NASA Turns to 3d Printing

NASA seems like they are jumping on board the 3D Printing bandwagon. Scientist for NASA have created satellites which can be printed out by astronauts. This could save a ton of money, as well as make trips to space much safer. If something breaks, the astronauts will be only hours away from printing out a new part. NASA used the example of Apollo 13 to show that 3D printing could have saved a ton of stress and trouble for the Astronauts, had they been able to fix the damaged parts after the explosion they faced.

More details:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/201...or-273958.html

Here is a recent Youtube video with NASA representatives explaining the uses of a 3D Printer in space, and why NASA is so excited about them:

http://youtu.be/Uy11alCPe60

It would be awesome if we could send drones to the moon or other worls and they would use this technology to make whole settlements from the available material. Space exploration would thus be made much more affordable and safe for humans. I believe this is the way current progress in technology is leading us to.

Yep, in the future, 20-30 years, I expect to see rockets sent to the moon or even mars with robots which will utilize 3D printers and set up camps for later on when humans travel there. This is something that is certainly feasible.