Nasa 3D printer

The National Aeronautics & Space Administration (Nasa) is reportedly preparing to send a first-of-its-kind 3-D printer to the International Space Station (ISS) as early as 19 September.

Planned to be launched aboard the SpaceX-4 resupply mission, the microwave-sized 3-D printer has been designed to demonstrate whether printing in zero gravity creates objects accurately as those printed on the ground.

Nasa said in a statement: "Testing this on the station is the first step toward creating a working ‘machine shop’ in space.

"This capability may decrease cost and risk on the station, will be critical when space explorers venture far from Earth and will create an on-demand supply chain for needed tools and parts."

3D printing in space would ease the need for Nasa astronauts to wait for resupply ships to arrive at the station, to receive essential items.

Nasa said: "Long-term missions would benefit greatly from on-board manufacturing capabilities."

Called 3D Printing In Zero-G, the experiment aims to demonstrate that a 3D printer works normally in space.

California-based Made in Space has built the microwave-sized printer.

"We could go from having a part designed on the ground to printed in orbit within an hour or two."

The 3D printer successfully cleared the flight certification and acceptance tests at Marshall Space Flight Center in April.

The station printer can be pre-loaded with computer-aided design model or the instructions can be uplinked from the ground. It can be operated primarily from ground control at Marshall’s Operations Support Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Nasa 3D print project manager Niki Werkheiser said: "This means that we could go from having a part designed on the ground to printed in orbit within an hour to two from start to finish.

"The on-demand capability can revolutionise the constrained supply chain model we are limited to today and will be critical for exploration missions."

Nasa said that data accumulated from the 3-D demonstration will assess in the development of next-generation printer, the additive manufacturing facility, which will allow academia and industry among others to manufacture parts in space.


Image: The 3D printer passed flight certification and acceptance testing in April. Photo: courtesy of Nasa / Emmett Given.

Defence Technology