QuickCheck: Can astronauts receive tools from NASA via email?

FLOATING around in a metal container in the vast expanse is a pretty big deal on its own. And anything can happen out in space, but what if you didn’t have the tools on hand to deal with it?

If it were the office, a drive home or a courier service could easily solve the problem. But space is not the office.

However, it may no longer be the case that astronauts have to wait a year or so for tools to reach them.

Is it true that NASA can email tools to astronauts in space?

Verdict:

TRUE

Yes, they can and yes, it has been done!

In September 2014, Made In Space, Inc shipped a 3-D printer to the astronauts at the space station. In November the same year it printed its first object - a replacement part for itself.

The printer was a collaboration between NASA and the company Made In Space.

But this is the first time it has printed a specially designed tool on-demand, which is exactly the kind of work its designers hoped it would do.

Made In Space founder Mike Chen wrote "It's a lot faster to send digital data to space than it is to send physical objects, which involves waiting months to years for a rocket. It makes more sense to 3D-print things in space, when we can, instead of launching them."

International Space Station Expedition 42 Commander Barry 'Butch' Wilmore shows off a ratchet wrench made with a 3-D printer on the station. - NASA

This also means that astronauts can do their work more quickly and for less money.

In this case, NASA was responding to a request by ISS commander Barry Wilmore for a ratcheting socket wrench.

The company overheard Wilmore mention over the radio that he needed one, so the team designed one in CAD and sent it up to him faster than a rocket ever could have.

NASA says the capability will help astronauts be more self-reliant on future long duration space missions.

NASA said then that the first objects built in space will be returned to Earth in 2015 for detailed analysis and comparison to identical ground samples to verify that the 3-D printing process works the same in microgravity as it does on Earth.

References:

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/station/space-station-3-d-printer-builds-ratchet-wrench-to-complete-first-phase-of-operations/

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30549341

https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-emails-a-wrench-into-space-using-3d-printing-2014-12