NASA to Launch 3D Printer to Space in 2014, After Several Tests on the "Vomit Comet" [Video]

3D printing is on its way towards revolutionizing the production of physical goods here on Earth, so why not test it out in space as well? That's the thinking behind NASA's partnership with Made in Space, which is planning on launching the first 3D printer to space in 2014.

The venture is the first step in a long journey to a future where NASA just prints up what it needs in space, rather than waiting for a costly resupply mission. Take note, this is not the same thing as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's plans to create a 3D printing machine to print food in space. Instead, the NASA-Made in Space partnership is "to prepare for a future where parts can be built on-demand in space."

Currently, all space missions are reliant on Earth and its launch vehicles to send equipment to space. And in future missions, where space craft are further away than just low-Earth orbit, the 3D printing parts when needed could obviate the need for costly and dangerous resupply missions.

"The 3D printing experiment with NASA is a step towards the future. The ability to 3D print parts and tools on-demand greatly increases the reliability and safety of space missions while also dropping the cost by orders of magnitude," said Aaron Kemmer, CEO of Made in Space in a release.

"Imagine an astronaut needing to make a life-or-death repair on the International Space Station," said Kemmer. "Rather than hoping that the necessary parts and tools are on the station already, what if the parts could be 3D printed when they needed them?"

As proof of the utility of 3D printing, the team conducted a thought experiment, revisiting the Apollo 13 mission, when a breakdown of equipment nearly killed the crew onboard, forcing them to create a carbon dioxide filter holder using duct tape and a plastic bag. With a 3D printer, the problem would have been solved in a matter of minutes.

According to the Associated Press, engineers are already using 3D printing machines to make small "CubeSat" satellites that could eventually be launched from the Space Station, along with replacement parts for rockets that can survive extreme temperatures. But that's down on Earth, in an exactly one "G" environment. The challenge was to find a 3D printer made for the closer-to zero G environment of orbit.

That's where Aaron Kemmer and Made in Space comes in. A start up that began in 2010, Made in Space took more than a dozen flights in NASA's reduced-gravity aircraft - the aircraft that gives the sense of weightlessness by following an elliptical flight path of succeeding 45 degree climbs and dives, also known as the "Vomit Comet."

In such an extreme environment, Made in Space's engineers tested several different designs for a zero-G 3D printer that would work. Made in Space isn't done with the Vomit Comet, as it is planning on conducting several more tests this year.

The final space-built 3D printer will build objects layer by layer out of polymers. "The first printers will start by building test coupons, and will then build a broad range of parts, such as tools and science equipment," said Kemmer. The first goal is to verify the data collected from Made in Space's myriad stomach-churning test flights in the microgravity aircraft and to serve as a demonstration.

After that? "We're going to build a Death Star," joked Made in Space CTO Jason Dunn to the AP.