The stunning Mars homes for colonists that'll be printed by robot builders

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FUTURE space colonists could live inside giant 3D-printed homes on the Moon and Mars – and we might already know what they’ll look like.

A Nasa Centennial Challenge tasked star-gazing designers with creating printable habitats for “deep space exploration”.

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Illustration of a lunar habitat with an arc-shaped roof, large hexagonal window, a lunar rover, and two astronauts, surrounded by a cratered, rocky landscape under a dark sky.

This habitat would be created from material gathered by a ‘swarm’ of robot minersCredit: Nasa / Hassell u0026amp; EOC

A 3D-printed building on Mars with vehicles surrounding it.

The homes would blend in with the Martian landscapeCredit: Nasa / Hassell u0026amp; EOC

The challenge, which ran for four years, showed off the kind of buildings that space-faring Earthlings might end up living in.

Ideally, the homes could be 3D-printed with minimal human input.

And these off-Earth homes would preferably be built from local materials found on the Moon or Mars – or perhaps even further afield.

“Shelter is an obvious necessity as we prepare to explore worlds beyond our home planet,” said Nasa’s Steve Jurczyk, speaking partway through the challenge.

Read more on space

“But space and weight aboard our vehicles are precious, and taken by the many other resources we will need for survival.

“That’s why we are seeking the technology to reuse the materials we will already be carrying, and combine them with what is already available at our destination, which is, in this case, soil.

“We recycle here on Earth – why not on Mars?”

Sadly there’s no guarantee that any of these designs will make it to the red planet, but here’s what some of the concepts looked like.

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Hassell & EOC

The Hassell + EOC concept uses a swarm of wheeled mining robots.

This hi-tech robo-fleet would excavate and collect regolith that could be processed into feedstock – the building material.

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Printing would then be used to quickly fabricate structures that blend in with the Martian landscape.

And because they’re built from Mars material, the buildings can colour-match the surroundings.

Kahn-Yates

Illustration of a lunar habitat and rover on a desert-like landscape.

This home has a sandwich design with polymer shells and an inner concrete layerCredit: Nasa / Kahn-Yates

This space habitat is made out of inner and outer polymer shells that sandwich an interior “sulphur concrete” layer.

But the concrete layer is omitted at certain parts of the design to allow natural light in.

And it would feature panels that could unfold horizontally internally to split the tower into three floors. It’s not far off a townhouse for Martian colonists.

Mars Incubator

Illustration of a Martian habitat.

This concept uses a hub-and-spoke design with a large central living spaceCredit: Nasa / Mars Incubator

Illustration of a modular, orange and white geodesic dome habitat on the red, rocky surface of Mars.

The panels would be fit together on the Martian surface by robotsCredit: Nasa / Mars Incubator

The Mars Incubator design uses habitats that are arranged in hub-and-spoke designs.

So the largest living space would be in the centre, built with panels made from polyethylene and basalt fibre.

And robots would fit these panels together on the Martian surface.

Beneath each habitat module would be environmental control and life support systems, as well as mechanical, electric and plumbing systems.

AI. SpaceFactory

Illustration of astronauts and a rover next to two 3D-printed habitats on Mars.

These towering habitats would be built using bioplastic and basalt fibreCredit: Nasa / AI SpaceFactory

The New York-based Team AI. SpaceFactory conjured up a giant tower made from bioplastic that’s reinforced with basalt fibre.

According to Nasa, the cylindrical shape is meant to maximise the amount of usable living space to surface area and for reducing structural stresses.

It also uses a double-shell structure design so that the tower can expand and contract with the temperature swings that you’d expect on the Martian surface.

How long does it take to get to Mars?

It's not that short of a trip...

  • There’s an immense distance between Earth and Mars, which means any trip to the red planet will take a very long time
  • It’s also made more complicated by the fact that the distance is constantly changing as the two planets rotate around the sun
  • The closest that the Earth and Mars would ever be is a distance of 33.9million miles – that’s 9,800 times the distance between London and New York
  • That’s really rare though: the more useful distance is the average, which is 140million miles
  • Scientists on Earth have already launched a whole bunch of spacecraft to (or near) Mars, so we have a rough idea of how long it takes with current technology
  • Historically, the trip has taken anywhere from 128 to 333 days – admittedly a huge length of time for humans to be on board a cramped spacecraft.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Northwestern University

Illustration of a Martian habitat dome with portholes and an entrance.

This space home has a foundation created by robot buildersCredit: Nasa / Northwestern University

Illustration of a circular floor plan with a kitchen, dining area, and multiple partitions.

It has a central multi-use space surrounded by functional roomsCredit: Nasa / Northwestern University

Illustration of a domed Martian habitat next to an astronaut in a spacesuit.

The idea is to connect these habitats to others using a network of tunnelsCredit: Nasa / Northwestern University

This bizarre design sees rovers using 3D printing to create a foundation.

And then they would deploy an inflatable shell, which would then be protected by a 3D-printed outer shell.

The base would use a hub-and-spoke design with a central “multi-use” space that’s surrounded by “sectioned spaces”.

These could be used as crew quarters, lab space, or kitchen and dining, for example.

And the idea would be that you have multiple of these modular habitats connected by a network of tunnels.

SEArch+/Apis Cor

Illustration of astronauts on Mars next to a futuristic habitat and rover.

These radiation-blocking homes would protect colonists from danger

Illustration of two astronauts on Mars with a Martian colony in the background.

They still allow for natural light to enterCredit: Nasa / SEArch+/ApisCor

These space homes are designed by SEArch+/Apis Cor with specific materials and thickness to provide radiation shielding for anyone living inside.

That’s important, as radiation is a real threat to space colonist health.

They’d be built using high-density polyethylene and regolith, the rocky material on the surface of Mars.

And it’s flanked by overlapping shells that allow for natural light to enter “without compromising radiative protection”.

Mars facts

Here's what you need to know about the red planet...

  • Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun
  • It is named after the Roman god of war
  • The landmass of Mars is very similar to Earth but due to the difference in gravity you could jump three times higher there than you can here
  • Mars is mountainous and hosts the tallest mountain known in the Solar System called Olympus Mons, which is three times higher than Everest
  • Mars is considered to be the second most habitable planet after Earth
  • It takes the planet 687 Earth days to orbit the Sun
  • The planet has a diameter of 4,212 miles, and has an average distance from Earth of 140 million miles
  • Martian temperatures can vary wildly, reaching as high as 70F/20C or as low as -225F/-153C

Team Zopherus

Illustration of a white rocket landed on a red planet next to three brown dome-shaped habitats.

These homes are built by a lander equipped with 3D-printing robotic capabilitiesCredit: Nasa / Team Zopherus

Illustration of a Zopherus habitat on a Martian landscape.

The homes could be quickly constructedCredit: Nasa / Team Zopherus

Illustration of a cutaway view of a lander on a planetary surface with a robotic arm deploying a probe.

The robot would extract local materials from the planet’s surfaceCredit: Nasa / Team Zopherus

The Team Zopherus creation involved using a moving 3D printer.

And it would deploy robots that would retrieve local materials from the surface of the Moon or Mars.

The lander structure would enclose the printer, which would allow the processing of these extracted materials.

That might include calcium oxide and Martian rock, which could then be turned into building materials.

And it would then use these to print out various structures for space colonists to live inside.

Once the 3D-printing is complete, the lander would then move across the Martian surface to start the process again.

X-Arc

Illustration of a Mars habitation base with domed structures, vehicles, and a starry sky.

Robots would gather materials from nearby to create these space homesCredit: Nasa / X-Arc

Illustration of a lunar outpost in a crater with equipment and vehicles.

Each structure would have three levels for colonists to enjoyCredit: Nasa / X-Arc

The X-Arc habitat concept uses materials that have been extracted from the planet’s surface using robots.

Nasa says that polyethylene would be manufactured on the Martian surface, and then combined with ground basalt to create a printing material.

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This would then be used to 3D-print a shell structure with three levels.

Then pre-made parts would be placed inside the habitat with help from robots.