Technology
3D metal printing is done for the first time on the International Space Station
The first metal 3D printing in space was successfully completed in August, after the European Space Agency's (ESA) metal 3D printer was sent to the International Space Station earlier this year.
The first printing product, as well as the next three products that must be printed according to the experiment's planning, will be brought back to Earth for quality analysis, but the idea is that the printer can meet the needs of astronauts on missions. space.
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As space missions reach more distant points from Earth — such as the Moon and Mars — resupplying necessary parts and equipment becomes an even greater challenge. The possibility of printing equipment on demand from astronauts in metal would be a solution to stop depending on sending parts from Earth.
The printer was built by Airbus and its partners, with Cranfield University in the UK involved in the design of the printer's fusion process and hardware, as well as its laser source, delivery optics, raw material storage and feeding system.
Printing operations were supervised by CNES (French space agency) and its control center for International Space Station payloads.