NASA held a multi-year challenege to design a 3D-printable Mars habitat using on-planet materials, and a handful of teams have taken home their share of a $100,000 prize, with first place going to Team Zopherus (bottom in image above). Since the five winners have already been chosen, they’re all set to build scale models next year of their digital representations. “We are thrilled to see the success of this diverse group of teams that have approached this competition in their own unique styles. They are not just designing structures, they are designing habitats that will allow our space explorers to live and work on other planets. We are excited to see their designs come to life as the competition moves forward,” said Monsi Roman, program manager for NASA’s Centennial Challenges. Read more for another video and additional information.
“As NASA advances deep space exploration, reliable life-supporting habitats will be essential. But creating a structure on the surface of Mars is an extraordinary challenge considering the extensive limits on transporting materials and the differences in atmosphere and landscape. The 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge aims to further the progression of sustainable shelters that will someday occupy the Moon, Mars or beyond by pushing citizen inventors to develop new technologies capable of additively manufacturing a habitat using indigenous resources with, or without, recyclable materials,” said an agency representative.
