Astronauts Can Now Recycle Plastics Into 3D Printing Filament

By on November 28th, 2019 in Usage

Tags: , , , , ,

Reusing plastic in space [Source: SolidSmack]
Reusing plastic in space [Source: SolidSmack]

Why limit recycling to Earth when you can do it in outer space too?

Space manufacturing company Made in Space recently teamed up with thermoplastic resin and polypropylene company Braskem to create a plastic recycler for astronauts stationed at the International Space Station.

Using Braskem’s specialized Green Plastic (a sugarcane-based plastic made using thermoplastic resin) in the majority of their goods and perishables packaging, astronauts can dump the reusable waste into the recycler and repurpose it into material for the onboard Made in Space 3D printer.

Made in Space’s recycling unit [Source: SolidSmack]
Made in Space’s recycling unit [Source: SolidSmack]

This, in turn, helps reduce weight and allows astronauts to produce custom tools and parts with ease using materials already available on board. Once they’re done with said parts, they can dump it all back into the recycler where it can be mulched down again for future use.

Read the rest at SolidSmack

By SolidSmack.com

This is a very small behemoth of an online community about 3D CAD, technology, design, robots, ninjas… Ok, maybe not ninjas so much, but those guys are COOL so there just might be something about some dang ninjas. Besides the occasional blast of intensely cool product design and technology, we look at what’s going on in the world of 3D, add a splash of business insight and web tech into the mix and there ya got your SolidSmack.