Edmontonian developing 3D printer that could be 'manufacturing plant of the moon'

A 21-year-old Edmontonian is developing a 3D printer designed to take soil from the moon and convert it into essential equipment for astronauts.

Madison Feehan, CEO and founder of Space Copy, said she realized that 3D printing could substantially reduce the significant cost and logistic hurdles of sending astronauts back to the moon during her five years as a contract worker for NASA.

Radio Active's Min Dhariwal spoke with Feehan this week to learn more about her research.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you end up working for NASA at 16 years old?

It was completely an accident. I thought it was a volunteer position, and sure enough, they sent a cheque in the mail a couple of months later. I had to call human resources and tell them they had made a mistake, and instead of that, they read me my employee ID number.

How did your time working with NASA help you start your own space-related company?

I had the opportunity to work in a variety of different sectors, and the goal was to observe technologies that were being proposed by different universities or companies across the globe and determine which ones were the strongest candidates for funding by NASA. Working in that kind of ecosystem with people who are so much more senior than me gave me the opportunity to really dive into some interesting subject matter, and I ended up finding a few gaps in NASA's technology directorate that sparked the initiative to start Space Copy.

Let's talk about this 3D printing tool that your company is developing. What is it and how does it work?

Space Copy is developing what we call in situ logistics and additive manufacturing technology. Now, that is a bunch of fancy words for 3D printing, and essentially, it is a materials processing and 3D printing device all in one.

Consider it the manufacturing plant of the moon. Essentially, what we're doing is we're taking materials like lunar soil and we are breaking it down into a fine powder. Then, we are using that powder to 3D print different kinds of infrastructure, ranging from astronaut habitats to repair parts and tools to repair rovers and anything that you could think of when it comes to living in space long term.

That first prototype is going to be sent up to cislunar space. So, halfway to the moon and back on a satellite is a bit of a proof of concept next year.

But in the interim, we are focused on also things like natural disaster response, operating in defence ecosystems, and places that we consider extreme environments where it is rather challenging to get logistics and infrastructure shipped in. So, think our Canadian Arctic, for example, or desert ecosystems, and even underwater. The uses of [this] manufacturing, especially using local materials in diverse and challenging terrains, are incredible.

I understand this technology could also cut costs for sending cargo to space.

Absolutely. Right now, NASA equates it to be around $1.2 million U.S. dollars for every kilogram of supplies sent to space. When you think of this in the broader goal of trying to colonize the moon or send astronauts up in space on a permanent basis, it requires around 22,000 kg of supplies to keep four astronauts alive for a year. 3D printing is going to take out 70 per cent of that cost.

LISTEN | Bringing 3D printing to the moon

Radio Active7:193D printing in space

For the past five years, Edmontonian Madison Feehan has been working with NASA. She's just 21 years old, and she's the founder and CEO of Space Copy. It's an Edmonton-based company developing a new kind of 3D printer for astronauts.