More than 100 parts for U.S. space agency NASA's deep-space capsule Orion will be made by 3D printers, using technology that experts say will eventually become key to efforts to send humans to Mars.
U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin, 3-D printing specialist Stratasys, and engineering firm PADT have developed the parts using new materials that can withstand the extreme temperatures and chemical exposure of deep-space missions, Stratasys said on Tuesday.
"In space, for instance, materials will build up a charge. If that was to shock the electronics on a space craft there could be significant damage," Scott Sevcik, vice president manufacturing solutions at Stratasys, told Reuters.
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