How NASA Will Use 3D Printers in Space

Starting next fall, astronauts on the International Space Station won't have to wait months for replacement parts to be launched from Earth. Instead, they can use a newly arrived 3-D printer to fabricate the tools and materials they need.

"The 3D printer that we're going to fly on space station will actually be the first-ever 3-D printer in space," Niki Werkheiser, 3-D Print project manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., said in a video about the space station 3-D printer that posted online Oct. 30.

"It is the first step toward [the 'Star Trek' replicator]," Werkheiser added, referring to the machine in the science-fiction franchise capable of creating meals and spare parts.

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