NASA‘s renewed efforts to return humans to the moon by 2024 has led to advances in new space technologies to improve processes, and reduce costs and development time. In early December 2020, we learned that engineers at the U.S. space agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama successfully hot-fire tested 3D printed components for rocket engines. The copper alloy combustion chamber and nozzle were made of a high-strength, hydrogen-resistant alloy and could withstand the same extreme combustion environments that traditionally manufactured metal structures experience in flight. This huge milestone could pave the way for 3D printed parts aboard new rockets.
