3D printer creates working wrench
Scientists have created an amazing video showing how astronauts of the future will 'print out' their tools.
It shows work by the Z Corporation, in Burlington, Massachusetts, which specialises in 3D printers that can make almost anything - even tools with moving parts.
In the clip, made by National Geographic, a huge adjustable wrench is first of all scanned into a computer, down to the accuracy of 40 microns - less than the width of a human hair.
The image is then sent to a printer that uses a "specially engineered composite material" that starts out as a powder and is then bound together with a type of resin.
Within 90 minutes, it has created a fully working, robust copy of the original wrench that even features the adjustable head.
Theoretical physicist David Kaplan, from Johns Hopkins University, said: "So going into space, you just take a printer and you can print whatever you want."
Theoretical physicist David Kaplan, from Johns Hopkins University, said: "So going into space, you just take a printer and you can print whatever you want."
