After a fall break, we’re back with the best of what’s new in 3D printing. Fasten your seatbelts, because we’re going into space, inside the human body, behind the scenes at a futuristic factory, and over the first functional 3D printed bridge. Plus we’ll take a look at the man who almost invented 3D printing, but… did something else instead \u2014 all this week in 3D printing!<\/p>\n
Thanks to NASA\u2019s 3D Printed Habitat Challenge<\/a>, we’ve been hearing a lot about building habitats on Mars<\/a>. But what about Earth’s moon, our first love, in terms of extraplanetary travel? The last time it got some attention was 2013, when Yutu, a Chinese rover, took a spin on its dusty face<\/a>. Well, the Google Lunar XPRIZE<\/a> is reviving the moonshot, awarding prizes from five to $30 million for successful unmanned lunar rover landings. One team in the competition, SpaceIL<\/a>, is planning to use 3D printing to build their lunar lander’s legs, as reported by Industry Week<\/em><\/a>. The lofty goals of the competition include habitats on the moon’s surface, so keep an eye out for future 3D printed lunar applications \u2014 far sooner than on that red planet<\/em> that gets all the attention.<\/p>\n Learn the (pretty darn inspiring) story of SpaceIL here:<\/em><\/p>\n