Quick to shun the artists formerly known as the NASA student volunteers who performed their own rendition of Megan Trainor’s “All About That Bass,” NASA just did something futuristic and supremely more awesome. Commander Barry Wilmore aboard the International Space Station (ISS) required a wrench for an unspecified task. Instead of including one on the next supply launch, NASA emailed Wilmore the requested tool.
According to Wired, this is the “first time an object has been designed on Earth and then transmitted to space for manufacture.”
Made In Space, the California company that designed the 3D printer aboard the ISS, overheard Wilmore mentioning the need for a ratcheting socket wrench and decided to create one. Previously, if an astronaut needed a specific tool it would have to be flown up on the next mission to the ISS, which could take months.
This isn’t the first 3D printed object made in space, but it is the first created to meet the needs of an astronaut. In November astronauts aboard the ISS printed a replacement part for the recently installed 3D printer. A total of 21 objects have now been printed in space, all of which will be brought back to Earth for testing.
There are no details on what the previous 21 objects are, but my money is on at least one sex toy. A 3D PRINTED, DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR USE IN SPACE SEX TOY. The future is nigh, my friends, and there is nothing we can do to stop what’s coming. [insert snare roll and cymbal crash]
Source: Wired