Cosmonauts release 3D-printed satellite

The world's first satellite made with a 3D printer has been set free from the International Space Station.

Spacewalking cosmonauts have set free the world's first satellite made with a 3D printer.

Russians Fyodor Yurchikhin and Sergey Ryazanskiy ventured outside the International Space Station on Thursday and released five nanosatellites by hand.

The casing of the first one tossed overboard was made entirely with a 3D printer. Researchers want to see how 3D-made parts weather the space environment. The others have traditional spacecraft parts.

They're expected to orbit for six months.

One commemorates the 60th anniversary of the world's first satellite, Sputnik 1, launched October 4, 1957. Another pays tribute to Russia's father of rocketry, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.


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Source: AAP



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