A piece of space in a 3D case

Stars and planets have always attracted man. Remember, as a child, you, with bated breath, probably looked at the flickering scattering in the night sky more than once and were surprised at the names of the constellations. Someone dreamed of becoming an astronaut to one day be closer to these immensely distant stars, comets, meteorites, but at least to the Moon! But we are growing up and we forget about our dreams about space. And even if not everyone can be in orbit, but now you can save a piece of real space. We are pleased to announce a new experiment as part of the Yota FutureProof : April 12, on Cosmonautics Day, we launched a 3D printing service for individual cases for our 4G modems. The highlight is that when printing using particles of this meteorite.

Never before in the whole history of mankind have technologies developed so quickly. Every year, in many different areas of activity, they come up with a lot of new things and improve the old ones; something truly amazing comes out of the synthesis of technologies. In 2015, the Yota FutureProof program was launched , within which we are testing various promising technologies. With its help, we try to evaluate for ourselves how this or that idea can be useful for us, for business in general and our clients in particular. We at Yota generally love an unusual approach to business, even to the usual little things like the purchase of a SIM card. Remember the experiment with the delivery of SIM-cards by drones ? In just a month, our air couriers "wound" on screws 578 km, delivering 964 SIM cards. Having calculated the costs and profits, we found out for ourselves that in large cities it is quite profitable to deliver small loads in this way.


')
Printing "meteorite" covers - our next experiment.
It is believed that every day on our planet falls 5-6 tons of meteorites , that is, up to 2000 tons per year! Humanity has long used them as a material for the manufacture of various products. Fiery stones that fell from the sky were endowed with all sorts of supernatural abilities, statuettes were most often cut out of stone meteorites, and decorations were made of metal meteorites. Today, meteorites make jewelry and interior items. You can also find on sale knives made of "cosmic" material.

The meteorite used in our experiment was discovered in 2005, in the vicinity of the Seimchan village of the Magadan region. Sometime in those parts a meteorite fell, splitting into pieces when struck, its very first samples were found back in 1967. Today it is believed that the detected fragments - including those used in our experiment - belong to iron-stone meteorites, pallasites . Unfortunately, it is not known how long ago this celestial body fell on the Earth - we assume thousands of years ago.

The technology of 3D printing over the past couple of years has gone far ahead. Today, the most unusual materials are used for it, including metal powders, concrete, clay, chocolate, not to mention many plastics and polymers. You can print musical instruments , furniture , car parts, and entire buildings . Just a couple of weeks ago, the first space satellite in the world , the body of which was printed on a 3D printer, was delivered to the ISS. In the near future it is going to launch into open space.

In our experiment, cases are printed from a composite of VisiJet PXL Core. This is a powdery substance based on gypsum, which includes hemihydrate calcium sulphate. To print our covers with particles of meteorite technology is used CJP - Color Jet Printing. The powder is applied step by step, in thin layers, which are impregnated with a binder.



So, to join the cosmos as part of our new experiment, you need to go to 3d.yota.ru and simulate the design of the cover in the online designer. Just cut off the parts from the virtual model of the meteorite in the browser window, and the special designer transforms the resulting cover into a 3D model. You can also put on the cover your name or nickname. The following is a simple procedure for ordering a 4G modem. The same actions can be performed on the Yota point in the “Atrium” immediately upon purchase of a modem.

And finally, the cherry on the cake: during 3D printing, fine powder with crushed particles of a Magadan meteorite is added to the material.



Please note that covers are provided only with the purchase of a 4G modem, you cannot buy them separately. As mentioned above, you can order a meteor cover not only on the website, but also at the point of sale in the Atrium shopping center in Moscow. The experiment will last one month , from April 12 to May 12, 2016, and within the framework of it unique covers will be delivered only within the Moscow Ring Road. We can not fail to note that since the material is limited, only a few hundred free cases will be issued as part of the experiment. According to the results of the month we will decide the future fate of this project.

Who knows, maybe our meteorite saw not only the Sun, but other stars as well. Put a piece of space in your pocket!