The Precedent of @MadeInSpace, @NASA, and @elonmusk
And what this means for Electroloom
This is the second piece in a two part series about Electroloom, and what the future holds for us.
If you haven’t already heard, 3D printing company Made In Space was the first company to create a zero-gravity 3D printer that has been launched into space. The printer hitched a ride on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which delivered goods for NASA to the International Space Station. During its time in orbit, the printer will demonstrate the viability of zero-gravity printing and the important implications of being able to manufacture goods in space.
The whole concept is surreal — it takes the notion of a future beyond our home planet and frames it in a tangible and familiar reality. If we are to survive elsewhere in the cosmos, we must prepare the building blocks. And solutions such as 3D printing may be particularly well-suited for the task.
This news struck a chord with us at Electroloom, as most of our conversations are centered around the future. In particular, we often discuss the possibilities that might be enabled through 3D printed fabrics. And we wanted to share a glimpse into some of the conversations we have in regards to the technology, and why we are motivated to bring it to a scale that is accessible to technologists, designers, and consumers.
When we first sent out our fabrics for Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) imaging, we were surprised by the results. Not only were we successful at creating nanofibers (a common goal in scientific literature), but certain blends contained fascinating microscopic structures.
One such image depicted tiny pores in the thicker fibers. Such tiny features are arguably not achievable by most contemporary textile production techniques. And yet, they are suggestive of an interesting future.
While purely speculative, we find ourselves trying to interpret the implications. Might these pores allow for the fabric to wick sweat? Could these features be impregnated with drugs? Would these fibers be superior in their ability to absorb and hold insect-repellent chemicals? Can we make the scientific literature (and fiction) a reality?
The answer is simple — we don’t know.
But we want to. We want to know what types of fibrous creations can utilize our 3D printed fabrics. We want to know if there are clever applications for our process, like creating clothes, pillow cases, patches, or skin grafts.
Like Made In Space, we’re curious about the future. And we’re curious about how humanity’s technology will function in environments such as space — for it is certain that we as a species will only be spending more and more time there.
We know that fabrics play an important role in our lives — from clothing, to filters, to medicine. These are the things that we’ll certainly bring with us as we journey up and outward into the universe. Who knows — perhaps the next thing NASA and SpaceX are willing to send into orbit is one of our machines — we have reason to believe that our process works well in a zero-gravity environment.
For now, we’re forging ahead on Earth, building the future one Electroloom at a time.
