This isn’t the first 3D-printed object made in space, but it is the first created to meet the needs of an astronaut. When International Space Station Commander Barry Wilmore needed a wrench, NASA knew just what to do. They “e-mailed” him one. This is the first time an object has been designed on Earth and then transmitted to space for manufacture.

Niki Werkheiser, the International Space Station 3-D printer project manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, discusses the on-orbit set-up and first test run of the International Space Station’s 3-D Printer. Video Credit: NASA

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