Made in Space, Inc.

Redwire Space, Inc.

Jan Clawson

Robert M White

Michael Phillip Snyder

Noah Paul-Gin

Nate Pickslay

Geoffrey York Powers

The system comprises an enclosed centrifuge furnace with a first chamber, a second chamber and a third chamber all of which include and share a tilt axis. The third chamber is concentric with the first chamber and operable at a first temperature to melt a material within the first chamber. The second chamber is concentric with the first chamber and operable at a second temperature lower than the first temperature to cool the material within the first chamber. The system includes a first mechanism to rotate the first, second and third chambers, simultaneously, to create a centrifugal force to maintain the material within the third chamber as the centrifugal force is applied. The system includes a second mechanism to position the tilt axis at an angle which causes the melted material to pour from the third chamber into the second chamber where the material is cooled.

System and method for rapidly rotating and transferring molten material and powdered material from a first chamber to a second chamber in a micro-gravity environment

A system for precoating a preform for drawing optical fiber including a diameter sensor to determine a diameter of pulled optical fiber, a cooling system to cool the optical fiber once it is pulled from a furnace, a coating system to apply a coating to the optical fiber once it has cooled and an ultra-violet lamp to cure the coating.

System and method for manufacturing optical fiber

A sensor system to provide data for use to control manufacture of an optical fiber in microgravity including a diameter sensor to monitor a diameter of a fiber drawn from a preform material, a tension sensor to monitor tension of the fiber as the fiber is pulled from the preform material to a storage device and a controller in communication with at least one of the diameter sensor and the tension sensor to evaluate sensor data to determine at least one of a speed and rate at which the fiber is pulled from the preform material.

A system for drawing optical fiber in microgravity including a sealed housing to prevent infiltration of at least humidity and filled with a dry environment, a preform holder located within the sealed housing to hold preform material, a furnace located within the sealed housing to receive the preform material from the preform holder and to heat the preform material from which the optical fiber is pulled, a feed system to move the preform material from the preform holder to the furnace, a drawing mechanism located within the sealed housing to pull the optical fiber from the preform material within the furnace, a diameter monitor located within the sealed housing to measure a diameter of the optical fiber and a fiber collection mechanism located within the sealed housing to gather and store the optical fiber.

A system for controlling an ambient microgravity environment of a system for drawing optical fiber including a filter arranged to cleanse an environment from contaminants, a molecular sieve arranged in a series of at least one of meshes and baffles to dehumidify the environment, at least one of a pump and a fan to draw an environmental gas through the filter, through the molecular sieve and back in to an ambient environment and a housing in which the filter, molecular sieve and at least one of pump and fan reside.

A preform material including a starter tip to facilitate an initial fiber draw from the preform within a furnace, wherein the tip comprises a vacuum-sealed tip to receive a plastic grip which attached to an end of a preform.

Growing community of inventors

Mountain View, CA, United States of America

Jan Clawson