Box tests the future of building in space

Astronauts for decades have faced challenges building things in space. Now, researchers are trying to change that.

Backed by MIT’s Space Exploration Initiative, astronauts on board the International Space Station yesterday completed a roughly 45-day experiment using a small microwave-sized box, pictured, which injects resin into silicone skins to build parts, such as nuts and bolts. Ultraviolet light hardens the part.

After the parts travel back to Earth this weekend, scientists will evaluate the test pieces to examine whether they were made successfully. If so, it paves the way for astronauts to build huge parts that would be nearly impossible on Earth thanks to gravity.

The technology would let astronauts build and modify space stations ‘‘quicker, cheaper and with less complexity,’’ said Ariel Ekblaw, founder of the Space Exploration Initiative. ‘‘It starts to unlock more opportunities for exploration.’’

Constructing and maintaining space stations is cumbersome and costly, with dozens of parts being made on Earth and individually shipped into space. Astronauts are then often required to assemble them by hand.

Astronauts could use the Space Exploration Initiative machine to quickly build parts that need replacing, instead of having to wait for another rocket to send parts up from Earth. In the longer term, space explorers could use the box to build parts that hold solar panels or serve as the bones for space station housing.

Even if the methods are mastered and used to make next-generation space structures, there is still much to be done to make these environments liveable, from radiation protection to building life-support systems, storing water, and growing plants.