We believe that this Thingiverse should commit itself to achieving the goal before the month is out of landing MakerBot People on the moon, and housing these daring adventurers there safely and productively in sight of the distant Earth, their home….

So stated President R.Maker in a recent address to the Congressional Assembly of Benevolent Moderators and the Citizens of Thingiverse… and we have breaking news to report. There has been touch down on the moon. I repeat, the MakerBot mission to the moon has now landed, and the MakerBot People are having a great time.

Yesterday, we introduced Michael “Skimbal” Curry’s MakerBot Fairytale Castle Playset. Now, we transport you thousands and thousands of miles away — to the MakerBot Moonbase Playset! Michael has clearly outdone himself with this lovely Flash Gordon / Buck Rogers / Tintin-inspired 1950s rocket playset centerpiece. Gizmodo declared this playset: “The Best Use of New MakerBot“!¹

And keep your eyes on the MakerBot Playset tag for the furniture, moon craters, Astronaut accessories and more, appearing even now. Special shout out to Thingiverse superstar PrettySmallThings for creating, and printing, such models as the Captain Kirk-style chair, Sleeping Pods, and other delights. Check out Thingiverse veteran Emmett’s OpenSCAD models for the Apollo Mission lander, the Radar Dish, and the translation of his stretchy bracelets into treads for a Moon Rover.

MakerBot Moonbase Rocket Playset and Astronauts

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1. Well, specifically referring to the ability to create “terrifying Lego Space Zombies” [↩]

Going to be in Detroit for MakerFaire this weekend?

Make sure to drop in on software/hardware engineer guru Matt Mets and marketing manager/chief advocate of awesomeness Keith Ozar at the MakerBot Booth!

Matt and Keith will be printing out loads of great models on their mini-BotFarm, with a focus on sharing items created for MakerBot Space Month @ Thingiverse, including Tony Buser’s gorgeous Mars Rover.

They will also be giving a short 20min presentation about the MakerBot Universe that will interest veteran Operators and new audiences alike on the Make:Live stage on Sunday, July 31st @ 3:00pm.

MakerBot Zoetrope

Matt Mets will be bringing his brand new MakerBot Zoetrope project, DIY  turntable + light-strobe rig designed for zoetrope animations using objects printing on a MakerBot. Should the delicate models survive, look to see the Blender experimentation I have been doing for Matt, printing out poses of Big Buck Bunny from the open source blender files for that character!

Matt will be printing other animations (he’d really like a Nyan Cat if the Thingiverse modelers are listening) and experiments all weekend.

Here are the MakerFaire Detroit event details

Detroit, July 30 & 31
The Henry Ford
Saturday 9:30am – 6pm • Sunday 9:30am – 6pm

See things before they are Things!

Last year MakerFaire Detroit distinguished itself as a particularly fertile place for Hackerspace project launches and the truly cutting edge. A great place for innovators to get audiences revving before the monster audiences arriving to the East Coast for World MakerFaire NYC. So if you can make it there, you won’t be disappointed.

As most of you already know, Space Month coincides with the end of an era.  The final shuttle mission has touched down, and there are many questions about the future of spaceflight  here in the U.S.

However, the good news is that there are some amazing designs on Thingiverse to help commemorate the occasion, not the least of which is RotoScan’s detailed, multi-part model, complete with launch pad.  We might not be able to go to space ourselves, but now we’ll be able to simulate the launch process, complete with boosters and fuel tank.

This isn’t a great consolation — many of us space-o-philes had hoped that there would be a robust successor program in place by the time the shuttle program wound down.  The silver lining for those of us in the DIY world is that this will hopefully open up possibilities for new, innovative ideas from inventors and engineers like you.

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This past weekend we celebrated Space Month under a star field and the glowing LED strips of a gathering of MakerBots busy printing Rockets, Astronauts, UFOs and Aliens in 3D. There was even 3D Zoetrope animated with MakerBot printed characters. In our Mission Control room attendees grabbed a space helmet for a fake moon landing and puppeteered in a MakerBot printed puppet show. Take a look at a few great pics from the event!

This week’s amazing, superlative Robot Hospital extravaganza is going to hit you like a ton of tribbles.  Why tribbles? Because it’s Space Month, as Keith Ozar explains.  Don’t miss the special Space Month MakerBot Make-A-Thon at 3rd Ward tomorrow, July 16th, 2-6pm, where we’ll be printing some of the space-themed items shown in this Thingiverse roundup!

Join us for our second 3rd Ward MakerBot Make-A-Thon, where you’ll get to see our tiny space factories in action, meet MakerBot Operators from the entire region, and talk to members of the MakerBot team.

In this installment, we’re celebrating Space Month. We’ll be printing Rockets, Astronauts, UFOs and Aliens in 3D. There will even be a space-themed 3D-printed object Zoetrope, giving a 21st century-spin on a centuries-old device.

Wear a space costume and get a printed space shuttle. Plus, grab a helmet and show your friends you landed on the moon in our photo booth. And there will be prize giveaways from MakerBot, NOOKA, Apress and O’Reilly Media!

Click here for photos from 3rd Ward’s first MakerBot Make-A-Thon.

MakerBot Make-A-Thon 2 // MakerBots in Space
Saturday, July 16, 2-6pm
195 Morgan Ave,
Brooklyn, NY 11237
FREE admission RSVPs are required at 3rdward.com/rsvp

Mars Exploration Rover by tbuser

In honor of Space Month on Thingiverse, MakerBot’s own Tony Buser has designed an amazing replica of the Mars Rover:

Articulated, snap together, Mars Rover! No screws, glue, or support structure needed (although some glue in a few places wouldn’t hurt). All the parts can be posed, turned, twisted. The wheels turn and the legs even pivot like the real thing to go over obstacles! Unfortunately, it is not autonomous.

42 separate pieces with 20 unique parts, painstakingly arranged into just five printing plates.  Designs like this really push the boundaries of what’s possible with just a 3D printer.  Parts that snap together with no hardware or glue, while still being movable means you can basically make any kind of plastic object out there.  It’s probably not long at all before we see a printable Transformer.

With any luck, a printed version might even be able to find its way back home.

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