Reflections on the Power of Making Real Things

Apollo 13 was a famous NASA mission not for its lunar landing goal (which it was unable to do) but rather for its famous recovery from absolute failure.  Space.com just published an article on how the mission would of have been different if the astronauts on board had a 3d printer on the spacecraft. You can read the article here. There is also an accompanying video here. The Apollo 13 crew had to create some very crude fixes from existing materials and tools on board in order to retrofit their CO2 filter canisters. This required engineers on the ground to spend countless hours figure out the solution with only the materials on board, then they had to test it on the ground, then they had to carefully walk the astronauts through the process in space. If a 3d printer had been on board, the engineers could have simply uploaded the print file for the retrofitted housing, and have the astronauts 3d print the piece within hours. 3d printing would not only help with innovating repair methods for future space explorers, but, more importantly, 3d printers could make human exploration much safer than ever.

Last year NASA also awarded a $125,000 grant for research into the possibility of 3d printing food in space.

“The current food system wouldn’t meet the nutritional needs and five-year shelf life required for a mission to Mars or other long duration missions,” NASA officials said in a statement. “Because refrigeration and freezing require significant spacecraft resources, current NASA provisions consist solely of individually prepackaged shelf stable foods, processed with technologies that degrade the micronutrients in the foods.”

As per my previous post, I’ve been conflicted on these Expert Blog Posts. Besides space, I’m also intrigued by the medical applications of 3d printing. Previously I mentioned 3d printed prosthetics. Today I found a news story on a 3d printed cranium!

“It was only a matter of time before critical brain functions were compromised and she would die,” said Dr Verweij. Major surgery was inevitable, but prior to the 3D printing technique, there was no ideal effective treatment.

I believe that the medical applications of 3d printing will be the most visible in the future. While I think the biological and medical aspects of 3d printing are absolutely fascinating, I’m going to shift my expert blog posts to be about space applications. My reasoning is that (1) it will help with my CubeSat Farm project, (2) it fits with my personal interests and hobbies, and (3) since I am pursuing a career in space exploration and related technologies, I stand to benefit greatly by investing more time learning about this theme.