NASA has successfully created the first 3D printed object in space

Slipping the bonds of gravity is not cheap, so NASA has to account for every bit of mass it sends into space. Once a mission is underway, the crew of any manned mission needs to be able to keep things in working order, which means replacement parts and equipment are usually part of the mass that gets shot into the heavens. However, what happens if you need an extra thingamabob, but NASA only packed extra whatsits? That’s a problem NASA hopes to fix by perfecting 3D printing in space, and now astronauts have successfully created the first 3D printed part on the International Space Station.

The machinery used to accomplish this feat of off-world manufacturing was delivered to the ISS back in September by a SpaceX resupply mission. This is not your run-of-the-mill MakerBot, though. The device was designed specifically to operate in microgravity by Californian company Made In Space. Of course, there is a certain amount of guess work designing something for use in space. The company was able to test its printer ahead of time in simulated weightlessness, but no one knew how additive manufacturing would work when done on the ISS. Would the plastic remain in the right shape after extrusion? Would the layers cool evenly? This is what the first round of testing seeks to learn.

NASA Printer
The Made In Space 3D printer
The Made In Space printer uses thermoplastic ABS like many terrestrial printers, but on Earth we rely on gravity to keep layers in place after they are deposited. It turns out the cooling plastic has enough adhesion to stay in place as it’s laid down by the special printing hardware, but more testing is needed to find the limits of 3D printing in space. Astronauts can’t have bits of crumbled print jobs floating around in the ISS where they could damage instruments.

Read: What is 3D printing?

To test the Made in Space 3D printer, ground control operations sent a series of engineering samples (NASA calls these coupons) to the printer remotely. They essentially emailed equipment to the space station, which is really sci-fi. Each coupon illustrates some tolerance aspect of 3D printing like resolution or tensile strength. These sample prints will be returned to Earth in 2015 where they will be rigorously inspected for structural integrity and durability after being produced and stored in orbit. This will help NASA learn what sort of parts can reliably be printed with current technology.


According to astronauts’ initial observations, the printed parts adhered quite strongly to the print platforms, which is good news for the basic premise of 3D printing in space. Astronauts got to have a little bit of fun with their new toy too. The printer was used to produce the first official part for use on the space station — a faceplate for the printer itself that reads “Made in Space,” which you can see at the top of the post.

NASA hopes that perfecting 3D printing in space could allow long-term missions more flexibility. They might not have to pack spare parts for everything that could conceivably break on the way to Mars, just enough plastic (and eventually metal) filament to make whatever replacements they need. Of course, not everything can be 3D printed (at least not yet), but this could still simplify mission payloads dramatically.

TAGS:- Science,Space,Space Exploration,Nasa,Space Travel,3d Printing,Spacex.