The Future of Exploration Starts With 3D Printing

Last year, engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL, tested an additive manufacturing process that is being used to make some of the parts for NASA’s new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), more efficiently and affordably without compromising performance and safety. Selective laser melting (SLM) is a 3D printing process used to create complex parts for the engine and other components of the rocket. Four RS-25 engines and two solid rocket boosters will power the core stage of the SLS.