You might know that international space agency NASA has announced that it plans to take a 3D printer in 2014 to International Space Station (ISS) to replicate pieces of equipment. Many people started to think that how the 3D printer would work in space? Lately NASA has shown off how the 3D printer would work in space.
3D printing is a process of melting plastic filament and creating solid objects by building them up in very thin layers. The technology is used in a wide range of industries from construction to aerospace. However NASA has decided to use the technology into space. And therefore, NASA has designed and built its own additive manufacturing printer that has a footprint of about a square foot.
In space, there are no hardware stores. But many parts get lost or break and when that happens astronauts start to find the back up of that parts and then start replacing it. This all process consumes huge time. But with a 3D printer, the astronauts would be able to have 3D-print of the parts that they need, which undoubtedly, would save a lot of time of the astronauts. The printer would contain pre-loaded plans for common parts. That’s not all. The astronauts would be able to receive new plans from Earth.
However NASA plans to send this 3D printer to ISS in June of next year via the fifth SpaceX supply mission. Check out the video below to see the 3D printer in action.
Source: NASA (YouTube)
Thanks To: Digital Trends
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