Obviously NOT written by someone who’s ever done any 3d printing.
“In the coming weeks, the 3D printer will begin testing. It does not require much attention by the astronauts, who only need to set up the system and remove the printed part at the end of the process.”
http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/11/18/3d-printer-activated-aboard-the-international-space-station/
We had a gplus hangout with made in space the other day they are really hoping it can just print on its own while the crew does other things given how limited the crews time is. It will be interesting to see how it does in zero g.
It would be pretty useless if the astronauts have to stare at the thing the whole time it printed…it’s not as if they don’t have other things to do.
It’s not like they built this thing from a kit, it’s obviously going to be a lot more reliable than the stuff we’ve been using.
They just ship them back to Makerbot with an RMA. /s
LoL : Newtons law… when the printer does its first infill at 50mm/s the whole station is going to shake.
@Michael_Scholtz mass…
@Zak_Cat , harmonic vibration perhaps? 
@Cliff_Bramlett I was pointing out the print head does not have enough mass to displace the mass of the space station in motion.
@Zak_Cat Of course it does, the question is only by how much? And the answer is surely damned little.
@Zak_Cat , I knew your meaning. I was teasing, hence the
@John_Davis less than a plastic beed displaces a bicycle when placed on its spoke.
@Zak_Cat If you mean a bicycle in a vacuum and zero G, then we agree.
Looks like I inadvertently started a interstellar flame war… could be worse they could have sent up a makerbot. Pretty sure that would have no effect at all seeing as the smart extruder will jam on its 1st run.
@Michael_Scholtz no flame war just a physics discussion.
@John_Davis actually you can try this experiment place a free floating beed on a bike spoke and spin up the wheel and measure the displacement with a lazer note you are falling in space your ellipse is simply high enough to avoid reentry so we are thaking centrifugal force vs internal deviation. To paraphrase Newton “Yes the moon is falling.”.