Open-Sourcing Outer Space: 3-D Printing Meets Rocket Science | WIRED
Summary
And theres probably a good reason for that, but now a competition is aiming to launch the newest manufacturing fad into the final frontier by challenging people to design 3-D printed rocket engines. The sponsors behind the 3-D rocket engine challenge, Sunglass and a company called DIYRockets, hope to spur innovative ideas for space travel and bring down manufacturing costs. Hobbyists are also harnessing 3-D printers to make traditional toy rockets with firecracker engines, some of which look like they sprung from the imagination of a pulp sci-fi writer. “It will be like a GitHub environment, where you can have these 3D projects and people visiting the site can see them, comment, and collaborate, ” said Kaustuv DeBiswas, CEO of Sunglass. Teams involved in the contest will also need to come up with several thousand dollars to print a finished model, though one of the competition’s sponsors is offering a small sum of $500 to help towards that goal.