NASA Space-Based 3D Printers To Devise Tools During Trips To Mars

Replacing a defunct part in space can cause astronomical headaches, and the cure for these headaches may just be in the making as NASA researchers are working on a new kind of 3D printers which can produce equipment parts in low parabolic flights on Earth, thereby totally doing away with sending some equipment into the orbit. Developed about 10 years ago at the Langley Research Center, the Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication (or EFB3) employs an electron beam gun, dual wire feed and computer controls to devise elements out of the given raw materials.

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Presently, NASA engineers are working towards bettering the technology and putting it to use on the International Space Station. If feedstock (raw material)  instead of finished equipment is sent into the orbit, it would not only be saving space (as it settles easily in cargo holds) but will also decrease the overall weight of the payload. Made In Space, Inc. has collaborated with NASA for several years now to send their printers to stars. With such advancement in technology, science fiction and reality rest on a very thin line indeed.

Via: Made in space: Nasa tests 3D printers that will let Mars-bound astronauts craft their own equipment as they travel | Daily Mail Online