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Cosmonauts prepare 3D printer for work aboard orbital outpost

The Russian 3D printer was delivered to the ISS for experiments in June

ISS, August 3. /TASS/. A Russian 3D printer created by the Energia Space Rocket Corporation (part of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos) has been prepared for work aboard the International Space Station (ISS), TASS special reporter, cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev said on Wednesday.

The printer was successfully switched on and prepared for printing. Now the crew members are waiting for a material for printing that is set to be delivered to the orbital outpost aboard a Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft in September, following which the first experiments for making items in outer space will follow, Artemyev said.

Artemyev earlier said that the cosmonauts would first test printing simple cubes and would then involve students who will draw up items in a special program and send the drawings to the space station. The ISS crew members would then put the patterns into the 3D printer and print them out.

The Russian 3D printer was delivered to the ISS for experiments aboard a Progress MS-20 space freighter in June. Cosmonauts Artemyev and Denis Matveyev are set to carry out the first experiments on it. The samples obtained will be delivered to Earth where specialists will examine their characteristics.

On November 17, 2021, Russia’s world-renowned TASS news agency and the State Space Corporation Roscosmos signed a memorandum of cooperation, under which a TASS news office was established aboard the ISS. Presently, cosmonaut Artemyev is heading the outer space-based branch. Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin was the first TASS special reporter in space. His flight lasted 12 days.