Space, the final frontier for 3-D printing

By Suzanne Presto, CNN

updated 7:58 PM EST, Thu November 27, 2014 |

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- We're used to seeing manufacturer tags that read "Made in the USA," "Made in Taiwan" or "Made in..." just about anywhere on the globe. But this week, for the first time, an item can read "Made in Space."

The International Space Station's 3-D printer created the first object to be made in orbit on Tuesday. The U.S. space agency released a picture of astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore holding the newly printed piece, a white printer part emblazoned with the words "Made in Space" and "NASA."

It's not just a novelty.

"There are many challenges about living and working in space, including when a part or a tool is broken or simply is not working correctly, and the spare part is 200 miles away, here on the surface of the Earth," said Bill Hubscher of NASA's ISS Program Science Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, in a video posted on NASA.gov.

"Explorers traveling to Mars or to asteroids will face these same challenges," but they won't be able to get goods from a resupply ship, he said.

NASA's International Space Station 3-D printer project manager Niki Werkheiser says it's a historic achievement because it allows engineers "to e-mail our hardware to space instead of launching it."

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Space, the final frontier for 3-D printing