A close-up of the 3-D printer made by Made In Space Inc. Credit: Made In Space
Posted on 06/12/2014 5:29:44 PM PDT by BenLurkin
This 3-D printer will be the first to be used in orbit. Officials have already printed out several items on the ground to serve as a kind of “ground truth” to see how well the device works when it is installed on the space station. It will be put into a “science glovebox” on the International Space Station and print out 21 demonstration parts, such as tools.
“The next phase will serve to demonstrate utilization of meaningful parts such as crew tools, payload ancillary hardware, and potential commercial applications such as cubesat components,” Made In Space added in a statement.
Once fully functional, the 3-D printer is supposed to reduce the need to ship parts from Earth when they break. This will save a lot of time, not to mention launch costs, the company said. It could also allow astronauts to manufacture new tools on the fly when “unforeseen situations” arise in orbit.
(Excerpt) Read more at 112548 ...
Do you have another link? That one’s not working.
I hope the Smithsonian gets the first item not manufactured on Earth.
Maybe our ISS astronauts will “print off” a rescue vehicle when the Russians leave them stranded....
One Piece at a Time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWHniL8MyMM
Thanks
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