Tampa Bay natives behind the first 3D printing in space

Jason Dunn and Aaron Kemmer's story begins in Florida. They hope it ends in outer space.

The Tampa Bay natives want to expand the boundaries of human existence by revolutionizing interstellar exploration.

They are starting with a printer. Someday they would like to send themselves to the solar system.

Last week, Dunn and Kemmer helped produce the first three-dimensional printed object in space. They made a plastic casing for a part of a 3D printer they developed for NASA and dispatched to the International Space Station earlier this year.

The casing is just a little thing with the logo of Kemmer and Dunn's company, Made In Space, on the front. The big deal is how it was made. Technicians and engineers on Earth sent an email to the printer in space, essentially instructing it to print the part.

"It's important to humanity in a way," Dunn said. "Because this is the first time we've ever manufactured anything off of planet Earth, anything useful at least."

Manufacturing is one step toward an eventuality that Kemmer and Dunn, both 29, believe they can help make happen in their lifetime: human life on other planets. One of the biggest hurdles, according to Kemmer, is that "space has a supply chain problem."

Up until now, astronauts have had to pack and haul supplies a costly, cumbersome and time-consuming process. To live in space, Kemmer said, humans must make what they need out there, in the black.

"When you look at history," he said, "we move to places where we can live off the ground."

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Tampa Bay natives behind the first 3D printing in space