Made-in-Space Parts Could Become Space Travel's New Norm
by Leonard David, SPACE.com’s Space Insider Columnist
Date: 19 July 2012 Time: 12:47 PM ET
Maybe it's time to shelve the old saying, "you can't leave home without it," when it comes to packing for trips to space.
Say you're hunkered down inside Mars Base-1 and a vital piece of life-support gear breaks down. A hurried search in supply bins proves futile. The next cycler spaceship with equipment is months away. Time is running out.
This disaster scenario could be short-circuited by what's tagged as "additive manufacturing" — a process to fabricate or 3D print a critical widget layer by layer. Using additive manufacturing equipment, items can be cranked out on the spot, whether they're made of hard plastics or certain metals.
MORE: http://www.space.com/16656-space-manufacturing-3d-printing.html
Source: Space.com
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I do remember thinking, 'This is a strange way to make a buck. Travel around the world and people boo you wherever you go,' ... Night after night you just know they're going to boo. Then a few years later you do it again, and everybody acts like they knew it was brilliant all along.
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