This object flew to space with the astronaut Eytan Stibbe aboard the Endeavour – a SpaceX Dragon – to the International Space Station.

Eytan Stibbe was asked to choose personal items to take with him. After some thought he settled on a number of things, among them a scaled-down model of the Peace Bell, made specially by 3D printing.

The bell spent 17 days, one hour and 37 minutes in space, circled the Earth 273 times at over 27,000 km/h, and travelled some 12 million kilometres.

What is asked of an object that flies to space

An astronaut choosing personal items for a mission is limited on weight and volume in the extreme – every gram on the spacecraft is counted. That is exactly why a scaled-down printed model was the answer: it keeps the shape and the meaning of the original Peace Bell, at a weight and size that fit on a personal items list.

The mission in numbers

17 days, one hour and 37 minutes in space
273 orbits of the Earth
A speed of over 27,000 km/h
Some 12 million kilometres travelled

Why it is interesting from an engineering point of view

Additive manufacturing is already part of the aerospace industry – precisely because of the ability to take weight out and to produce a single unit with no tooling.

A similar project of your own?

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