First metal cut in orbit.

[halfeye]

https://science.slashdot.org/story/2...the-first-time

I am surprised this is the first ever, but it is good that it has been done.

[DavidSh]

I think there is a bit of the game of Telephone going on there. The repair of Skylab back in the 1973 included cutting through an aluminum strap using an improvised cable cutter. Perhaps this was the first experimental demonstration of metal cutting, or the first using friction milling.

[Yora]

Friction milling does not seem to be an established technical term, but it sounds to me an awful lot like it describes what is typically called "sawing", or perhaps "filing".
Certainly a mildly interesting experiment setup with a useful purpose, but I also very much doubt that nobody ever used a wire cutter or small saw in space.

[Spacewolf]

It sounds like the main purpose of the experiment was dealing with the swarf rather than the cutting itself which makes sense, it's enough of a pain on earth never mind in Zero G where it can float away to get stuck in all your important parts.

[halfeye]

It sounds like the main purpose of the experiment was dealing with the swarf rather than the cutting itself which makes sense, it's enough of a pain on earth never mind in Zero G where it can float away to get stuck in all your important parts.

Or worse, orbit back around as a micrometeorite.

[gomipile]

The way I read the headline is that this is the first time Nanoracks has cut metal in orbit.