Greater Victoria91裸聊视频檚 Kennametal Inc. facility is used to making custom products for industry spanning every corner of the globe.
However, it91裸聊视频檚 the piece the plant made for a jobsite that91裸聊视频檚 currently over 200 million kilometres away that91裸聊视频檚 bringing the company an out-of-this-world amount of pride.
The site made a tungsten carbide tooth blank that91裸聊视频檚 currently mounted to a core drill on NASA91裸聊视频檚 Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars last month. The blank is involved in one of the six-wheeled rover91裸聊视频檚 key tasks; cutting chalk-sized, intact rock cores that will hopefully be sent back to Earth and give a greater understanding into ancient microbial life on Mars.
91裸聊视频淭he team is just super enthusiastic and super excited,91裸聊视频� said Ron Sivorot, business director at the Kennametal site in the Greater Victoria suburb of Langford. 91裸聊视频淗aving it in use millions of miles away is actually pretty crazy.91裸聊视频�
But even though they91裸聊视频檙e making a component used in space exploration, nothing really changed at the Langford site. Had nobody told the plant91裸聊视频檚 employees about the company91裸聊视频檚 involvement in the mission, they might91裸聊视频檝e never known.
91裸聊视频淭he team on the shop floor didn91裸聊视频檛 even really know that there was anything going on, that it was anything different from anything else they make,91裸聊视频� Sivorot said. 91裸聊视频淲e make millions of pieces of carbide a year and to have these ones go to Mars, it91裸聊视频檚 obviously, definitely the farthest we91裸聊视频檝e gone.91裸聊视频�
Excitement started to grow in 2018 after Kennametal found out the blanks 91裸聊视频攚hich the Langford site has been supplying to NASA91裸聊视频檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory since 2014 91裸聊视频攚ould be aboard the interplanetary mission.
91裸聊视频淚t just kind of fit right into our work flow, so to be honest, we didn91裸聊视频檛 go above and beyond, this is basically the service we91裸聊视频檙e used to giving anyway, it just fit to serve NASA and JPL,91裸聊视频� Sivorot said.
The Langford site employees watched from their work computers as the rover touched down on the red planet. Images of NASA91裸聊视频檚 control room engineers erupting with elation upon the six-wheeled rover91裸聊视频檚 interstellar landing matched the scene at the local Kennametal site. Sivorot said some of the plant91裸聊视频檚 space-loving employees were caught geeking out with celebratory air punches as they watched the landing back here on Earth.
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The k92-grade tooth blank Kennametal makes for NASA looks like a small metal cube that91裸聊视频檚 smaller than a fingernail. To make the blank, Kennametal reforms powdered tungsten carbide by pressing, shaping and centring it and giving the piece a semi-finished grind. Once NASA gets the blank, they finish grinding the piece to their specific and high-tech requirements.
The k92-grade tooth blank is also used in industries like construction, oil and gas, agriculture and forestry. The Kennametal director said tungsten carbide is used because its strength and durability can perform in hostile scenarios.
91裸聊视频淲e have a variety of other customers that use it in similar applications, other than being on another planet,91裸聊视频� Sivorot said. 91裸聊视频淲e have a lot of confidence in this grade. It91裸聊视频檚 a very tough grade, fracture resistant, wear resistant, it91裸聊视频檚 an ideal grade for this solution, so we91裸聊视频檙e confident that it91裸聊视频檒l do what it needs to do on Mars.91裸聊视频�
NASA says Mars was 205 million kilometres form Earth when Perseverance landed, but the rover equipped with the Kennametal product travelled 471 million kilometres in total since last summer91裸聊视频檚 launch.
91裸聊视频淲hich is super wild,91裸聊视频� Sivorot said, 91裸聊视频渋t91裸聊视频檚 actually one of those fun stories you go home and tell your kids about.91裸聊视频�
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