Watch this 3D printer make pizza fit for astronauts

Mechanical engineer Anjan Contractor won a $125,000 grant last year to build a prototype 3D printer designed to print food for astronauts on long missions. Contractor’s goal was to print a pizza with his open-source RepRap Mendel 3D printer — and it looks like he succeeded.

In the video from late last year, Contractor’s printer takes food “building blocks” to create the crust, cheese, and so-called “protein layer” for the dish, all cooked while being printed out. Contractor promised last spring that the cartridges the printer uses will last 30 years. The printer is still in its earliest stages, but it now joins such producers as the ChefJet in its 3D-printable food ambitions. The world is now one small step closer to a Replicator.