Chinese Researchers Use 3D Printing to Make Safer Extra-Vehicular Space Suits

Source: http://inside3dprinting.com/

(GizBot) — Chinese researchers have used 3D-printing technology to make a safer space suit for astronauts while spacewalking. A research center under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation used a 3D printer to create the vent pipes and the flanges connecting the pipes used on the extra-vehicular space suit. The vent pipe and the flange as a whole can improve the reliability and safety of the space suit, and suits can be made more efficiently with 3D printing.

The technology has been approved by the Scientific Research Training Centre for Chinese Astronauts. Wang Lianfeng, senior engineer at the academy, says the 3D-printing technology is suitable for making parts with complicated structures and odd shapes. “It’s very difficult to process the complicated parts by traditional methods,” said Wang.