Space Station Astronauts Build Objects that Couldn't Exist on Earth

"Aboard the International Space Station right now is a metal box, the size of a desktop PC tower," reports Popular Mechanics. "Inside, a nozzle is helping build little test parts that aren't possible to make on Earth." The Washington Post reports:Backed by MIT's Space Exploration Initiative, astronauts on board the International Space Station on Friday completed a roughly 45-day experiment using a small microwave-sized box that injects resin into silicone skins to build parts, such as nuts and bolts. Now, after the parts travel back to Earth this weekend, scientists will evaluate the test pieces to examine whether they were made successfully - a process that could take weeks. If so, it paves the way for astronauts to build huge parts that would be nearly impossible on Earth thanks to gravity and could upgrade space construction.It lets you build and modify space stations "quicker, cheaper and with less complexity," said Ariel Ekblaw, the founder of the Space Exploration Initiative. "It starts to unlock more opportunities for exploration." The silicone skin is like a balloon filled with resin instead of air, an MIT engineer/researcher told Popular Science - with the resin then cured and solidified by a flash of ultraviolet light. (After which astronauts can cut away the silicone skin.) The best part? The skin and the resin are both readily available off-the-shelf products.

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