Made In Space (MIS) is helping in the fight against COVID-19 by providing frontline healthcare workers with much-needed supplies and equipment.
MIS facilities in Jacksonville, Florida, and Moffett Field, California, are using their additive manufacturing resources to provide hundreds of 3D printed face shields to local-area hospitals to augment the shortage of critical personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies.
Made in Space face shield.
The design includes a 3D printed frame with an adjustable headband that allows a clear plastic face shield to be easily snapped onto the frame. More than 200 masks have been produced over the last five days and are being distributed to local-area hospitals in Jacksonville, Florida, and Mountain View, California.
The worldwide shortage of PPE such as face shields, medical masks, and gowns increases the risk of exposure for healthcare personnel who are ill-equipped to care for COVID-19 patients. Hospitals and frontline workers are frantically implementing crisis capacity strategies to manage the inadequate supply of PPE and medical equipment.
MIS is engaging its engineering, manufacturing and design expertise to assess additional solutions to help in the fight. MIS engineers worked with local-area doctors in Jacksonville to quickly develop a rapid response ventilator adapter to enable a single ventilator to safely support multiple patients in extreme situations.
MIS Chief Engineer Michael Snyder said that in times of crisis, it is important for everyone to come together and the firm has obligation to support those on the front lines. The Made in Space team is using every available 3D printing resource the company has to produce face shields to support local healthcare personnel.
Made in Space develops state-of-the-art space manufacturing technology to support exploration, national security, and sustainable space settlement. The firm pioneers sustainable space infrastructure to support customer missions, promote national security and drive exploration objectives through advanced space manufacturing.