A NASA astronaut says the agency will be able to do its own "Star Trek replication right there on the spot" when it sends a 3D printer to the International Space Station next June. 

Timothy "T.J." Creamer says the printer will help NASA "replace things we've lost, replace things we've broken or maybe make things that we've thought of that would be useful". 

Here at Newstalk we can think of plenty of things NASA should consider making as soon as the printer arrives...

Dinosaur bones

We can see it now:

For millions of years, they were extinct...

Until one man got the bright idea to send a 3D printer into space...

Now, a freak radiation accident brings one of his creations to life in

DINOSAURS IN SPACE!!!

A moon base

In January the European Space Agency said it was looking into whether a moon base could be built solely using materials produced with a 3D printer. 

While it may be more science fiction than fact - 3D printing wouldn't work well in the Moon's hugely varying hot and cold temperatures, and lunar dust would be dangerous to breathe in - just imagine the craic you could have inside:

An electric guitar

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield stole our hearts when he tweeted pictures of Earth (and even Dublin, Cork and Kerry) during his two month stay aboard the ISS. He even got David Bowie's blessing to cover "Space Oddity" while on board using an acoustic guitar:

Chris' performance was perfect, so we think the next astronaut to perform a song will need to step things up a notch. Enter a 3D-printed electric guitar. 

3D printers

Many 3D printers have the ability to produce 3D clones of themselves. The process is still fairly buggy, and we can't imagine 3D printer manufacturers jumping at the chance to turn themselves obsolete, but consider the possibilities. It'll be like iRobot, but with, eh, lots of printers.

What else should NASA print aboard the ISS? 

Images: © ESA.int, Cubify.com, Wikimedia Commons