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from the for-today's-teens-there-has-always-been-an-ISS dept.
A 3D printer with a recycling device is headed to the International Space Station
The International Space Station's first 3D printer with its own recycling machine is en route to the orbital laboratory aboard a Northrop Grumman spacecraft.
The Cygnus spacecraft launched early Saturday morning aboard an Antares rocket, carrying 7,400 pounds of supplies to aid dozens of investigations and research projects conducted on the space station, NASA said in a news release.
The load includes the space station's first all-in-one 3D printer and recycler, known as the "Refabricator," NASA said. It will be able to take plastic materials and old 3D-printed parts on the space station and recycle them into new 3D-printer "ink" that will allow astronauts to make new tools in space.
The technology will also "greatly reduce the need to continually launch large supplies of new material and parts for repairs and maintenance," NASA said. That, in turn, should reduce the cost of the resupplying the space station.
The demand for plastic wrenches aboard the ISS will be satisfied.
The space station marks its 20th year in orbit on Tuesday. The first section launched on Nov. 20, 1998, from Kazakhstan.
2014: Open for Business: 3-D Printer Creates First Object in Space on International Space Station
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday November 19 2018, @07:50AM
I suppose that plastic wrenches would be alright in a lot of applications. They wouldn't do me a lot of good, the way I use tools, in the environment that I work in. But - space. Controlled atmosphere, low humidity, generally pretty clean. Stuff doesn't oxidize, rust, anodize, or whatever like it does on earth. Dirt and scum don't accumulate on the parts, keeping moisture in. As a rule, I suspect that loosening nuts and bolts requires very little more torque than what was used to tighten them down, to start with. I could make a nylon or an ABS plastic wrench that would work pretty well for most things in such an environment. Some discipline would be required, though. Heaving on that wrench like a macho man on steroids would destroy the wrench in pretty short order.
I'd be willing to experiment, any way.