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Team: Tomasz Dzieduszynski
Design: The Martian Vault
“If it works, don’t change it!” - this famous quote, frequently used by engineers, is the foundation of my project. Since the “cloister vault” geometry is proven to be effective in supporting structures for more than thousand years on Earth, it will do well in harsh, Martian conditons. The free-standing vault is formed around the inflatable scaffoling by small, 3D-printing robots, which use local regolith as a main construction material. The light but thick honeycomb shell provides protection against radiation and micro-metheorites. The whole complex can grow overtime - just like the International Space Station.
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Team: Hybrid Composites
Awarded: Runner-Up
Our team is a multidisciplinary group of experts who are conducting research in architecture, digital fabrication, computation, material science, additive manufacturing, robotics, mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering.
Our approach is to pursue the use of high performance composite materials and robotic fabrication techniques to challenge and go beyond the current cement based 3D printing approaches. Rather than using extrusion of powder based cement based materials, our team proposes a hybrid approach that integrates multiple robotically controlled fabrication techniques that employ the use of high performance composite fibers and fast curing polymers that react to heat or UV light. Primary structural systems and shell enclosures can be 3D printed by extruding composite fibers woven into various profiles such as strands, sleeves and fabrics through robotically controlled mandrel systems. Primary material for strand production can ideally and abundantly be made by using the local basalt, which can be sourced and produced at sites that have a history of volcanic activity in any terrestrial or extraterrestrial context. If special technological requirements need to be met, conductive metal fibers, fiber optics and other fibers that transmit electricity, data and light can be woven into the composites at designed locations. Through our proposed material and fabrication techniques, the habitat will be a combination of a 3D printed composite lattice that is extruded through robotic arms, serving as structure, and an inner layers of robotically formed composite shells as high performance enclosures.
Connect with this team via Twitter, Instagram, Email & at www.ozeloffice.com.
Team: Mars Terrain Intelligence Collaborative
Design: Marsapia
The most ubiquitous and accessible material on Mars is the high (6-14%) iron content silica sand which covers the vast majority of the planet’s surface. Once the iron and silica have been separated from the soil matrix, using thermal and magnetic processes, these materials will be moved to hoppers and become the media for induction extrusion /plasma arc sintering heads, positioned by multi-axis CNC hydraulic/servo-driven arms. These robot controlled print-heads will produce first permanent structures on Mars.
The monolithic composite shell will be composed of a sintered ferrous latticework on the internal and external surfaces of the structure and a vitrified then devitrified silica core, effectively granite. The lattice and core will provide tensile and comprehensive properties approximating yet surpassing the structural efficiency of ferro-cement or reinforced concrete due to an algorithmiclly regulated deposition of material possible only by through 3d printing. This variable rate of deposition will allow the section modulus of the sintered medium to respond to the specific structural requirements of the form.
Also, because of the reductive atmosphere of Mars, the ferrous elements utilized will not undergo the destructive expansion due to oxidation that undermines reinforced concrete structures on earth. The resulting steel and silica forms will serve as bunkers, protecting the Martian inhabitants against solar radiation, small bolide impact, strong prevailing winds, and related sand storms. They will also provide structural reinforcement, insulation, and protection for a nested system of prefabricated graphite/resin inflatable containment units which will provide beta radiation protection, and contain the inhabitable atmosphere.
Connect with this team via Email, Blogspot & Issuu (Issuu 2).
Team: MP1-S7
Design: Mars Artificial Atmospheric Envelope (M.A.A.E.)
The Mars Artificial Atmospheric Envelope (M.A.A.E.) is designed to be a resilient shell to Mars’s extreme conditions while advancing 3D printing technologies with in-situ resources. M.A.A.E. utilizes a multilayer structural system comprised of both 3D printed in-situ material and an inatable shell made of recyclable ETFE. The 3D printing methods and structure are based on biomimicry. In nature, bees use hexagons to construct their hive as the symmetry reduces the complexity of the structure by its strength to eciency ratio and its smallest total perimeter. The geometry helps maintain consistent sizing, allowing multiple bees to work on various construction areas concurrently. This natural occurrence sets the precedence for using multiple printers simultaneously during construction.
To construct M.A.A.E., a new 3D printer had to be designed. The 3D printer is a composite system made up of four machines: a primary rover with material storage, the “queen bee,” connected to three smaller robotic 3D printers, “worker bees”. When designing the habitable area, there is a focus on the user’s psychological and physiological well-being. Applied research in geometries, lighting, circulation, and spatial qualities determined the nal form of the architecture. A three winged structure focuses on dening adaptive programmatic areas surrounding a central research core. The interior space has a double-height area to provide a sensory break from the conned limits of astronaut life. The Mars Articial Envelope is an innovative structure advancing earthly technology and construction methods, while improving upon micro-housing.
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Team: Team Staye
We believe that boring into the ice of the Equatorial Frozen Sea is the best strategy for initiating a Mars settlement. Easy access to water, protection from cosmic rays, and warm daytime temperatures make this location ideal. Our proposal is based around a silo-shaped habitation, 3D-printed in cement, beginning at the bottom of the bore hole. The silo comprises multiple levels, each having a different programmatic focus. Cement 3D printing enables the creation of walls, cabinetry, furniture, and more, with greater speed, task-specificity, and durability than would otherwise be possible.
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Team: A.R.C.H.
Design: Donut House Mk. I
Awarded: Best in Class: Best Technical Proposal
Team A.R.C.H’s submission uses the design and construction methodology of basalt fiber clay matrix structures for in-situ habitat construction on Mars and other celestial bodies.
The basalt fiber reinforced clay is produced from soils and rocks found on most terrestrial bodies including the Earth, the Moon, and Mars. This material provides an economical solution for extraterrestrial construction, as well as eco-friendly, low cost housing on Earth. Our technique updates the proven technology of “Cobb” construction; replacing straw with basalt fibers, using additive manufacturing to produce efficient, complete, and habitable structures. Furthermore, this material is impervious to fire, chemical degradation, and radiation. Astronauts can use a hand-held nozzle to create various objects out of the clay fiber matrix.
Structures requiring a contained atmosphere would be sealed with water glass, synthesized in-situ. This strong, biocompatible resin can be bonded to the clay structure, eliminating the need for a separate inflatable bladder. The habitat is a ring-shaped structure. The interior would be sectioned for redundancy in the event of damage to the structure. The roof is modeled on a gothic arch to minimize overhangs, and enable the structure to be manufactured in one operation, including electrical conduits and plumbing pipes.
Construction is accomplished using a cable-driven parallel manipulator, comparable to Skycams or Spidercams common in sports arenas. The lack of a rigid frame enables compact storage and simple assembly. Team A.R.C.H. provides a novel structure and construction technique for efficient extraterrestrial colonization and habitation utilizing in-situ resources.
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Team: N.E.S.T.
Design: N3ST
The N3ST (Nested 3D-Printed Settlement Technology), is a safe-to-fail design based on the principles of redundancy, simplicity and incrementalism, which aims 1) to provide atmospheric stabilization, to allow robotic-building in safe conditions, minimizing error and robot failure; 2) to create a life-supporting milieu, granting the physiological conditions necessary for human life; and 3) to generate functional, comfortable infrastructure, understood as design solutions oriented to efficiently support anthropogenic use of the space. These goals are achieved by way of three functional layers: The Exo-layer provides a primary protection to the settlement, that is, to quickly stabilize atmospheric conditions for further development of tasks that require greater control. The Meso-layer is an hermetic volume wich provides an atmosphere with the necessary physiological conditions for sustaining the human life, controlled by the ECLSS. Finally, the Endo-layer creates all the necessary for the development of the activities performed by the crew members, like furniture and resources supply networks.
Connect with this team via Facebook, Twitter, Email & at www.n3st.cl.
Team: Red House
Design: Outpost Olympus
The Red House team, a collaboration amongst a group of graduate and undergraduate students studying Industrial Design, Graphic Design, Architecture, and Physics, undertook an iterative design process to arrive at a novel approach to Martian habitation. We recognized that in order to reduce the enormous cost of human exploration on Mars, innovative construction techniques must be brought to bear. Since the most expensive resource on Mars is human labor, our approach makes use of autonomous manufacturing via 3D Printing. To offset the cost of the next most expensive resource, mass launched from earth, we sought ways to incorporate in situ resource utilization.
With a focus on near future feasibility, our design adapts an existing industrial process, basalt composite rod manufacturing, to 3D print a structural frame which serves as the core of our proposed habitat. First, the required basalt will be collected directly from the Martian surface. Next, the structural frame will be printed in place as a series of spiraling and interlacing ribs from one continuous rod, requiring no assembly. Once the frame is in place, the crew lander will be integrated as the habitat’s airlock. The resulting assembly will be covered with spent parachutes used during landing. This nylon fabric, pulled tight over the ribs of the frame, will support the raw regolith which will be piled on top of the habitat. The parachutes will also act as backing for a series of other layers used for environmental protection. In this way, only the frame must be made from highly processed in situ material and very little material is required from Earth. This system is optimized for quick, lightweight and practical construction.
Connect with this team via Email & at www.teamredhouse.com.
Team: Team Neiro
Design: Solar Crafting
Solar Crafting is a 3D printing technique developed to create off-world structures from indigenous materials. We’ve combined NASA’s latest concepts with the resourcefulness of Solar Sintering and the construction practicality of Contour Crafting to present a new take on off-world 3D printing: the ability to print habitats from Sun and Sand.
Our habitat uses a hybrid architecture comprised of three elements: a dual-purpose Entry-Descent-Landing Vehicle, a 3D printed Regolith Dome, and an expandable Living Space Module. The two-story habitat maximizes open space, while still providing dedicated areas for living and mission activities. Around the airtight Living Space Module, our Solar Crafting approach is leveraged to sinter a regolith dome. This shell protects against the uncertainties of off-world living, like radiation and weather effects. Once the dome is complete, Solar Crafting can also be used to manufacture a variety of other structures, including landing sites, roads, and hangars.
Traditional gantry cranes can weigh as much as 25,000 kilos; at $20,000/kilo to Low-Earth-Orbit, the cost of sending this system to Mars is simply not feasible, and certainly not scalable. Using our balloon-assisted gantry system, we are able to significantly reduce the transportation mass to Mars, and pave the way for large-scale colonization.
Connect with this team via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Email & at www.solarcrafting.com.
Team: Rustem Baishev
One day Mars will become as an ordinary destination as our own Earth’s continents and cities. In such case expandability is the main consideration, for which the most suitable technology should be invented to dictate the design. Given the distance to Mars and roughness of its terrain, the translation of a 3d model from virtual into physical space is a task of an extreme complexity for any positioning and printing method. Therefore, those methods should be as analog as possible.
The nuclear powered (cold fusion mini reactor) crawling extruder, once deployed, is “tethered” by laser beam to the anchor point in a sensor head of the “Shepherd Bot”, which is locked on its spot. Once copied its position, the machine starts to crawl and excavate the soil from beneath of itself, grinds and mixes it with a bonding agent and slowly extrudes into pre-determined, constant domed profile of the structure, which is optimized for radiation protection, direct sunlight blockage, as well as becomes a natural solution for thermal balance of the sealed habitable space below. In the special chamber, the extrusion is then bombarded by high pressure high temperature CO2 flue that glassifies surface layers for stiffness. With this the machine crawls and builds the submerged structure behind; then Shepherd Bot commands it to turn, and trajectory forms a spiral - a geometric definition of an infinite growth. The colony is kept contained with no need to build infrastructures from scratch as oppose to a scattered settlement. For an increasing demands of interplanetary specie, the technology is kept being developed until the first settlement in a size of a city is built on Mars.
Connect with this team via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Email & at www.rb-systems.us.
Team: SEArch/Clouds Architecture Office
Design: ICE HOUSE
Awarded: First Place
ICE HOUSE is born from the imperative to bring light and a connection to the outdoors into the vocabulary of Martian architecture – to create protected space in which the mind and body will not just survive, but thrive. With water as the core resource for future outposts on extraterrestrial bodies, NASA has taken a “follow the water” approach to exploration; ICE HOUSE extends that concept to construction. The innovative structure draws on the abundance of water and persistently low temperatures in Mars’ northern latitudes to create a multi-layered pressurized radiation shell of ice that encloses a lander habitat and gardens within. A unique 3D printing technique harnesses the physics of water and its phase transition to construct ICE HOUSE.
SEArch / Clouds AO: with ties to Pratt Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Princeton University, and Parsons School of Design, is comprised of 8 designers: Christina Ciardullo, Kelsey Lents, Jeffrey Montes, Michael Morris and Melodie Yashar of SEArch, and Ostap Rudakevych, Masayuki Sono, and Yuko Sono of Clouds AO. SEArch’s formation builds upon a 10-year portfolio combining academic Space research and practice. Members of SEArch have worked on the NASA Constellation Program, the 2015 Caltech Space Challenge winning design, and the 2016 X-Hab Innovation Challenge for Human Centered Designs. Clouds AO has produced several architectural projects distilled from research and analysis exploring the intersection between conceptual and experiential approaches.
Consulting on the project are 12 leading space related experts comprised of scientists, astrophysicists, geologists, structural and 3D printing engineers.
Connect with this team via Twitter, Email & at www.cloudsao.com, www.marsicehouse.com & www.spaceexplorationarchitecture.com.
Team: SICSA
Design: Ancile-Hab: The Shield of Mars
The habitat design uses in-situ resources to print the protective external structure of the Mars outpost, an approach which will greatly reduce launch up-mass and cost while decreasing radiation and micrometeorite risks. The name “Ancile-Hab” originates from the Ancile shield given to humans by the Roman God Mars, this shield will protect humans from hazards of the Martian environment. Beginning by landing a power plant, mobile 3D-Printer/Processor (3DP), and Multi-Purpose Shoe Bots (MPSBs). The MPSBs position the 3DP and the power plant, connect them together, and start collecting loose regolith to deposit into the 3DP’s processors. The MPSBs repeat this cycle to insure continuous material input for uninterrupted printing. The 3DP first prints the foundation and then begins printing the protective mound and the pressure vessel within.
Once completed and tested, a Pressurized Utility Capsule (PUC) lands and is positioned by MPSBs inside the printed mound. The PUC consists of a hard-shell module with plug-n-play capabilities, an inflatable bladder packed inside along with telescoping columns, which lift PUC’s top up to interlock with the mound’s pre-printed oculus. Simultaneously, an ultra-thin and airtight bladder inflates to fill the void inside the printed pressure-vessel. During inflation, internal trusses extend holding tension lines attached to tensile/fabric structures at 2 levels. These structures serve as guides for the internal 3D printer to build floor structures and furniture for the habitat using on-board recyclable materials. The habitat interior can be modified, demolished, and reprinted for versatile adaptations to evolutionary mission requirements and priorities.
Connect with this team via LinkedIn (LinkedIn 2), Facebook, Email & at www.sicsa.egr.uh.edu.
Team: LeeLabs
Design: Mollusca L5
Awarded: Honorable Mention
Our concept proposes a design and methodology for a Mars shell/membrane system to create a protected space for inflated habitation modules and outdoor areas while utilizing 100% indigenous materials as the 3D printing substrate. The vaulted structure is adaptable to a range of geographical conditions and habitat sizes through an open-platform 3D printed modular construction and fabrication system. The approach is modularized into separate upgradable stages: Material Prep, Fabrication, and Assembly, converting regolith into high strength glass panels. The interior layer is composed of inflatable units (provisioned from Earth) and configured for redundancy and utility. The exterior layer of locally sourced and fabricated modular glass units allow for a generative designed shell structure, providing the inhabitant with protection from severe weather, high radiation, small impacts, and extreme temperatures. The “front yard” typology allows the inhabitants to further engage with the Martian environment under the protective shell. This approach facilitates future growth of the habitation camp, as the exterior shell can be extended, adjusted, and repaired thanks to its unitized nature.
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Team: Martian Domes
Design: Hemispheric Habitat
Awarded: Honorable Mention
Team Martian Domes aims to build a comfortable, expandable and sustainable community through the Hemispheric Habitat. It is an architectural concept focusing on creating home on Mars for the explorers.
Drawing inspiration from the earthworm, the printing concept features simultaneous excavation of local indigenous materials on one end and printing the habitat on the other. All printed accurately and automatically before the arrival of astronauts.
The iconic form of the Hemispheric Habitat uses three circular domes arranged in an overlapping triangle formation. This ensures a strong structural integrity as well as optimal aerodynamics with least building materials and a spacious interior. Taking lessons from the traditional igloo and the golf ball, the outer surface is curved and dimpled to reduce wind drag that the habitat will experience during harsh Martian climate.
The interior of the Hemispheric Habitat is designed to provide a space for the astronauts to live and to feel at home. The curved interior surface encourages air circulation and light diffusion creating a pleasant and comfortable ambience. This allows the astronauts to re-charge and withdraw away from stress. This also encourage interactivity and to promote a sense of community within the habitat. The living space is designed to be open and column less, removing walls and partitions that associate with loneliness from space mission so far from home. All these features contribute to creating a comfortable, efficient and functional living environment for our brave explorers on their mission on Mars.
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Team: RedWorks
Design: RedWorks Habitat
The RedWorks Habitat has been adapted from construction principles of ancient cultures, such as pit houses and pueblos as well as natural constructs like the shell of the nautilus. By 3d printing up from the base of an excavation pit, the Habitat is able to use regolith as an in-situ building material and as a protective barrier from the elements. The internal structure is divided into levels that revolve around a central support shaft like a spiral staircase. The levels serve as a modular design for living space, with each level configured for a specific need. Furthermore, by using organic generative algorithms the shelter's basic layout can be adapted to produce a suitable structure around existing geological constructs, opening up areas for expanded settlement.
Connect with this team via Facebook, Twitter, Email & at www.redworks3d.com.
Team: Digital Structures
Design: Ouroboros
Ouroboros is an additive manufacturing and spatial concept for producing architectural-scale composite structures that are high-strength, light-weight, and air-tight—all from compounds present on Mars. A shared symbol of ancient cultures, the ouroboros is the idealized embodiment of metabolism; an infinite process of re-creation, of something beginning anew as soon as it ends. Today, the aspiration of the ouroboros persists as we seek to initiate a new and sustainable human culture of technology and design on Mars.
The Ouroboros habitat promotes a metabolic rhythm of activity reflective of its circular geometry and processing of materials. The proposed materials processing unit, 3D CNC loom, and pultrusion module apply emerging technologies to synthesize a pressurized and climate controlled living space from Martian resources. Martian soil and air are processed and transformed into glass and plastic fibers that can be woven and pultruded into a strong, airtight composite shell; integrating structure, insulation, air barrier, radiant heating, and ambient lighting, within a singular structural surface. Using a new approach for the additive manufacturing of structural composites, a CNC loom forms the thermoset textiles into a global toroidal shape by combining pultrusion with three-dimensional textile weaving. Structurally, the lightweight tensile shell of the habitat takes full advantage of the reduced Martian pressure and gravity, allowing for minimal material usage and maximal reconfigurability of the interior. Contributing novel approaches to structure, material selection, programmatic flexibility, and spatial experience, Ouroboros represents a revolution in current thinking in sustainable, architectural-scale additive manufacturing and design on Mars and beyond.
Connect with this team via Instagram, Tumblr, Email & at digitalstructures.mit.edu.