NASA Technical Publication: Can you weld on Mars?

[Frank S]

Think of it as really super high tech tig welding yes you are correct much like gas welding which is a kin to the same process as tig welding only you are using a flame torch instead of one that produces an arc. but then again I personally watched a man cut a Prince Albert tobacco can apart with a oxy act torch then weld it back together with the same torch only with a very small brazing tip and a piece of mechanics wire. I used to be good as far down as car fenders but never as thin as a tobacco can.

[NortonDommi]

We all need one to play with and find out what it looks like through the optics. My best guess would be a display like a range finder with cross hairs and a readout of power and pulse frequency. Can't tell if the worktable moves or the Laser head. The Laser is super precision and focused on a particular spot so energy is very localized and is heat on material without scatted radiation so gloves and long sleeves not needed.
Welding Arc, MIG or TIG cover up, the UV can burn and long term cause Melanomas. If not handling long periods of heavy welding riggers gloves are nice, I wear them for TIG as easier to control the rod. We can't all be supermen and get on T.V. aye.
I have also seen another toy that I would like more than this and it is a backpack Laser rust blaster. Removes contamination, surface coatings and corrosion from just about anything and with the attached vacuum there is practically no mess. Ideal for cleaning where you want to weld, prime etc.

[Metalmuncher]

I did a Google image search for what a Laser Welder operator sees, and found this photo, which has what I believe is a LaserStar logo on it (kind of blurry). Looks like this model uses a cross-hair for a sight.



Along the way I found lots of images of Laser Welding machines, many of which are reminiscent of a cross between a microscope and a sand blasting cabinet, where the item and user's hands are inside the housing of the machine. Some appear to have a viewing screen rather than a dual binocular microscope viewer. Of particular interest to me were photos of jewelry repair using laser welding, and it looked to me like they were actually holding a ring bare-handed and welding a spot on it, such as repairing a prong to mount a diamond. Steady hands, for sure!

[Frank S]

Just drop me off on Mars with the equipment I request and an energy source to run them plus a shuttle load of materials and supplies and I'll build you a shopping mall
that is after I construct a forge and a mine some ore but one of these fancy laser things needs to be included for my recreation time.

[nhengineer]

Just drop me off on Mars with the equipment I request and an energy source to run them plus a shuttle load of materials and supplies and I'll build you a shopping mall
that is after I construct a forge and a mine some ore but one of these fancy laser things needs to be included for my recreation time.

Frank S., are you accepting applicants? I'm looking for a job.

[Frank S]

If I was to win the power ball I can think of at least a dozen guys on this site that I would hire, coerce, blackmail of beg to join with me to build a prototype model of a line of machines to mine & smelt any ores which might be found on the moon, in doing so the excavations could be the beginnings of a habitat. I would select the moon for several reasons first and foremost it is a proven fact that humans could at one time safely land on the moon 2nd the moon is just across the street relative to the distance to Mars.3rd other than using the ISS as a test lab for experimentation the moon would make a far better choice than trying to replicate the conditions on Mars here on the Earth. 4th the communications lag is much shorter than on Mars. 5th if something goes wrong the moon can be reached in days as opposed to months or possibly more than a year to reach Mars if the alignment is wrong.We already have tons of space junk in orbit right now which if some enterprising group wanted to they could construct a means to collect a lot of the larger pieces haul them to the ISS which would be a staging platform for shipment to the Moon. Arguably this could also be sent to Mars as well it would be just a matter of logistics and economics, but for that matter there is a whole planet just a little further out than Mars that is already broken up in the form of the asteroid belt but currently we can not even land humans on our own moon. Heck we've even retired our only means to land US citizens on the ISS. As Advanced as Elon's program is his human transport vehicle is still at least a couple of years away from being ready

[NortonDommi]

Ever had somebody who knows nothing about much at all come to you with some horrible broken piece of crap and ask you to "just put a zap on here, it won't take but a couple of seconds"?
These types seem to muddle through life and make a lot more money than I do, the only answer is to tell them it will cost X$ 'because'... but if I had one of the machines above my life would be wonderful. I deal with a lot of old stuff and cleaning takes more time than a job and then there is the prep for painting, polishing and maybe plating.
At one period of life I built go-fast things and when it came to modifying stock cars that often meant tedious labor to remove undercoat and sealer especially where footings for roll-cage mounts needed to go. Bitumen is a capital P.I.T.A. to remove. Chip, scrape and scrub.
A LASER cleaner would make life easy and be great for cleaning the nozzle cones of the lander for a return trip from the mining expedition to a passing asteroid.
Mind you after 23rd September 2017 the Earth will not exist as we know it due to the passage of the invisible planet Nibiru which can be observed after 23/09/2017.

[Frank S]

I wasn't aware that my home planet is due next week. My birthday is on the 21st maybe my people are going to throw me a party.
Yep one of those machines is defiantly on my wish list. I've had some jobs come in so bad that I would tell the customer man we have 3 choices you can take this and have it blasted to bare metal. I can have it blasted to bare metal or you may want to find someone else to work on it for you . If I have it cleaned it will probably be your least expensive route as I will make sure it is ready for repair when the cleaning is done if you have it cleaned and it is not properly done I am going to have to charge you to re clean it. If you take it somewhere else and they just slap something on it and send you on your way it IS GOING TO BREAK again. then you will be asking me or someone else to do it properly which will entail not only the cleaning but the removal of what ever was done before it can be repaired.

[NortonDommi]

Happy Birthday when it comes Frank. I'm sure the blazing comets from your fellow Nibiruians will be spectacular.
Glad to know somebody else occasionally has 'those jobs' as well.