five levels of competition including three construction levels and two virtual levels. The construction levels challenge the

now life on Mars doesn’ t sound all that far-

teams to autonomously 3D-print elements

fetched anymore.

of the habitat, culminating with a one-

Through an exciting NASA initiative, we

third-scale printed habitat for the final

have pleasure in viewing several artistic

level. For the virtual levels, teams must use

renderings of how existence and construction

building information modelling software to

could look like on the red planet. NASA recently announced the top five winning projects for its 3D-Printed Habitat Competition, which seeks to create habitable structures on the surface of Mars. Making use of specialised software tools,

design a habitat that combines allowances for both the structure and systems it must contain.

As NASA advances deep space exploration, reliable life-supporting habitats will be essential yet challenging.

NASA

SEArch +/ Apis Cor of New York won fourth place in Phase 3: Level 1 of NASA’ s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. This team focuses on regolith construction to provide radiation shielding and physical protection.

the winning teams successfully created

‘ Creating a structure on the surface of Mars

digital representations of the physical and

is an extraordinary challenge considering

functional characteristics of a house on Mars.

the extensive limits on transporting

The judges interviewed and evaluated

materials and the differences in

submissions from 18 teams from all over

atmosphere and landscape,’ states NASA.

the world. The 3D-Printed Habitat

The 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge aims to

Challenge is developed through a

further the progression of sustainable

partnership with NASA’ s Centennial

shelters that will someday occupy the

Challenges programme and Bradley

Moon, Mars or beyond by pushing citizen

University which has partnered with

inventors to develop new technologies

sponsors Caterpillar, Bechtel and

capable of additively manufacturing a

Brick & Mortar Ventures to administer

habitat using indigenous resources with, or

the competition.

without, recyclable materials.

Having kicked off in 2014 and structured

Awesome stuff. So who’ s with me for a

in phases, the current third phase of the

trip to the Moon … or Mars?

competition – the On-Site Habitat

Competition – challenges competitors to fabricate sub-scale habitats and features

Candace Sofianos King | senior writer candace @ interactmedia. co. za

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