In September this year, a SpaceX cargo ship delivered a 3D printer that was specially designed to work in microgravity to the International Space Station (ISS).
After about two months, astronauts at the ISS have finally gotten their hands on the first-ever 3D printed object that was produced by the experimental printer called 3-D Printing In Zero-G Technology Demonstration.
NASA revealed on Nov. 25 that the ISS has successfully produced the first-ever 3D printed object in space, a milestone that could offer significant contributions to long-term space expeditions in the future.
The printer received a command from ground controllers to print a spare part of itself on Nov. 24 and successfully created an extruder plate, which holds the electronic board and wiring of the printer. The object measures about 7.6 by 3.8 by 0.6 centimeters and features the logos of NASA and Made in Space, the startup company that designed and built the printer.
The plate demonstrated the printer's ability to make replacement parts and aligns with the objective of showing how the technology can be used to produce a variety of 3D printed parts and tools in space, which is critical for space explorers.
"We chose this part to print first because, after all, if we are going to have 3-D printers make spare and replacement parts for critical items in space, we have to be able to make spare parts for the printers," said ISS 3D Print program manager Niki Werkheiser. "If a printer is critical for explorers, it must be capable of replicating its own parts, so that it can keep working during longer journeys to places like Mars or an asteroid."
Made In Space CEO Aaron Kemmer said that choosing the plate as the first three-dimensional object to be printed in space also has a symbolic significance.
"We thought a lot about how we could demonstrate the historical shift here," Kemmer said. "It represents the idea that if something goes wrong on the space station, or future space stations, the crew and NASA now have the ability to build a solution."
The object will be sent to Earth next year for analysis and to be compared with samples printed on Earth to verify if the printer works the same way on Earth and in microgravity. The U.S. space agency hopes that with 3D printing, the cost of spaceflight would be reduced and more ambitious space explorations would be made possible.
