Dive Brief:
- NASA has awarded $100,000 to two winners of its 3D Printed Habitat Challenge, Phase 2: Level 1 Compression Test Competition, which challenged researchers to develop 3-D printed structures for other planets, according to 3D Printing Industry.
- The agency awarded $85,930 to the winning team, Foster + Partners | Branch Technology, and awarded $14,070 to the second-place team from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.
- NASA chose the winners based on how well their 3-D printed samples could hold compacted volumes of material under compression during lab tests. The challenge mandated that materials be recycled and, ideally, be native to the surface of Mars or the Moon.
Dive Insight:
Phase 2 of the challenge, which focuses on the development of materials that can be used to 3-D print and build structural components for space, will see NASA award a total of $1.1 million divided between multiple phases, according to 3Ders. In Phase 1, which focused on design, NASA awarded $25,000 to the Mars Ice House.
Apart from the 3D Printed Habitat Challenge, researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, have also designed a concept living structure that aims to protect astronauts from the harsh climate and atmosphere on Mars. The donut-shaped structures are surrounded by an outer shell of solid ice that can provide thermal insulation and shield from radiation.
Branch Technology, which brought Foster + Partners' design to life, has been at the forefront of the 3-D printing movement. In June 2016, the Tennessee-based company announced that it would build the winning design of its first 3-D printed, single-family home design competition — architecture firm WATG Chicago's "Curve Appeal " — in 2017. Curve Appeal will also serve as a testing ground for Branch's cellular fabrication technology.
In addition to NASA's space habitat construction efforts, the agency is also carrying out a multitude of construction projects on Earth at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL, to prepare for its Journey to Mars. The the Ground Systems Development & Operations program involves a total of $2.8 billion in work — including launch pad upgrades, new mobile launcher construction and Vehicle Assembly Building updates — in preparation for the first launch of the Space Launch System.
