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Information Literacy: Three Dimensional Printing in Space

By: Sergio Rivera

Three Dimensional printing is changing the way that products are being manufactured
and created and its even being utilized in space. The article that I read from gizmag.com called
First zero-gravity 3D printer launches to the International Space Station this weekend,
describes how a group of engineers from a company called Made in Space built a 3-D printer
that will be functional while in orbit. The article goes into detail about how being able to print in
space will help astronauts with some of the duties that they have to perform. For example,
instead of bringing along machine parts that the astronauts might need, they can produce it in
space so the part doesnt have to possibly be damaged during lift off. Also, it will decrease the
costs of materials needed to be brought into space because the astronauts will be able to print the
materials while in orbit. This article presents how 3-D printing is revolutionizing space travel by
making production of materials more cost efficient and convenient for astronauts.
The second article that I read related to this subject was found on the search engine yahoo
from space.com called First 3D Printer in Space Will Launch This Month and it talks about the
same space flight that is supposed to take place in the weekend of September 20
th
to test out the
3-D printer. This article was written on September 2, 2014 and it also goes into detail about how
this new technology is benefitting those who want to journey into space by using the printer to
make parts that they might need to replace. The article from this website uses quotes from NASA
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officials and goes into more detail by saying exactly what a 3-D printer is capable of in order to
convey the importance of having this type of technology.
The third Internet based article was found using Bing on nasa.gov and the article is called
3D Printing: Food in Space. This article talks about the use of 3-D printing in space but for
food more than producing tools. The article states how NASA wants to use this technology to
help with the manufacturing of foods for long journeys in space. With space travel covering long
distances NASA is concerned about the life support and nutritional needs of the crew and the
emerging technology of the 3-D printer seems to be a way to provide food for longer periods of
time rather than relying on refrigerated options. This article was written on May 23
rd
, 2013 and
interestingly had no author.
The scholarly article I found from the CCBC Library was written on March 20
th
, 2014. I
used the keywords: 3D Printing Space to find this article which talks about the business side
for investors looking into 3-D printing. I chose this article from the database because it was
written a few months ago and dealt with the financial issue of making the 3-D printer so I wanted
to see how it compared to recent interpretations of it. The article is called HP could enter 3D
Printing Market in June, But Is It Getting In After the Gold Rush? and it talks about the uses for
3-D printers besides space travel and that while it may be useful for NASA, it might not be as
advantageous to market it for mass consumers because it takes a long time to print something
and it doesnt come out exactly as the user intended. The costs for 3-D printers is demonstrating
to be expensive so there isnt too much of a rush for investors to support companies that want to
invest in it for commercial purposes.
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The second scholarly article I found from the CCBC Library was written on August 6,
2014 called 3D Printer World Expo Seattle to Feature First 3D Printer Headed to Space, Lucky
Attendee to Receive Object Printed Aboard the International Space Station. For this article, I
used the key words 3D Printing Space again to find articles that dealt with this topic. I chose
this article from the database because it talks about the launching of the printer and how it
connects to the public. This article relates to the social aspect of science by talking about how the
3-D printer is going to be at an exposition for people to witness and that a selected person will be
able to have something they want printed in space. This article also offers quotes from NASA
officials stating how the 3-D printer will be a valuable asset for eventual space colonization by
producing materials while in space. This version of the topic also lists the members of the
company Made in Space including the lead engineers and designers for the products.
The articles all discuss the topic of being able to use 3-D printers in space so that
astronauts dont run into problems with materials that get damaged in orbit. There are many
differences between the articles though. For example, the articles that were found using search
engines have pictures and videos to help accompany the content that the viewer is trying to read.
The scholarly articles only use text for the readers without any images. The articles found using
search engines are also easier to access since anyone can use a search engine to look up
information but the scholarly articles need an account to access information from a library.
However, all the articles were found within the first page of searching and it was surprising that
different search engines produced the same content but written from different sources. One of the
things I found interesting in the differences is how the authors conveyed information and for
what type of audience. The scholarly written article, HP Could Enter 3D Printing Market In
June, But Is It Getting In After The Gold Rush? took an interesting point in trying to talk about
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3-D printing from a marketing view and some of the negative aspects of this project. The article
with the most authority was from either space.com or nasa.gov since those articles gave very
thorough descriptions of what 3-D printing is along with video and images and are credited
sources in astronomy. The articles found on search engines were written more recently along the
time of 2 or 3 days before the 3-D printer is supposed to lift off, while the scholarly articles
found from the library were written farther back with one having been written in March. Due to
the easy accessibility, timeliness and additional content such as video and pictures, the internet
found articles are more reliable and easier to understand for finding information of this emerging
technology.










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Works Cited
1) 3D Printer World Expo Seattle to Feature First 3D Printer Headed to Space, Lucky
Attendee to Receive Object Printed Aboard the International Space Station. 6 Aug.
2014. Regional Business News. EBSCOhost. CCBC Library. Baltimore, MD 20
Sept.2014 <http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/>.
2) 3D Printing: Food in Space. Nasa.gov. 23 May 2013. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.
3) McGrath, Maggie. HP could enter 3D Printing Market in June, But Is It Getting In
After the Gold Rush? 20 March 2014. Business Source Premiere. EBSCOhost.
CCBC Library. Baltimore, MD. 20 Sept. 2014 <http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/>.
4) Robarts, Stu. First zero-gravity 3D printer launches to the International Space
Station this weekend. Gizmag.com. Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine. 19
Sept. 2014. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.
5) Wall, Mike. World's First 3D Printer in Space Will Launch This Month.
Space.com. Space.com. 2 Sept. 2014. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.