Zero-G Printer, 3D printing in zero gravity and space environments

[Airicist]

Developers:

Made in Space, Inc.

Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA

[Airicist]

Space Station Live: 3-D Printing on the Station

Published on Oct 30, 2013

Public Affairs Officer Lori Meggs interviews Niki Werkheiser, 3-D print project manager at Marshall Space Flight Center, about how the new technology may be used on the International Space Station. The printer would be the first 3-D printer in microgravity. The first printer is a demonstration test and will be installed inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox.

Tools and space parts can be printed for use on the station eliminating the need to manufacture and deliver the gear for launch aboard a cargo spacecraft. Flight controllers could upload a CAD file to the space station for printing complex parts. A crew member could then assemble the newly printed parts to build tools, repair broken gear and even assemble nano-satellites.

During future long-term missions beyond low-Earth orbit a crew will not have the benefit of deliveries from a resupply craft. The new 3-D printing technology could benefit a potential mission to an asteroid or Mars.

[Airicist]

Space Station Live: 3D Printing in Space

Published on May 22, 2014

NASA and Made in Space, Inc., are working to send a 3-D printer to the International Space Station. The 3-D printing in Zero-G technology demonstration experiment will show that a 3-D printer can work normally in space. A 3-D printer extrudes streams of heated plastic, metal or other material, building layer on top of layer to create three-dimensional objects. Testing a 3-D printer on the space station is the first step towards establishing a working machine shop in space, a critical component for astronaut missions and in-space manufacturing. This is the weekly Payload Operations Integration Center segment from Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and aired during Space Station Live on May 22, 2014.

[Airicist]

Article "How NASA Will Use 3D Printers in Space"

by Nola Taylor Redd, SPACE.com contributor
November 12, 2013

[Airicist]

Space Station Live: Setting up a Machine Shop in Space

Published on Nov 17, 2014

Niki Werkheiser, NASA’s 3-D Printing Project Manager, talks with Marshall Space Flight Center’s Bill Hubscher about today’s on-orbit set-up and first test run of the International Space Station’s 3-D Printer, a technology demonstration that is the first step toward establishing an on-demand machine shop in space to manufacture spare parts, a critical technology to enable future exploration of deep space.