Getting new equipment to the Space Station used to take months or even years, depending on the launch resupply schedule. On some exploration missions, re-supply with tools is almost impossible even if it is a life or death matter. But thanks to the 3D technology, the tools needed in the Space Station can be ready within hours.
Made In Space Inc., is a northern California company that NASA contracted to design, build and operate 3D printers that are sent to the space station with the intention of securing tools needed by the astronauts in the fastest wat possible. This means that the whole process can be conducted via an email with the 3D design sent from Earth, and a few hours of the 3D printer in space working to bring the tool to life.
Credits: NASA
The International Space Station’s 3-D printer completed the first phase of a NASA technology demonstration in 2014 by printing a tool with a design file transmitted from the ground to the printer. The tool was a ratchet wrench. The 3-D printer built the wrench by additive manufacturing, depositing 104 layers of plastic.
Credits: NASA
“For the printer’s final test in this phase of operations, NASA wanted to validate the process for printing on demand, which will be critical on longer journeys to Mars,” explained Niki Werkheiser, the space station 3-D printer program manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “In less than a week, the ratchet was designed, approved by safety and other NASA reviewers, and the file was sent to space where the printer made the wrench in four hours.”
Ever since, many tools have been printed out in the Space Station. Many of the equipment is preprogrammed into the printer before it leaves the Earth, while the others are sent to space as files from the Earth. Transmitting a file to the station is as quickly as sending an email. The technology opens up possibilities to make objects that previously couldn’t even be launched to space.
Sources: NASA, Made In Space
