Core77

Volunteers Move Into NASA's BIG-Designed 3D-Printed Mars Habitat for One Year

Shouldn't this be a reality show?

By Rain Noe - June 28, 2023

in Architecture | Digital Fabrication

This week four volunteers moved into Mars Dune Alpha, NASA's 3D-printed habitat designed by BIG. Created for NASA's CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) program, the 1,700-square-foot structure is what NASA envisions being able to print on the Red Planet.

Mars Dune Alpha is located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The four non-astronaut volunteers, two male and two female, consist of a research scientist, an engineer, a science officer and a medical officer. They're meant to spend one year living and working inside the structure to evaluate its feasibility:

Researchers will simulate the challenges of a human mission to Mars, including resource limitations, equipment failure, communication delays, and other environmental stressors.

"The simulation will allow us to collect cognitive and physical performance data to give us more insight into the potential impacts of long-duration missions to Mars on crew health and performance," said Grace Douglas, CHAPEA principal investigator. "Ultimately, this information will help NASA make informed decisions to design and plan for a successful human mission to Mars."

While the renders for the interior look like this…

…thus far the only image of the actual interior available at press time looked like this:

Seems odd that the person on the left gets an easy chair, and the person on the right gets a desk. I wonder if they're meant to compete for rewards, like in a reality show.

Mars Dune Alpha was 3D-printed by Icon, who also collaborated with BIG on a residential 3D-printed neighborhood in Austin, Texas.

o

Favorite This
Q
5

Comment

Comments

Douglas Bowker

a year ago

Z

1Z

Reply

How can any of this be considered realistic? A 3D printer the size of a subway car? The housing crammed full of heavy non-flat furniture? I mean... build a rough-sized vessel mockup, even twice what you think will happen, and then pack what you can into it and go from there. This feels like magical thinking or something based on "how things might be in 100 years." Why even depend on a 3D printer anyway? They work here on earth because of near unlimited materials (including water). That will be a major factor with Mars: water. Using so much to squirt all that mud out might not be such a good use of your water.

!Report as spam
T.J. Thomas

a year ago

Z

Z

Reply

Why is NASA working with a Danish architect instead of an American firm?

!Report as spam
Tim Williams

a year ago

Z

Z

Reply

I wonder how that ceiling is printed without any support structure? Mars still has gravity! Wouldn't an arched ceiling make more sense? Also, given the average temperature on Mars is -60 C I wonder what they plan to do for insulation? Of course this is early days but it would be good to see a little more detail.

!Report as spam
Ross Oliver

a year ago

Z

Z

Reply

So there actually is a reality TV show right now, "Stars on Mars." Take a bunch of D list celebrities and put them together in a simulated Martian habitat somewhere in the Australian outback. Big Brother meets The Martian. I watched the first episode prepared for it to be stupid, but it's actually fairly entertaining. The producers have come up with some interesting missions, and the participants seem to be taking it fairly seriously.

!Report as spam
Adam Nunn

a year ago

Z

Z

Reply

I've always been curious how ergonomics will change in lower 'G'. Will comfortable chairs be necessary on Mars, or especially the moon? Will people end up still really wanting foam padding, back rests, or chairs at all for that matter, or will a simple stool and/or standing workstation be all you need in low gravity?

!Report as spam