US Patent Issued to Trans Astronautica on May 13 for "Systems and methods for manufacturing in space environments" (California, Arizona Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,298,042, issued on May 13, was assigned to Trans Astronautica Corp. (Lake View Terrace, Calif.).

"Systems and methods for manufacturing in space environments" was invented by Joel C. Sercel (Lake View Terrace, Calif.), Philip J. Wahl (Altadena, Calif.) and James G. Small (Sonoita, Ariz.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A factory for manufacturing useful products while orbiting is space uses concentrated solar energy, high vacuum, and the low temperatures available in a space environment. Gyroscopic forces from rotating machinery are carefully controlled. Liquids, gases, and solid minerals are separated from asteroid and lunar regolith reso...