3D printing filaments can now be created from food waste, stone and even formed to be water-soluble—but Planetary Resources recently wowed CES 2016 attendees by showing off the first object 3D-printed from alien metal.
Planetary Resources is on a mission to prove that asteroids can be mined and their materials used as resources for Earth. To demonstrate how it plant to make this a reality, the company ventured to the Consumer Electronics Show, bringing a small 3D-printed model of a spacecraft that was created entirely from materials collected from beyond Earth. The alien metals used in the creation of this object originate from the site of a meteor crash that happened thousands of years ago near Argentina.
While this alien metal was harvested here on earth, the 3D-printed spacecraft is representative of the vehicle that Planetary Resources plans to use one day in order to collect new materials from space.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- 3D Printing Innovations
- The ability to create 3D printing filaments from unconventional materials opens up new possibilities for industries such as manufacturing and design.
- Asteroid Mining
- The concept of mining asteroids for resources presents disruptive innovation opportunities for industries such as space exploration and mining.
- Sustainable Resource Utilization
- Using materials harvested from beyond Earth highlights the potential for sustainable resource utilization in industries like construction and materials science.
Where This Applies
- Manufacturing
- Exploring 3D printing innovations can lead to the adoption of new manufacturing processes and materials.
- Space Exploration
- The idea of asteroid mining could revolutionize the space exploration industry by providing access to valuable resources in space.
- Construction
- Incorporating sustainable resource utilization can revolutionize the construction industry by reducing reliance on traditional building materials and methods.
