NASA has very recently announced that it will abort its plans of rocket launch and the announcement has created a stir in the people who were looking forward to it. The oncoming generation, however, has generated enough excitement. Technologies are improving and 3D printing forms the plinth for the same.
Selective Laser Melting or SLM is used by the device on which the heavy lifting rocket would be made. The technique is both cost effective and creates the intricate parts that go into the making of this rocket. The life and durability of this product increases manifolds 3D printing is the technology employed for this purpose.
This powdered metal is melted with the assistance of laser and the molten metal is then given the desired shape. Complex designs can be easily following the technique. The making of this Space Launch System employs this technology. Certain parts, that otherwise could have taken longer time, take very less time to be created with 3D printing. Moreover, since the parts of the rocket are not welded, structurally it gains a greater strength, and becomes, therefore, less prone to crumbling under pressure when faced with rigorous activity. This rocket would be taking man, in the future, to asteroids and to Mars as well.
The rocket is, thereby, just as safe for NASA as it remains for the United States. New models are being made and sent for fire tests for their structure and durability.