Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space venture isn't just turning out parts for rocket ships nowadays: It's also using 25 of its additive manufacturing machines to turn out 3-D printed visors for hospital face shields.
"Our machines are running 24 hours a day, seven days per week," Blue Origin said in a posting about the project.
The visors serve as frames for the clear sheets of plastic that serve to protect the faces of health care workers as they treat COVID-19 patients.
About 100 of the plastic visors are produced each day at Blue Origin's factory in Kent, Wash. They're shipped off to Stratasys, one of the company's supply partners, for distribution to hospitals in need around the country.
Stratasys says 40,000 face shields are needed over the course of a week during the coronavirus pandemic.
We are proudly producing daily deliveries of 3D printed face shield components to help combat the COVID-19 crisis. Our additive machines are working 24/7, and the volunteers for this effort also support #BE4 engine development. We are grateful for their dedication. pic.twitter.com/GZUjA3TtRY
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) April 7, 2020
"This initiative started organically within Blue as our engineers and machinists were looking for ways to help," Blue Origin said. "The Blue Origin team members currently supporting this effort work on our BE-4 engine development and are volunteering their time for this endeavor."
To stay in line with social distancing requirements, only one person is allowed to be in the workspace at a time.
Blue Origin isn't the only aerospace company contributing to the cause: Just to give a few examples, Boeing has been using 3-D printers at several of its facilities across the U.S. to manufacture face shields, Virgin Orbit has been making simplified ventilators, and Tesla and SpaceX are making ventilator valves for Medtronic. Even Zeva Aero, an eVTOL startup in Tacoma, is using 3-D printing to make reusable face masks for health care workers.
Bezos' space venture is also experiencing the effects of the pandemic: As of Monday, three employees at Blue Origin's Kent factory and headquarters have tested positive for coronavirus. Other employees who may have come into close contact with the infected employees have been told to go into self-quarantine for 14 days.
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