Building a lunar base with 3D printing

[josephpalazzo]

Setting up a lunar base could be made much simpler by using a 3D printer to build it from local materials. Industrial partners including renowned architects Foster + Partners have joined with ESA to test the feasibility of 3D printing using lunar soil.
 
"Terrestrial 3D printing technology has produced entire structures," said Laurent Pambaguian, heading the project for ESA.
 
"Our industrial team investigated if it could similarly be employed to build a lunar habitat."

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Techn ... D_printing

[Nonsensei]

Pretty awesome. With the technology fully developed, setting up a base on the moon or mars could be a matter of sending a probe to construct it. When the astronauts get there it would be waiting for them.

[josephpalazzo]

Come to think of it, even Star Trek missed on this beaut!

[Nonsensei]

Come to think of it, even Star Trek missed on this beaut!

Replicators.

[josephpalazzo]

Come to think of it, even Star Trek missed on this beaut!

Replicators.

Didn't replicators only involve food? I don't recall any episode in which replicators were used for other stuff, do you?

[Hydra009]

Didn't replicators only involve food?

No.  It's just that food is commonly requested on a starship.  But they can produce other materials, such as ship components, devices, and clothes.

I don't recall any episode in which replicators were used for other stuff, do you?

TNG The Game (the replicator is used to create video game glasses), DS9 For The Cause (the Cardassian government requests industrial replicators from Starfleet in order to construct power plants and factories), VOY Phage (Paris replicates a medical device).

[Nonsensei]

Come to think of it, even Star Trek missed on this beaut!

Replicators.

Didn't replicators only involve food? I don't recall any episode in which replicators were used for other stuff, do you?

Replicators were devices that rearranged matter. As long as you had the molecular "pattern" of the object you wanted to create, the replicator could create it.

If you think about it, food is some pretty complicated stuff. If you can make chicken cordon bleu you can probably make anything.

[josephpalazzo]

Didn't replicators only involve food?

No.  It's just that food is commonly requested on a starship.  But they can produce other materials, such as ship components, devices, and clothes.

I don't recall any episode in which replicators were used for other stuff, do you?

TNG The Game (the replicator is used to create video game glasses), DS9 For The Cause (the Cardassian government requests industrial replicators from Starfleet in order to construct power plants and factories), VOY Phage (Paris replicates a medical device).

Thanks for the info, especially the DS9 episode, which I should have recalled. It was one of my favorite arc when the Cardassians with the Dominians were preparing for war . After that, DS9 had no more wings and then folded.

Replicators.

Didn't replicators only involve food? I don't recall any episode in which replicators were used for other stuff, do you?

Replicators were devices that rearranged matter. As long as you had the molecular "pattern" of the object you wanted to create, the replicator could create it.

If you think about it, food is some pretty complicated stuff. If you can make chicken cordon bleu you can probably make anything.

Yeah, you would think that -- as Hydra pointed out: there were very few episodes in which the replicators were used for other stuff than just food stuff. You would think that every factory should have closed down, and all you need are replicators. But that point was not overly stressed in Star Trek, which they should since it would be a great deal.

[Nonsensei]

Yeah, you would think that -- as Hydra pointed out: there were very few episodes in which the replicators were used for other stuff than just food stuff. You would think that every factory should have closed down, and all you need are replicators. But that point was not overly stressed in Star Trek, which they should since it would be a great deal.

There actually was an episode of Enterprise where an automated repair station used replicator technology to repair a badly damaged Enterprise in a matter of days. And then after the station was destroyed it began rebuilding itself using replication technology. This is probably the episode that really puts on the table the absurd utility that replication tech provides. It essentially solves all supply problems by eliminating the need for preconfigured matter. It can turn a rock into cotton candy. All you need is energy.

[Hydra009]

Yeah, you would think that -- as Hydra pointed out: there were very few episodes in which the replicators were used for other stuff than just food stuff. You would think that every factory should have closed down, and all you need are replicators. But that point was not overly stressed in Star Trek, which they should since it would be a great deal.

There are few more instances of characters replicating gifts for each other, but yeah, it's not as stressed as it should have been.  Part of it is because life in Starfleet is portrayed as unmaterialistic - crew members have some keepsakes in their quarters, but they don't accumulate goods like we do today.  So while they can readily create just about anything, they typically don't make much use of it aside from meals and the occasional object.

Plus, apparently humans prefer "real" food and dislike replicated food (to say nothing of transporters).  For such a progressive people, they sure seem like luddites in the making.

Of course, they may have good reasons for not trusting the replicators...

[youtube:v0g2lfrn]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgR_ySkR1fo[/youtube:v0g2lfrn]

[josephpalazzo]

Thanks for the memories. As absurd as ST was, it was still fun to watch.