AI SpaceFactory
The habitats can be printed by an industrial robot.
- NASA's 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge finally revealed a winner this month after four years of competition.
- Designers were asked to create a printable 3D habitat that could shelter humans on Mars.
- The winning design, known as Marsha, features vertical pods whose outer shells are made from materials naturally found on the red planet.
- The pods also feature hatches that deploy space suits and a docking port for a Mars Exploration Rover.
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Designing space colonies has become a pet project for some of the world's most prominent architects, but few concepts have received a coveted stamp of approval from the space explorers at NASA.
Earlier this month, NASA awarded first place in its 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge, which asked teams to build a 3D habitat that could shelter humans on Mars.
Read more: Mars One, the 'Fyre Festival' of Mars that promised one-way trips to space, has declared bankruptcy
The competition, which began in 2015, was divided into three phases: design, material technologies, and construction. The finalists came down to just two teams, AI SpaceFactory and Pennsylvania State University, who were given four days to build shelters at a third the size of their original vision.
The winning team, AI SpaceFactory, was awarded $500,000 for its design - a vertical pod that can be printed in just 30 hours.
Take a look at the prototype, Marsha, which will soon be recycled into a real-life habitat on Earth.