Ha there ever been a welding experiment done in the vacuum of space?
Or is the electrical discharge (from arc or spot welding) considered far to dangerous to the crew and/or spacecraft at this point in time?
I was just thinking: It would be much simpler and cheaper to build a space station's exterior frame by welding the parts together rather than by using all sorts of built-to-rocket-science-spec fasteners.
For example, couldn't a robot be designed to spot weld the ends of a truss together? I would think that at some point we must develop something like this that would offer greater on-orbit flexibility regarding station design.
Scott