Monday, November 17, 2014

3D Printers

This morning, commander BarryWilmore installed a 3-D printer at the international space station.The printer was about the size of a microwave oven.The 3D printer installed in the MSG isn't quite that printer yet -- the astronauts will be using it to test how well 3D printing works in microgravity. My question is, when will we have availability to this kind of technology on earth? This printer can strokes objects out of plastic feedstock. Mike Snyder, Made in Space lead engineer, stated this-

"This is a very exciting day for me and the rest of the team. We had to conquer many technical challenges to get the 3D printer to this stage. This experiment has been an advantageous first stepping stone to the future ability to manufacture a large portion of materials and equipment in space that has been traditionally launched from Earth surface, which will completely change our methods of exploration."
 
Hardware and software are both in full operating condition due to mechanical checks done by commander Wilmore. To me, this really shows how much our technology has evolved in time.
3dinspace.jpg
This is commander Wilmore installing the printer.

1 comment:

  1. DUDE! I think this is so cool. LOL. I have always been interested in space science and the evolution of technology within the crazy world in which we live. When I was little, all my friends wanted to be astronauts. I think it is cool that because of one idea created by scientists long ago, we have invented different items that can improve the knowledge not known in the past. It can also enhance the economy by creating jobs to research more information on the 3-D printers and more jobs to actually make the product.

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