Remember when everyone talked about having a paperless world? The truth is, we don’t even have a paperless space. In fact, printing is mission critical on the International Space Station (ISS).
While the amount of printing astronauts do has decreased thanks to technologies like mobile devices, the ISS Crew members still print about two reams of paper a month. Hardcopies are used for procedural and mission critical information like Emergency E-Books, inventory Return trajectories, timelines, and personal items, including letters and photographs from home. “As long as we have humans in space, I think we’re always going to need to have some sort of form of printing,” commented Christie Cox, ISS division utilization lead at NASA.
But printing in space is tricky. “Space is hard on everything,” Cox explained. “Microgravity, for whatever reason, is a lot harder on our printers than it normally would be on the ground.”
NASA turned to HP to develop a space printer that met these specs:
- Paper management in zero-G
- Flame retardant plastics
- Waste ink management in zero-G
- Glass removal
- Wired and wireless connectivity
- Printing in multiple orientations (0⁰, 90⁰.180⁰ & 270⁰ positions)
- Environmental Testing (EMI, Materials, Acoustics, Flammability, Off-gassing, Power Compatibility, etc.)
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The result was a printer dubbed the ENVY ISS. The printer was sent to the ISS earlier this year. A second, backup printer was sent a couple of months later.
While astronauts don’t print as much as they used to, they still rely on hard copies for complicated procedures such as space walks. “It’s a very, very complicated, choreographed space dance that they’re doing out there,” Cox says. “Giving them something to hold onto gives astronauts a better sense of control,” she added.
And it makes the space station just a bit more like home when astronauts can print out and hang up pictures sent from Earth.