4 ms·

Once space exploration really gets going, mobile chip fabrication is gonna be a pretty big deal.

ngold 7y ago
Good point. The space race would have massive benefits for us on earth in nanofabrication. Just one more bonus point for space.
- ColanR 7y ago
  How does microgravity help in nanofabrication?
  - checktheorder 7y ago
    It may not be the microgravity that's the major help, but the hard vacuum. Deep space is the biggest, best clean room there could ever be.
    - lkschubert8 7y ago
      Wouldn't you have to deal with radiation that you are normally shielded from in Earth`s atmosphere? That may be more difficult to shield from than producing a normal clean room.
      - checktheorder 7y ago
        I would bet that it's easier to design an orbital or moon-based structure (depending on whether production benefits from or suffers from microgravity) that's heavily shielded with lead, than it would be to create a deep-space-class hard vacuum in a volume of space on Earth suitable for large-scale industrial processes. It's a simple matter of not making the structure airtight. Given the volume and mass payload capabilities of the upcoming Starship/Superheavy, cheaply lifting bulk quantities of lead into space may actually be a reasonable proposal in the next five years rather than ultra-expensive pie-in-the-sky fantasy as it was during the age of disposable rockets.
    - klyrs 7y ago
      The thought of handling toxic, corrosive liquids in zero gravity is terrifying.
      - NikkiA 7y ago
        Not just corrosive, but calcium devouring.
        klyrs 7y ago
        Honestly. Name a hazard and it's present in at least a handful of chemicals used in ic fabrication.
mLuby 7y ago
NASA had a 1980 study° of space fabrication systems where they referred to small, light, hard-to-manufacture parts as "vitamins." These vitamins (ICs certainly, perhaps special sensors or high-quality optics) would likely be the last part of the manufacturing system to be moved from Earth into space due to the complexity (=mass/volume) of fabrication and relative ease of transportation. °http://www.islandone.org/MMSG/aasm/AASMIndex.html http://www.islandone.org/MMSG/aasm/AASMIndex.html
- lkschubert8 7y ago
  This terminology also got carried on top the self replicating 3d printer world. Any part that cant be produced by a printer is a vitamin.

Good point. The space race would have massive benefits for us on earth in nanofabrication. Just one more bonus point for space.

ColanR 7y ago
How does microgravity help in nanofabrication?
- checktheorder 7y ago
  It may not be the microgravity that's the major help, but the hard vacuum. Deep space is the biggest, best clean room there could ever be.
  - lkschubert8 7y ago
    Wouldn't you have to deal with radiation that you are normally shielded from in Earth`s atmosphere? That may be more difficult to shield from than producing a normal clean room.
    - checktheorder 7y ago
      I would bet that it's easier to design an orbital or moon-based structure (depending on whether production benefits from or suffers from microgravity) that's heavily shielded with lead, than it would be to create a deep-space-class hard vacuum in a volume of space on Earth suitable for large-scale industrial processes. It's a simple matter of not making the structure airtight. Given the volume and mass payload capabilities of the upcoming Starship/Superheavy, cheaply lifting bulk quantities of lead into space may actually be a reasonable proposal in the next five years rather than ultra-expensive pie-in-the-sky fantasy as it was during the age of disposable rockets.
  - klyrs 7y ago
    The thought of handling toxic, corrosive liquids in zero gravity is terrifying.
    - NikkiA 7y ago
      Not just corrosive, but calcium devouring.
      - klyrs 7y ago
        Honestly. Name a hazard and it's present in at least a handful of chemicals used in ic fabrication.

mLuby 7y ago

NASA had a 1980 study° of space fabrication systems where they referred to small, light, hard-to-manufacture parts as "vitamins." These vitamins (ICs certainly, perhaps special sensors or high-quality optics) would likely be the last part of the manufacturing system to be moved from Earth into space due to the complexity (=mass/volume) of fabrication and relative ease of transportation. °http://www.islandone.org/MMSG/aasm/AASMIndex.html http://www.islandone.org/MMSG/aasm/AASMIndex.html

lkschubert8 7y ago
This terminology also got carried on top the self replicating 3d printer world. Any part that cant be produced by a printer is a vitamin.