First objects 3D printed in space come to Earth

WASHINGTON: The first objects manufactured in space with a 3D printer have been delivered to Earth and will now undergo a series of tests, Nasa has said.

Engineers at Nasa's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, unboxed the special cargo from the International Space Station (ISS) on April 6.

The items were sent to Earth in February on the SpaceX Dragon. The scientists will now compare the ground controls to the flight parts.

Before the 3D printer was launched to the space station, it made an identical set of parts.

Engineers will put both the space samples and ground control samples under a microscope and through a series of tests.

Project engineers will perform durability, strength and structural tests on both sets of printed items and even put them under an electron microscope to scan for differences in the objects.

The items in space were manufactured as part of the 3D Printing in Zero-G Technology Demonstration on the space station to show that additive manufacturing can make a variety of parts and tools in space.

These early in-space 3D printing demonstrations are the first steps toward realising an additive manufacturing, print-on-demand "machine shop" for long-duration missions and sustaining human exploration of other planets.

In-space manufacturing technologies like 3D printing will help Nasa explore Mars, asteroids, and other locations.

Nasa astronaut Barry Wilmore installed the printer in the station's Microgravity Science Glovebox in November 2014. Before the end of the year, the crew manufactured 21 items including a ratchet wrench, the first tool built in space.

To make the items, the printer heated a relatively low-temperature plastic filament to build parts, layer on top of layer, in designs supplied to the machine.

The printer remains on aboard the ISS for continued use later this year.

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