South African Students Develop Mobile, Self-replicating, 3D Printer Meant for Space Exploration 3D printing in outer space has become quite the fad as of late. This is mostly due to the fact that NASA and Made in Space recently sent a zero-g 3D printer to the ISS for testing in micro-gravity conditions. On top of this, the European Space Agency has been talking a lot lately about the possibilities of 3D printing large structures on soils foreign to Earth. With this, comes the idea of a 3D printed moon base which features radiation shielding. It doesn’t end here though, as three 15-year old students from South Africa have come up with a 3D printer that they believe could lead to more self-sufficiency for astronauts traveling through and exploring space. Jared Rheeders, Rueben Pretorius, and Matthew Whyte make up the team that calls themselves “Space Invaders”, and they plan on showing off their incredible creation at the World Robot Olympiad in Russia later next week. “To comply with the demands that astronauts will have to endure in space, our engineers have designed a mobile 3D printer that integrates delta geometry to create structures and parts at very high and accurate standards,” explained team member Matthew Whyte.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 19:14:31 +0000
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