NASA will print using lunar soil

The equipment is already on the ISS. NASA, along with a recent delivery mission to the International Space Station, provided an interesting experiment. This is a special 3D printer that uses lunar soil as a raw material. The astronauts will test this solution in microgravity and assess whether it will cope outside the Earth.

NASA last week launched a Cygnus cargo capsule into space, which delivered a cargo weighing up to 3.7 tons to the International Space Station. Among the experiments located there, there is also a special device for 3D printing. The Redwire Regolith Print (RRP) project should be paired with an existing printer (ManD).

Astronauts on the International Space Station will check how the material obtained in 3D printing copes in microgravity conditions and its strength will be evaluated. If the experiment is successful, then such a solution can be used in the future, for example, when building human habitats on the Moon or Mars. This will reduce the supply of building materials, which in the case of space expeditions will be very expensive.