Description: While additive manufacturing is a game changing technology for in-space repairs and part formation, it still requires a plastic feedstock material to fabricate the printed parts. For longer duration or long distance missions, a large supply of feedstock will need to either be stored on-board, taking up both mass and cargo space, or flown up in expensive resupply missions to enable the continued usage of the 3D printer. TUI proposes to develop Customizable Recyclable International Space Station Packaging (CRISSP), which is a set of materials, formats, and design methodologies optimized both for (1) the economic and mechanical requirements for ISS supplies packaging and (2) being efficiently recyclable onboard the ISS into high performance 3D printer feedstock. A range of packaging formats will be evaluated for use, including common bubble-wrap, foams, folded and thermoformed shells, and parametric cellular additively-manufactured boxes that can be readily optimized for specific payloads and launch environments. The work proposed for this effort will establish a TRL-4+ capability for material re-use over the course of a mission, providing reductions in launch mass and life-cycle cost for missions employing in-situ 3d printing.

Benefits: The proposed CRISSP effort directly supports the "In-Space Assembly, Fabrication and Repair" technical need identified in NASA Technology Roadmap 2012 TA12; WBS 2.4.1.d. The CRISSP technology will enable on-orbit production of 3D printer filament from recyclable packaging for a range of NASA missions. It will also lower costs for a range of ambitious missions, including manned exploration missions to Mars, commercial asteroid resource utilization missions, and large manned habitats in Earth orbit and beyond by enabling sustainable, closed-cycle manufacturing in space. TUI anticipates that this technology will be of interest to other parties who are printing on the ISS, and these parties may be willing to subsidize or even pay other parties to use CRISSP packaging so that they can use that material on the station.

We expect that the advancements made to packaging materials will be ideal for at-home and profes-sional users of 3D printers. Over 25 billion pounds of thermoplastic are used in packaging every year, and providing a means to recycle this packaging into high quality 3D printer material has the potential for cost-savings both commercially and for the home user while reducing the amount of waste which is sent to landfills.