3-D Printed Mars Habitat Design Challenge

NASA awarded three teams a total of $40,000 in the first stage of the 3-D Printed Habitat Challenge Design Competition at the New York Maker Faire on September 27. The design competition challenged participants to develop architectural concepts that take advantage of the unique capabilities 3-D printing offers to imagine what habitats on Mars might look like using this technology and in-situ resources.

Teams were judged on many factors, including architectural concept, design approach, habitability, innovation, functionality, Mars site selection, and 3-D print constructability. The design competition is the first milestone of the 3-D Printed Habitat Challenge, which seeks to foster the development of new technologies necessary to additively manufacture a habitat using local indigenous materials, with or without recyclable materials, in space and on Earth.

More than 165 submissions were received, and the 30 highest-scoring entries were judged and displayed at the Maker Faire event. The first-place award of $25,000 went to Team Space Exploration Architecture and Clouds Architecture Office for their design, Mars Ice House.

The top 30 submissions can be viewed at http://3dpchallenge.tumblr.com.

— nasa.gov