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Moon  ©NASA

British engineers who are perfecting a technique for transforming moondust into oxygen have made a breakthrough that could shape the future of space exploration. Using specially designed pilot reactors, engineers have successfully extracted air from simulated moonrock, leaving behind kilos of metal powder that could one day be used to build lunar habitats. This is the first time the by-product has been produced in these quantities.

ORNL channel fasteners for Framatome’s boiling water reactor fuel assembly (Courtesy Framatome/ORNL)

A collaboration between Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and France’s Framatome, has produced four metal AM 316 stainless steel fuel assembly brackets.  The components are currently in operation at TVA’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Alabama.

Two GE Aviation facilities producing advanced jet engine components recently passed major production milestones—one facility shipped the 100,000^th CMC turbine shroud, the other the 100,000^th metal AM fuel nozzle tip.

CMCs, jet engine additively manufactured fuel nozzle GE Aviation

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The Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT), Aachen, Germany, has received an award for decades of development in the field of Additive Manufacturing: The institute won a competition conducted by ASTM International and is now working on a project towards standardization of machine condition monitoring in laser beam powder bed fusion (LB-PBF). It is focusing on selecting and qualifying imaging sensor technology that can be used to specifically monitor the condition of LB-PBF systems. The institute will derive cost-reducing recommendations for end users from these data.