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3D Printing on the Moon?

I was catching up on some old podcast episodes, and I recently listened to the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy episode with guest Cory Doctorow. He mentioned that he was writing a novella about people sending 3D printing robots to the Moon to start building the structures of a settlement for their descendants.

Well, it looks like this idea might be viable. Here’s one proof-of-concept story and here’s another.

I love this experiment. Imagine astronauts arriving on the Moon, Mars, or beyond to find that shelters, tools, and equipment are already in place, either delivered by advance rockets or built by solar-powered 3D printing robots! And then imagine how we can use this on Earth. 3D printing has the potential to really change how we do things. It’s like having a Star Trek replicator in your house. Or using a replicator to build your house!

Like any technology, we can’t really know all the ways it will be used. People will use it for good and bad. I’ve talked about this on another post about potential criminal uses of 3D printing. And designers recently tested a 3D-printed AR-15 lower. All I know is that I can’t wait. The stories about 3D printing just keep getting cooler and cooler.

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