On November 24th at 9:28pm GMT, the first 3D printer built to operate in space successfully manufactured its first part on the International Space Station (ISS).
It is the first time that hardware has been additively manufactured in space, as opposed to launching it from Earth.
Mission patch and the First Zero-G 3D Printer
That’s right, it was made in space! And of course, it was developed by Made In Space, a company whose aim is in “constructing hardware that can build what is needed in space, as opposed to launching it from Earth.”
Clearly way over my head technically but perhaps the First Space Edition of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick or the First Off-World Edition of Arthur C. Clark’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is just around the corner.
Mike Chen (left) and Jason Dunn (right) “floating” during a parabolic flight in which the zero-G 3D printer was validated.
Made In Space website