{"id":6550,"date":"2019-12-20T08:01:11","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T08:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=6550"},"modified":"2021-09-20T16:05:59","modified_gmt":"2021-09-20T16:05:59","slug":"the-road-back-to-the-moon-goes-through-auburn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=6550","title":{"rendered":"The Road Back to the Moon Goes Through Auburn"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>In March, NASA awarded Auburn University\u2019s National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence (NCAME) a $5.2 million contract for work on the Rapid Analysis and Manufacturing Propulsion Technology project, or RAMPT.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>It was just the latest in a growing list of AM industry headlines testifying to Auburn\u2019s quickly established status as an international hub for additive manufacturing.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>\u201cNCAME currently has over 70 partners,\u201d said NCAME director Nima Shamsaei, distinguished associate professor in mechanical engineering, and principal investigator for RAMPT. \u201cWe\u2019re going after funding opportunities to help the industry and the government in faster adoption of this emerging technology.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p><div class=\"video-container\" style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XrjXgKU8c6E\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>NASA, which partnered with the university to establish NCAME in 2017, needs to adopt it faster than most.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Forget 2028, Vice President Mike Pence said during his March 26 Huntsville speech at the fifth meeting of the National Space Council \u2014 America would return to the moon within five years, not nine. It wasn\u2019t a prediction. It was an order.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>\u201cFor more than 60 years, Huntsville, Alabama, has built the finest rocket propulsion systems in the world,\u201d Pence said. \u201cAnd we want to ensure it remains that way for the next 60 years.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1280\" height=\"894\" class=\"wp-image-6552\" src=\"https:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2019\/12\/thumbnail_20190606-_1AG8908.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\r\n<figcaption>Mike Ogles (left) talks with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (second from left) at Technology Day on the Hill. (Photo: NASA | Aubrey Gemignani)<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Enter NCAME, which through RAMPT is working on evolving light-weight, large-scale 3-D printing techniques for the development and manufacturing of regeneratively-cooled thrust chamber assemblies for the liquid rocket engines necessary not only to return Americans to the moon, but to put the U.S. in the pole position for the race to Mars.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>\u201cWe believe that when we land on the moon in 2024, our lander will be powered by an additively manufactured engine nozzle designed and developed right here in Alabama,\u201d Mike Ogles, director of NASA programs in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, told NASA brass and congressional staffers in a June meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Ogles also serves as project manager for RAMPT\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>\u201cIn order to meet the Vice President\u2019s expectations, we need to further develop key technologies such as additive manufacturing, and what NCAME will be doing on the RAMPT project will help us develop the next generation of liquid rocket engines,\u201d Ogles said. \u201cThe key to be able to get to the moon and then to Mars is how much payload the rocket can take. You have to make the engine as light as possible, and with additive manufacturing techniques we can design rocket engines that have higher performance with a lower weight.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>But Paul McConnaughey, deputy director of Marshall Space Flight Center, is quick to point out that NCAME\u2019s research will improve more than just space travel.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>\u201cThis partnership with Auburn University and industry will help develop improvements for liquid rocket engines, as well as contribute to commercial opportunities,\u201d McConnaughey said. \u201cThe technologies developed by this team will be made available widely to the private sector, offering more companies the opportunity to use these advanced manufacturing techniques.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>For now, though, the primary objective isn\u2019t the private sector \u2014 it\u2019s the solar system.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>\u201cWhen we look back in five years, we\u2019ll be able to say that Auburn played a role in taking us back to the moon and putting us on Mars,\u201d Ogles said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>If his recent conversation with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine is any indication, others will be saying it, too. In June, Ogles represented RAMPT at the NASA Technology Day on the Hill, a fuel nozzle manufactured through direct energy deposition in tow. Bridenstine introduced himself, picked up the nozzle and listened to Ogles\u2019 updates on NCAME\u2019s research.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Then he put the nozzle down and looked at Ogles.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>\u201cWar Eagle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><script charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/267871\/1702507-finding-nima-a-3-d-look-at-auburn-s-additive-manufacturing-rockstar.js?player=small\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>\r\n<p><script charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/267871\/1015098-space-invaders-the-road-to-mars-goes-through-auburn.js?player=small\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Forget 2028, Vice President Mike Pence said during his March 26 Huntsville speech at the fifth meeting of the National Space Council \u2014 America would return to the moon within five years, not nine. It wasn\u2019t a prediction. It was an order.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":6554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Road Back to the Moon Goes Through Auburn &raquo; Auburn Engineer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/?p=6550\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Road Back to the Moon Goes Through Auburn &raquo; Auburn Engineer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Forget 2028, Vice President Mike Pence said during his March 26 Huntsville speech at the fifth meeting of the National Space Council \u2014 America would return to the moon within five years, not nine. 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