3D printing is potentially of great use to lunar exploration. Weight is a key constraint in space travel and the ability to create structures in situ, using lunar materials and solar power could bring lunar colonisation one step closer. Transporting the infrastructure needed by lunar colonists from Earth is technically challenging. Far more desirable would be the ability to use 3D printing to build structures in place.

  Scientists in Germany are flipping the switch on what's being described as "the world's largest artificial sun," hoping it will help shed light on new ways of making climate-friendly fuel. The "Synlight" experiment in Juelich, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of Cologne, consists of 149 giant spotlights normally used for film projectors.