When Orion EFT-1 launches, a little bit of North Carolina State University will be onboard.

A 3D printed coin made of titanium created by the Research Assistant Professors Ron Aman and Tim Horn of Industrial & Systems Engineering Department was loaded in the capsule this week.

More Orion coverage:

  • WRAL coverage of the Orion launch
  • Tony Rice’s in-depth look at the Orion program

This continues a long tradition in human spaceflight of carrying lightweight trinkets to space for presentation to those who help made the mission current and future happen. EFT-1 is a first step to human exploration of the solar system beyond the moon. 3D printing is expected to play a big part in that.

“If the human race is going to travel the solar system, we are going to have to make things along the way” explained Horn. “This idea of 3D printing is that you can make what you need, when you need it. We are a long way away from that ideal but we are getting there.”

The coin was printed more than a month ago using the lab’s most powerful Electron Beam Melting (EBM) machine. Magnetic fields within the machine guide free electrons into a fine beam at speeds approaching the speed of light. That kinetic energy is converted into heat, melting fine layers of powered metal . That process is repeated over additional layers to build up the object. The lab’s million-dollar Arcam A2 EBM, the first of its kind in the world, uses powdered titanium alloy in a vacuum chamber using a series of beams accurate within 0.13mm or about the diameter of two human hairs. The EBM is about the size of a pair of household refrigerators. The lab’s other machines print in brass as well as other metals.

The coin flying on Orion was designed by Aman and Horn using Meterialise’s Magic software creating a raised image of the university seal. It took about an hour to print and was rushed to the Kennedy Space Center for inclusion.

The lab is also capable of printing in multiple materials simultaneously. Earlier this year, North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island contacted NC State veterinarians for assistance in saving an endangered green sea turtle with a severely injured flipper. The vets turned to Horn and his team who created a lightweight splint from rigid plastic and flexible rubber fromCT scans of the flipper. The lab works frequently with the College of Veterinary medicine created prosthetic joints and limbs for dogs and cats.

The coin will travel alongside a dinosaur fossil on loan from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, a DeLorean model from the Back to the Future films and a captain Kirk action figure provided by William Shatner. NASA has partnered with Sesame Street to inspire students because “The first human on Mars is probably in elementary school today” according to the agency. The unmanned EFT-1 test flight will also have Muppet characters aboard including Slimy the Worm along with Ernie’s rubber ducky on the 60,000 mile journey ending in the Pacific Ocean 4.5 hours later. The first human on Mars is probably in elementary school right now.

The Orion team plans to return the coin to NC State in a commemorative frame for display in early 2015.

Thursday’s launch attempt was scrubbed after the team ran out of time to troubleshoot issues with fuel valves on the Delta-IV Heavy rocket.

The countdown clock was started and stopped several times due to both technical and weather issues. Though the winds which were partly responsible for the delays had calmed, the team ran out of time in the two-hour, 39-minute window to complete their troubleshooting.

The next attempt will be at 7:05 a.m. Friday. The forecast for this 24-hour turnaround isn’t as good with only a 40 percent chance of favorable conditions expected. Primary concerns remain with precipitation and winds at the pad along with expected cumulus clouds harbingers of lightning.

Editor’s note: Tony Rice is a volunteer in the NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador program and software engineer at Cisco Systems. You can follow him on twitter @rtphokie.