The Renaissance astronomer Johannes Kepler dedicated his life to understanding space and in particular the moon. He spent the last decade of his being writing the work of fiction, Somnium, released in 1634, four years after his death. The novel details explicitly how the earth would look from the moon and the book is considered by many to be the first true work of science fiction.
379 years later and we’re still obsessed by space travel and exploration. Since the end of the Apollo era things may have appeared to slow down a little but that couldn’t be further from the truth and it is 3D printing that is proving to be the catalyst for a new space craze.
3D printing now plays a crucial part in the research and development of all things astronomical, in the gallery above we explore the five ways the technology could be the final piece in the jigsaw to send us into the final frontier.
