3D printing is great for making trinkets, but NASA has some much more ambitious plans in mind: Take, for instance, this 3D-printed rocket injector assembly that NASA, in collaboration with Aerojet Rocketdyne, recently put through a successful "hot-fire" test (which is basically what you think it is--a test burn of a rocket on the ground).
The best thing about this rocket injector--which is similar in nature to the fuel injector on your car--is that it only took about four months to produce, according to New Scientist. By comparison, the part would've required a full year to produce using traditional methods. According to Aerojet Rocketdyne, this method also cuts the cost of fabrication by about 70 percent.
[Aerojet Rocketdyne via New Scientist]
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