I wonder what kind of reprap they’ll be sending up?
http://m.networkworld.com/community/blog/nasa-taps-3-d-printer-company-build-space-parts-orbit?mm_ref=http://m.slashdot.org/story/186893
More in their press release, including pictures of one of their printers. http://www.madeinspace.us/made-in-space-and-nasa-to-send-first-3d-printer-into-space
Partners: 3DS. :-[
We dropped a Bukobot off with them on the way back from Maker Faire. They have a lot of different printers there, ranging from a Dimension to a cupcake, though I think ours was the only reprap. They seemed to prefer the UP (or at least its extruder) and they had a custom printer that will probably be the main thing being tested.
“One day, 3-D printing may allow an entire spacecraft to be manufactured in space, eliminating design constraints caused by the challenges and mass constraints of launching from Earth…”
yeah… because building it up there is going to to help with mass constraints.
edit: unless they can use stuff gathered from the moon and asteroids. that might ease mass constraints I guess
build it out of glass?
One thing a zero g printer will not have to deal with is sagging overhangs.
On the down side: your overhangs could float upwards.