Image from ArchDaily
Gotta build the right house if you wanna live on Mars.
NASA’s 3D Printed Habitat Challenge that begun way back in 2015 managed to produce some pretty cool designs at the unveiling of results this year.
The goal of the challenge was to showcase some ideas for homes and dwellings in space, be it on the surface of our natural satellite or our red neighbor Mars. If only humans were able to survive in those harsh environments, that is.
NASA picked a total of three winners for the Challenge who all got to split $100,000 among themselves. Winners of the previous rounds also received $100,000 for each round they passed.
One of the teams is Team Mars Incubator, a team from Connecticut who created home pods with hexagon-shaped 3D printed plates made out of various elements, such as fiber, polyethylene, and regolith.
Another team is Team Zopherus from Arkansas. The team created a home that featured a structure with three dome-like features as well as another structure that had spider-like legs. They also designed the entire habitat as an autonomous moving robot that requires no human interference at all.
Last but certainly not the least, NASA also awarded New York-based SEArch+ (Space Exploration Architecture) and Russian startup Apis Cor for the majestic architecture of their 3D printed space habitat. The design is said to be able to withstand ‘galactic cosmic radiation’, if it ever comes to that.
