"NASA's Orion spacecraft, which is set to launch next year for a journey around the moon, will mark the first time that a deep-space craft has been built using 3-D-printed parts.

The space agency wants to conduct a new set of lunar missions, as well as exploration to other destinations including Mars. The Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) will send Orion, an un-crewed module, on a three-week voyage around the moon.

The Orion craft is set to use more than 100 3-D-printed parts jointly engineered by Lockheed Martin, Stratasys, and Phoenix Analysis & Design Technologies. It will be the first time that 3-D parts have been certified for deep space use. Deep space, or outer space, represents the physical universe beyond Earth's atmosphere."

I wonder what difference that makes with an unmanned space ship made of 3-D printed parts? What significance does that hold other than it's never been done?

in b 4 ~ "3D printing our way to the stars" ~


https://www.finnegan.com/en/insights/3d-printing-our-way-to-the-stars.html

Amyjo Wrote:
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> I wonder what difference that makes with an
> unmanned space ship made of 3-D printed parts?
> What significance does that hold other than it's
> never been done?

None, really.
Maybe it starts the path to more affordable spacecraft (it's far cheaper to 3D print parts than to have machinists hand-make them).
Otherwise...meh.

On Twilight Zone, the spaceships are made out of plywood.

on Earth mormon submarines are made out of wood.