According to Scientific America, NASA is looking at a technology called 3D printing to allow the crew on the International Space Station to manufacture spare parts and tools at will. The technology has implication for long term space settlement.
What is 3D printing?
According to Computerworld, a 3D printer is capable of creating any object that is programmed into it, often from a Computer Aided Design device. It generally does this by using a polymer, spraying it in layers in the same manner as an ink jet printer until the object is created. The polymer is then hardened by being exposed to an LED light. Another method uses a metallic powder that is bonded together as it is printed out.
Applications to which 3D printing has been used in are almost endless. These include rapid prototyping, create on demand spare parts and tools, and even visual art. 3D printing has been used to make exact copies of dinosaur fossils, rare art objects and bones and other body parts for forensic pathology. A similar technology is being developed to use 3D printing using biological material to create spare body parts.
Why is 3D printing so important for settling space?
Whether one is living on the ISS or on a future colony on the moon or Mars, providing spare parts would be prohibitively expensive. However, 3D printing would give a space settlement the ability to create spare parts or just about anything else at will, just using raw materials. Indeed 3D printing might help such a settlement become self sufficient early if local materials can be found and processed so that it is suitable for use in that technology.
How is NASA developing 3D technology for space applications?
NASA has already tested a number of commercial 3D printers in an aircraft using parabolic flights to create microgravity. A company called Made in Space is creating a 3D printer designed to work in microgravity without massive modifications as well as developing 3D printing for aerospace applications on the ground. Made in Space has flown its prototype 3D printer on NASA sponsored microgravity flights.
What is the bottom line?
The ability to manufacture virtually anything using a 3D printer and raw material would allow the operating life of the International Space Station to be extended almost indefinitely, as well as reducing the cost of keeping it resupplied. Further forward in time, 3D printing technology can be used to facilitate long duration space flight, such as human missions to Mars, and settlements on other worlds or deep space.
Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times and The Weekly Standard.
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