2 Min Read JPL 3D-Printed Part Springs Forward PIA26706 Credits: Proteus Space Photojournal Navigation - Science - Photojournal - JPL 3D-Printed Part Springs… - Photojournal Home - Photojournal Search - Latest Content - Galleries - Feedback - RSS - About Downloads ## PIA26706 Figure A JPEG (82.95 KB) ## PIA26706 Animation MOV (3.33 MB) ## Description With a simple motion, a jack-in-the-box-like spring designed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory showed the potential of additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, to cut costs and complexity for futuristic space antennas. Called JPL Additive Compliant Canister (JACC), the spring deployed on the small commercial spacecraft Proteus Space’s Mercury One on ## Feb. 3 , 2026. An onboard camera captured this video of the spring popping out of its container as the spacecraft passed over the Pacific Ocean in low Earth orbit. Figure A Figure A is a still image of JACC after deployment, taken above Antarctica.…