A Whole New World: How NASA Helps You 3-D Print The Universe
A sketch of a printable 3-D model of 433 Eros. Credit: NASA
How would it feel like to hold an asteroid or spacecraft in your hands? NASA is giving you that chance through a special website that includes 3-D printable models of various things, ranging from the asteroid Eros to the Rosetta spacecraft, which is going to make an epic rendezvous with a comet in just a couple of weeks.
NASA’s 3D resources website now includes nearly two dozen models, including several released in the past few weeks. You can print out Curiosity’s landing site (Gale Crater), or perhaps the Voyager spacecraft that is further away than anything else humanity has sent out into the universe, or any other number of locations or hardware.
So if you learn best by using your hands, here’s your big chance to have some fun. Or to entertain the kids during summer vacation, if you can get access to a community or personal printer!
(h/t 3DPrint.com)
Recent Posts
Type One Energy Raises $29M to Work on a Crazy Fusion Device
A Wisconsin-based startup called Type One Energy says it's closed an over-subscribed $29 million financing…
Kazakhstan Seizes Russia's Launch Facility at Baikonur
The government of Kazakhstan has seized Baikonur Cosmodrome and Russian space assets, putting their efforts…
Beads of Lunar Glass Boost Hopes for Using the Moon’s Water
Beads of glass could become a key source of water for future crewed settlements on…
Finally, JWST's Data on the First TRAPPIST-1 Planet. Survey Says? It Sucks
With the James Webb Space Telescope’s ability to detect and study the atmospheres of distant…
Why Does ‘Oumuamua Follow Such a Bizarre Orbit? Hydrogen Outgassing
Nothing excites space enthusiasts like a good alien mystery. The interstellar visitor 'Oumuamua presented one…
Asteroid Ryugu Contains Niacin (aka Vitamin B3)
In December 2020, JAXA’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft delivered a pristine sample of otherworldly dust and rock…