TOMSK. Feb 8 (Interfax) - A 3D printer developed by two Tomsk-based higher education establishments and operating at the International Space Station (ISS) is now involved in creating items which would be used for the ISS's needs after printing samples, cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev told reporters while visiting the Tomsk State University.
"The experiment [of using a 3D printer in space] is 100% successful. The crew currently working at the station is trying to create items needed to live at the station. For instance, a support bracket for an air lock. There will soon be a spacewalk, during which an airlock chamber will be docked with our new segment. And the support bracket was lost. It was 3D printed, but came out crooked. They will now change the settings, and it will be okay," Artemyev said.
The printer could be used to make items for the ISS's exterior, he said.
"The printer's working areas is 20 by 10 centimeters, it means we can print items of a relevant size within this area. Things which are done now are first steps. The next printers will be standard equipment, possibly on our next station. Usually it takes decades between an experiment and standard equipment. But if there are no delays with funding and rockets fly, it will take from three to five years ideally," the cosmonaut said.
It was reported earlier that experts from the Tomsk State University and the Tomsk Polytechnic University, at a request of the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation, created a device enabling producing small component parts urgently and directly at the space station to avoid bringing them there form Earth. In May 2022, two models were handed over to the Energia corporation for tests.
The development of the printer including all necessary stages took a little over three years.
The 3D printer is a device roughly the size of a small analog television set. It is a block-modular structure with all components encased in a single body.