Astronauts 3D print a portion of a human knee in space

Bioprinted body parts could prove vital to future medical treatments, and scientists are going to great lengths to test it — in a very literal sense. NASA, Redwire, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Center for Biotechnology (UdSuBio3) and Redwire’s BioFabrication Facility are sending a 3D printer to the International Space Station. This printer will bioprint a human meniscus in orbit, and then study the results on Earth. This will hopefully lead to treatment of the meniscal injuries that soldiers from the US suffer all too often.

Redwire hopes to 3D Print whole organs from space, but it calls this a “long-term” goal. Redwire will also use NASA’s Advanced Plant Habitat to help identify genes for space-friendly plants. Another investigation will utilize a NASA furnace to demonstrate passive cooling for electronics in low-gravity.

The BFF printer will be flying to the ISS aboard a supply launch rocket that will launch from NASA’s Wallops Island Spaceport on November 6th. Three additional payloads will be carried on the mission.

This is not the first NASA spaceborne 3D printer. NASA sent a Redwire printer to Mars last year to print lunar soil. This technology could one day be used by Moon colonists to build habitats on the Moon, without having to bring a lot of supplies from Earth. The bioprinter is much more practical. If the research is successful, doctors may be able to replace damaged body parts without having to resort to organ transplants or donations.