Novel Space Commerce Is Happening in Low Earth Orbit But NASA and CASIS Ignore It
Mouser Electronics and Grant Imahara Launch Groundbreaking Contest to 3D-Print Design Aboard International Space Station
“Imagine how exciting it would be to see your design made in space,” said Glenn Smith, President and CEO of Mouser Electronics, a leading global distributor of the newest semiconductors and electronic components. “We are really excited to present this unique contest. We hope our wide range of electronic components will enable people to create whatever their imagination sparks.” For the I.S.S. Design Challenge, Mouser has partnered with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Made In Space, along with Hackster and MacroFab. The winner of the I.S.S. Challenge will receive a 3D printer, a consultation with Made In Space – pioneers in additive manufacturing technology for use in the space environment – and the prestige of seeing their design 3D-printed aboard the I.S.S.”
Keith’s note: How cool. A bunch of companies are offering a competition where the winner gets to print something on a commercial device on board the ISS. Isn’t this the sort of thing that NASA and CASIS should be promoting? Sam Scimemi from NASA and Greg Johnson from CASIS constantly proclaim their intent to bring education and commerce to Low Earth Orbit on board the ISS. But when it starts to happen in LEO on ISS – on its own – NASA and CASIS could not be bothered to even mention it. One would think that any news like this is good news for everyone involved with the promotion of ISS commercial capabilities. CASIS has signed agreements and has flown Made in Space hardware. But in this case, CASIS prefers to play around with comic book illustrators instead of highlight how its efforts and those of NASA are actually resulting in novel private sector interest in the ISS.
Yet just last week NASA put a notice out seeking new ideas for commercial activities in LEO – activities that involve both NASA and CASIS. If they ignore current efforts already underway, what confidence do we have that they will be able to identify new ones?
Advancing Economic Development in LEO via Commercial Use of Limited Availability Unique ISS Capabilities, NASA
“This is a Request for Information (RFI) only and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will take action in this matter. NASA is investigating options and approaches to expedite commercial activity in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Specifically, NASA is looking to increase private sector demand for space research and expand on the work of Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the manager of the ISS National Laboratory. NASA is not only interested in technical solutions to advance these goals, but also in contract or agreement structures that potential offerors would see as beneficial to advance private sector demand for low Earth orbit research.”
I wonder if the ‘Thing Made In Space’ could be eventually delivered to the winner?
Sorry to say but this web site is completely biased in their coverage of CASIS and the ISS – yet, two weeks ago, the American Astronautical Society and CASIS had an ISS R&D conference in San Diego attended by over 700 people with speakers from the twin Kelly astronauts and CNN’s Sanjay Gupta to Peter Diamandis and literally dozens of technical presenters such as Nanoracks and Made in Space – talking about products such as ultra pure fiber optic cable that will be exported to Earth, work to print organs in space and many other topics. This received ZERO coverage (much or it was webcast and both Aviation Week and Space News were in attendance). Yet NASA Watch no only didn’t cover it, they actively berate NASA and CASIS for not doing anything commercial in space – this is either willful ignorance or overt bias and distortion.
You were clearly not paying attention to NASAWatch – or SpaceRef – when we prominently featured a link to their live webcast a top our websites throughout the entire conference and live tweeted what their sessions were covering. We also participated in their press conference. We were also covering a dozen other stories at the same time. Also CASIS senior management has repeatedly ordered their entire staff not to talk to me under any circumstances – and their staff have, in turn, passed on this warning to ISS scientists. So why go to a conference where the main participant has ordered people not to talk to you?
In all honesty and humility, I withdraw the complaint that you did not cover the conference. I was actually there at the time and so I was not following NASA Watch – but I stand by my statement about an anti- CASIS bias- which is probably why they they are reticent to talk with NASA Watch. That doesn’t make it justified since they get NASA funding and need to be accountable but it does make it understandable.
If they direct their staff not to talk to me how can I cover the event? They won’t talk to me. So why go? I get the same access by listening to the webcasts. Why is it that an organization that gets 99.97% of its funding for NASA – to do research on a space station operated by NASA – refuses to talk to the media – or any taxpayer? As for a bias against CASIS I’d love to see it fixed. But that is not happening, is it?