Image Credit Made in Space
NASA isn’t alone in their work on 3D printers (and products) intended for use in space. A California-based company known as Made in Space plans to launch a 3D printer to space in 2014 – and they’re looking for ideas on what to print.
The Trip to Space
One of the problems with transporting anything to space is the first few minutes of the flight. The force needed to break out of Earth’s gravity is intense – and the force put on anything carried in the rocket is equally strong. As Space.com puts it, most things sent to space are over engineered to survive the first 8 minutes of the flight. That durability isn’t necessary for day to day use, but it’s impossible to make less durable items and send them up successfully.
But what if the items didn’t need to survive the trip?
A working 3D printer on the International Space Station could easily solve this problem by allowing astronauts to simply print the items they need, when they need them. With the right printer, they could easily make important tools for last-minute repairs and replace broken supplies without needing to wait on a shipment.
Your Ideas
Making printers for space is already cool – but this project gets even more interesting. After all, if the items are designed for use in space, they won’t have to conform to the restrictions of gravity. The items won’t just be able to function in zero gravity; they won’t need to deal with it in construction, either. This opens up a huge number of possibilities for scientists and artists alike.
Because of this, Made in Space plans to open the printer up to ideas from the public once the device has settled in it’s new home. They even made an open solicitation for ideas at the World Maker Faire, asking anyone with an interesting idea to get in touch with them.
The permanent version of the printer won’t be on the station until 2015, so you’ll have to wait to see any of these designs in action. The 2014 printer is a proof-of-concept device, meant to see if the machine can even work in a microgravity environment. Still, if you’ve got an interesting idea that you would like to see printed, now is the time to start working on it. That way, when the station is ready, you will be too.