A humble tool with grandiose plans
2016-10-25
Efficiency and flexibility are skillsets NASA is perfecting on the Journey to Mars. Here at NASA Johnson Space Center, our Class 1-E projects and the Innovative Design Center (IDC) are great examples of these competencies in action.
Class 1-E projects are pieces of flight hardware that have undergone a streamlined flight-certification process, bypassing certain checks because they present no safety risk to the crew or vehicle. Overseen by the Technology Transfer and Commercialization Office, the IDC is a collaborative maker’s space where all members of the JSC team can build and create with few restrictions. Recently, these two functionalities came together for a success story that could only happen at JSC. This is the journey of the ballscrew lubrication tool (BLT).
Set to go up on the HTV-6 resupply flight in December, the BLT is the brainchild of Drew Hood, Mary Walker and Heather Bergman of the Engineering Directorate. Humble but innovative, the device is about 29 inches from end to end and will allow astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to lubricate an acme ball screw on the station’s robotic arm. This ball screw is the driving mechanism that allows the arm to grab and release vehicles and modules. As the arm ages, normal wear and tear have begun to impact its performance, requiring maintenance spacewalks. Prior lubrications of the ball screw have occurred, but past tools for this purpose had to be built on station from spare parts, consuming valuable crew time and resulting in flimsy designs that could not be reused. By comparison, the BLT is an intuitive design built to last.
The project all started with a request from the ISS Program Office, and the device was soon designated for 1-E certification because of its simplicity and the quick turnaround with which it had to be built. The BLT team identified the IDC as the perfect place to work up both models and final designs.
With nothing in hand but their plans and some materials, the team was able to go over to the IDC and get started right away. Bergman noted that with the help of IDC facilitator James Brown, “the team was able to design, build, certify and test the hardware in two-and-a-half weeks.”
“James is great at what he does,” Walker said. “He’s hassle free and reliable. It was so easy to go over there since there weren’t a million signatures and cost estimates to worry about.”
What sets this project apart is its ability to cut through the red tape. Even other 1-E projects normally take about nine months to complete.
Bergman described the project as “a collaborative effort. Everyone wanted to help, and we had folks from all around the center stepping in. Everyone from the passivation team in Building 10 to the Cold Stowage Facility pitched in.”
Hood added, “Even the Labels Department contributed. The crew had a specific label they wanted for the device, and we were able to get a custom label made in a couple of days.”
When the BLT finally goes up and is used for its first spacewalk in March, it will be because creative minds dared to use an innovative process to fast-track an anticipated need. While the BLT is just one of many tools astronauts must use, it is a testament to the center’s ability to collaborate and work efficiently. JSC is proving once again its unparalleled ability to advance human space exploration.
Interested in using the IDC for your next project? Contact James Brown.
Morgan McAllister
NASA Johnson Space Center
Class 1-E projects are pieces of flight hardware that have undergone a streamlined flight-certification process, bypassing certain checks because they present no safety risk to the crew or vehicle. Overseen by the Technology Transfer and Commercialization Office, the IDC is a collaborative maker’s space where all members of the JSC team can build and create with few restrictions. Recently, these two functionalities came together for a success story that could only happen at JSC. This is the journey of the ballscrew lubrication tool (BLT).
Set to go up on the HTV-6 resupply flight in December, the BLT is the brainchild of Drew Hood, Mary Walker and Heather Bergman of the Engineering Directorate. Humble but innovative, the device is about 29 inches from end to end and will allow astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to lubricate an acme ball screw on the station’s robotic arm. This ball screw is the driving mechanism that allows the arm to grab and release vehicles and modules. As the arm ages, normal wear and tear have begun to impact its performance, requiring maintenance spacewalks. Prior lubrications of the ball screw have occurred, but past tools for this purpose had to be built on station from spare parts, consuming valuable crew time and resulting in flimsy designs that could not be reused. By comparison, the BLT is an intuitive design built to last.
The project all started with a request from the ISS Program Office, and the device was soon designated for 1-E certification because of its simplicity and the quick turnaround with which it had to be built. The BLT team identified the IDC as the perfect place to work up both models and final designs.
With nothing in hand but their plans and some materials, the team was able to go over to the IDC and get started right away. Bergman noted that with the help of IDC facilitator James Brown, “the team was able to design, build, certify and test the hardware in two-and-a-half weeks.”
“James is great at what he does,” Walker said. “He’s hassle free and reliable. It was so easy to go over there since there weren’t a million signatures and cost estimates to worry about.”
What sets this project apart is its ability to cut through the red tape. Even other 1-E projects normally take about nine months to complete.
Bergman described the project as “a collaborative effort. Everyone wanted to help, and we had folks from all around the center stepping in. Everyone from the passivation team in Building 10 to the Cold Stowage Facility pitched in.”
Hood added, “Even the Labels Department contributed. The crew had a specific label they wanted for the device, and we were able to get a custom label made in a couple of days.”
When the BLT finally goes up and is used for its first spacewalk in March, it will be because creative minds dared to use an innovative process to fast-track an anticipated need. While the BLT is just one of many tools astronauts must use, it is a testament to the center’s ability to collaborate and work efficiently. JSC is proving once again its unparalleled ability to advance human space exploration.
Interested in using the IDC for your next project? Contact James Brown.
Morgan McAllister
NASA Johnson Space Center
From left, Mary Walker and Heather Bergman assemble the ballscrew lubrication tool units. Image courtesy of Drew Hood.
Walker evaluates the ballscrew lubrication tool concept. Image courtesy of Drew Hood.
From left, spacewalk tool designers Bergman, Walker and Drew Hood pose with their Class 1-E certified units. Image courtesy of Jolyn Welsh.