NASA Investigates 3-D Printing for Building Densely Populated Electronic Assemblies

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However, the technique’s use isn’t limited to detector electronics. Technologist Wes Powell, who specializes in electronics at Goddard, envisions a time where instrument developers could use aerosol jet technology to print antennas, wiring harnesses, and other hardware directly onto a spacecraft.

Paquette’s research involves NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the University of Maryland’s Laboratory for Physical Sciences, the University of Delaware, Georgia Tech, and the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. In addition, several industry groups are involved, including the United Technologies Research Center, East Hartford, Connecticut; NanoDirect LLC, Baltimore, Maryland; Raytheon, Waltham, Massachusetts; and Optomec, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

So far, the team has found that the technology holds promise, and is now evaluating the technique’s repeatability and robustness particularly for a spaceflight application.

“Aerosol jet printing has the potential for many configurations, but the deposits have not yet been assessed under typical flight conditions. That’s what we’re doing here,” she said.

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