number of future complex and long-duration deep space missions that were previously impossible. The launch of NASA’s Artemis I mission in 2022 and subsequent Artemis missions show that ISM is immediately necessary and crucial for the flexibility of on-site manufacturing and the sustainability of the missions.
Current ISM technology is mainly based on additive manufacturing, whose layer-by-layer printing process is significantly influenced by gravity. However, in-space environments are significantly different from conditions on Earth, which limits the capabilities of additive manufacturing in ISM. The project proposes a new electrospinning-based ISM technique that, unlike additive manufacturing, does not depend on gravity and produces nanostructured thin parts such as functional membranes in space.
The project involves partnerships between Wichita State University, Kansas State University and the University of Kansas. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center leads the national ISM program, and other partners include NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Glenn Research Center, two government agencies, and industry partners Spirit AeroSystems and HCI Energy.
Wichita, known as the “Aviation Capital of the World” since 1928, is home to several leading aerospace industries. The project will also include a wide range of research-integrated educational initiatives with extensive dissemination and outreach activities to attract students to data science and advanced manufacturing studies, research and careers, particularly female and underrepresented minority groups.
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