3D Printing Our Way To The Stars

If Apollo 13 had a 3D printer (invented not too long after the event), the phrase "Houston, we have a problem" may not have entered the lexicon. Forty-four years later, NASA moved to prevent the use of that phrase by outfitting the International Space Station with a 3D Printer in 2014. In a test with far-reaching implications for the future of space exploration, NASA, with the help of Made In Space Inc., essentially emailed the digital blueprint for a ratchet wrench from NASA's Huntsville Operations Support Center to the space station, where it was 3D printed in plastic. The whole process, from conception, to design, to safety approval, to transmission, took less than a week, and the wrench was printed in about four hours, in zero gravity. According to Made In Space, the machine is capable of printing more than a third of the spare parts needed on the ISS. In this article, Finnegan partner  John F. Hornick  discusses how 3D printing will affect space exploration.