Telescope is printed in space
A self-constructing telescope, houses made of moon dust, and plastic tools made of astronaut faeces. Those are a few examples of how 3D prints could be an indispensable help in space. Every kg counts, when equipment and materials are to be sent to alien globes, and millions of dollars could be saved, if space missions print tools and more from local materials.
take hours to print large objects, 3D factories can accept orders for thousands of products. If the design needs to be changed slightly, it only requires a new 3D drawing.
Printed homes and cars
When a footbridge made of stainless steel can be printed, there is no doubt that additive manufacturing has gained ground, also on a large scale. 3D printed products used to be limited by the physical size of the printer, but with new printer types and sophisticated software, 3D drawing s c an physically be translated into x, y, and z axes outdoors.
3D printed houses are already built throughout the world. By placing layers of a viscous, rapid-hardening concrete mixture on top of each other, a US company built a 32.5 m2 house in Austin, Texas, in 48 hours. The concrete shell was subsequently equipped with a roof, windows, doors, electricity, and plumbing. The company aims to use the technology to build larger homes in El Salvador, where each house will be printed in less than 24 hours at a cost of just $5,000.
3D printing has also minimised the production time of small and more complex products. Using 3D printers, the aviation arm of General Electric has developed a plane engine in only two years – a process that normally takes at least twice as long. The number of required components was reduced from 855 to 12, and the more simple construction involving less welding and joints means less wear and hence longer durability. The propeller engine will be installed in the Cessna Denali, which is expected to take off for the first time in early 2019. More than one third of the engine is 3D printed, making it 5 % lighter and more efficient than it would otherwise have been.
Cars and bikes are also increasingly made of more durable components made of 3D printed plastic, fibreglass, and carbon fibre. In early 2018, a Chinese 3D printing company and an Italian carmaker introduced a compact electric car, whose body and much of the interior are 3D printed plastic. The number of parts has been reduced from 2,000+ to 57, and the weight is only 450 kg.
3D printing will be ultra-personal
The possibility of altering a design quickly and easily is one of the major advantages of 3D
printing, paving the way for customised products for individual customers. Shoe manufacturers already use 3D printing to make sole structures that used to be impossible. Modern professional athletes have customised running shoes that are based on 3D scans of their feet, and the trend will spread to private people. Likewise, spectacle frames, braces, and hearing aids can now be customised and printed.
The possibilities of customised 3D prints grow with the availability of materials that can be printed. Precious metals, ceramics, and porcelain can now be printed in any shape. Moreover, prostheses for people can be 3D printed, and printed spare parts have entered the human body. Patients have been equipped with 3D printed replacements of facial bones, hips, and column bones. In 2017, a 27yearold Australian man got a 36cmlong, 3D printed shin bone, after his own had been destroyed by an infection.
Traditionally, prostheses have been made of metals such as titanium, but now, lifelike bones can be printed in a ceramic material that is reminiscent of the real thing. In an experiment, scientists managed to place a 3D printed bone fraction in the skull of a mouse. The fraction very quickly combined with the rest of the animal's skull, and bone marrow was even also produced in the printed bone.
3D printing in space
Whereas 3D printing is gradually taking over much of traditional manufacturing on Earth, the method will be the only possibility, when it comes to production in space, where Earth’s factories are very far away. As the colonization of space is coming closer, plenty of new 3D printing methods aimed at manufacturing in space emerge.
In a contest, NASA chose five ambitious projects concerning technologies that could one day land on Mars before manned missions arrive to print buildings for astronauts. The No. 1 project uses locally manufactured concrete made of Martian soil, calcium oxide, and ice. While it is expensive and timeconsuming to send materials to Mars, 3D drawings can be transmitted cheaply in a few minutes, and so, 3D printers might be able to found our new world.