Out Of The Earth: First Ever 3D Object Printed From Asteroid Metals

(RTTNews) - A 3D printed spacecraft prototype was unveiled by asteroid mining company Planetary Resources Inc. yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

There can be no denying that 3D printing is revolutionizing manufacturing across the aerospace, automotive, medical/dental, consumer products and jewellery sectors, and a number of 3D printed objects are already in use. So what is so special about this 3D printed spacecraft prototype?

Well, Planetary Resources' spacecraft prototype was 3D printed from Campo del Cielo iron meteorite, making it the first ever direct metal print from asteroid metals.

Campo del Cielo is the name of the place in Argentina where the meteorite fell 4200 - 4700 years ago. More than 100 tons of the meteorite material has been recovered so far. (Data sourced from Sun.org.)

3D Systems' (DDD) ProX DMP 320 metals 3D printer was used to print the spacecraft prototype using Campo del Cielo iron meteorite.

The simple definitions given below will help to understand the difference between asteroids and meteorites. (Source: NASA)

Asteroid - a relatively small, inactive, rocky body orbiting the Sun.

Comet - a relatively small, at times active, object whose ices can vaporize in sunlight forming an atmosphere (coma) of dust and gas and, sometimes, a tail of dust and/or gas.

Meteoroid - a small particle from a comet or asteroid orbiting the Sun. Meteor - the light phenomenon which results when a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere and vaporizes; a shooting star.

Meteorite - a meteoroid that survives its passage through the Earth's atmosphere and lands upon the Earth's surface.