[VIDEO] Team Designs 3D-Printed Mars Home

July 10, 2020

Last year concluded a contest held by NASA called the 3D Printed Habitat Challenge. The long-running competition, started in 2015, tasked participants with creating homes that would be viable to build on Mars. 

The top prize ($500,000) went to AI SpaceFactory, a New York-based architecture and construction tech company focused on building for space exploration. Their dual-shell, four-level design is called Marsha. It’s neither a dome nor underground bunker. In fact, it sits fully above ground and looks like a giant egg.

The team deliberately chose the hive-egg shape, saying that it’s not only optimized to handle the pressure and temperature demands of the Martian atmosphere, but building it with a 3D printer will be easier because the printer won’t have to move as much. According to Singularity Hub, the home’s layout is like a multi-level townhouse, with some Mars-specific tweaks. 

AI SpaceFactory collaborated with materials design company Techmer PM to come up with a mix of basalt fiber, which would come from rocks on Mars, and a renewable bioplastic that could be made from plants and grown on Mars.

Frank Raczon, Construction Equipment
Mark Pentz, Calvin Group/IEDA
Mark Pentz, Calvin Group/IEDA
Mark Pentz, Calvin Group/IEDA
Mark Pentz, Calvin Group/IEDA
Mark Pentz, Calvin Group/IEDA
ID 9194607 © Arak7 | Dreamstime.com
ID 9194607 © Arak7 | Dreamstime.com