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Claim A says NASA once mailed a printed wrench to space by rocket. Claim B says NASA once "emailed" a wrench to the space station. Claim B is true, and Claim A is completely made up.
In late 2014, astronaut Barry Wilmore needed a ratcheting socket wrench aboard the International Space Station. A hardware store could have supplied one in minutes, but the next resupply mission was months away.
So engineers at Made In Space, the company behind the station's 3D printer, designed the tool on Earth. Engineer Noah Paul-Gin modeled it in CAD software, and the design was approved by NASA's safety reviewers and sent to space in less than a week.
The file traveled through NASA's Huntsville Operations Center up to the station crew. Then the printer went to work, and it finished the wrench in just four hours. The tool measures about 4.5 inches long.
Made In Space founder Mike Chen said it was the first time they had "emailed" hardware to space. NASA says it was the first object designed on Earth and then transmitted to space for manufacture. Before, a missing tool meant waiting for a launch.
Claim A is wrong because the wrench was never shipped on a rocket. It was sent as a digital file and printed on the station itself.
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