Beyond the Print: How Post-Processing Helped to Enable NASA’s Mars Mission Success

Post-Processing Helped to Enable NASA’s Mars Mission Success
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giovedì, Maggio 8th, 2025 in

 

We often focus on the printing process in additive manufacturing, but NASA JPL’s recent award-winning work on the Mars Sample Return mission also highlights the critical role of post-processing.

To protect Martian samples during a high-speed Earth landing (110 mph!), JPL developed innovative 3D printed crushable metal lattices using PBF-LB technology. However, achieving the optimal structure – requiring ultra-low relative density and feature sizes below 300 microns – pushed the boundaries of standard printing capabilities.

The Key Insight? Turn to Post-Processing.

Instead of solely relying on tuning printer parameters, Dr. Ryan Watkins and his team at JPL adopted Chemical Polishing as a post-processing step. This subtractive manufacturing step is used to:

 

  • Produce Ultra-Fine Features: Chemical Polishing is used to reduce lattice ligament diameters from ~0.6–1.0 mm to ~0.1–0.2 mm with high levels of uniformity.
  • Enable Optimal Performance: Chemical Polishing produces the necessary low relative density for predictable energy absorption during impact. As-printed relative density of the lattices is ~20–30%; Chemical Polishing reduces this relative density to ~1–3%.
  • Maintain Material Integrity: Chemical Polishing produces the desired, improved surface finish without compromising material properties, ensuring the desired ductile failure mechanism.

As Dr. Watkins noted, “Fixing material properties is much harder than dealing with surface roughness.” By leveraging Chemical Polishing, JPL successfully produced lattices meeting the extreme demands of this mission-critical application.  This groundbreaking work has been recognized by both the 3D Printing Industry Awards for Aerospace, Space, and Defense, and most recently by the Additive Manufacturing User’s Group (AMUG) for their Advanced Finishing Award.

This project is a powerful reminder that the additive manufacturing workflow extends beyond the printer. Intelligent post-processing is often essential to unlock the full potential of AM components, especially for challenging, high-performance applications.

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