The result of a collaboration, this first success is a great hope for the future of space exploration.
A small metal object measuring just 9 centimetres and a great hope for the future of space exploration missions. For the first time, at the end of August, a metal part was 3D printed within the International Space Station (ISS). Manufacturing metal parts in space will one day soon allow astronauts to be autonomous in carrying out small repairs or creating objects, without depending on sending a cargo ship… To achieve this small feat, the European Space Agency sent a 3D printer to the ISS last January, installed by an astronaut in the Columbus module. This machine is the result of a collaboration between Airbus Space and Defence, the French start-up AddUp and the English University of Cranfield.
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Four weeks for a print
To protect the ISS and its crew from the risks associated with using a very powerful laser to melt metal (over 1200°C!), the printer is enclosed in a sealed box, in which oxygen is replaced by nitrogen, which is much less flammable. It took months of preparation before printing operations could begin and this first part could be manufactured, layer by layer, from a stainless steel wire.
In total, four parts of about 125g are expected to be created, each taking about 4 weeks to print. They will then be sent back to Earth to be compared with similar parts, and to see if the very low gravity in space impacts printing performance.
