The Space Station's New 3-D Printer Recycles Old Plastic Into Custom Tools

By Korey Haynes
Feb 11, 2019 9:36 PMMay 21, 2019 5:51 PM
a metallic box with wires
The Refabricator can recycle plastic and 3-D print it, all within a box the size of a mini fridge. (Credit: Allison Porter, Tethers Unlimited, Inc.)

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Last week, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft departed the International Space Station, having delivered a batch of new experiments and cargo. Among them was the Refabricator, a new machine that will not only make objects on demand things for the astronauts, it will recycle them too.

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