Paul Gradl, a Principal Engineer at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, believes there is a prime opportunity to develop and evolve new additive manufacturing (AM) materials. And through its ongoing work in this area, NASA has developed the Additive Manufacturing Readiness Level framework, a pre-qualification methodology that loosely follows concepts like the Technology Readiness Level scale to assess maturity from basic research to proving feasibility. Questions? Us too. Here, Gradl speaks to Sam Davies.
TCT: Paul, we’re a few weeks on from the successful Artemis II mission. What is your reaction to that success?
PG: Obviously, it provided NASA an opportunity to understand vehicle performance, capsule life support systems, and demonstrated all the methodology and rigour that we have put into this mission. But, to me, the most exciting outcome is seeing the world’s interest in space. The world was watching together. I love what [NASA astronaut] Christina Koch said (paraphrasing), ‘I see the Earth, but I also see the darkness around it,’ and you realise, we’re all in this together on a ‘lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe.’
