Ramona Adams
NASA has awarded a total of $100,000 to the two top scorers under the printing stage of the space agency’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge.
Teams from Foster + Partners and the University of Alaska received $85,930 and $14,070, respectively, for gaining the highest points among seven participants of the level 1 compression test competition, NASA said Thursday.
The 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge aims to create technologies that could build habitats using indigenous materials on deep space locations such as Mars.
NASA plans to use autonomous machines produced through the challenge to build shelters for humans in deep space destinations and construct affordable houses on Earth.
Teams were required to develop a truncated cone and a cylinder using a 3D printer for the level 1 compression test competition, which is the first of three sub-competitions under the challenge’s second phase.
The printed materials underwent laboratory tests and results were evaluated by judges to determine a score.
The challenge will move on to the level 2 beam member competition, where participants will print a beam for testing.
NASA’s Centennial Challenges Program and Bradley University jointly manage the three-phase 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge.
The first phase was completed in 2015 and the second and third phases carry $1.1 million and $1.4 million in prizes, respectively.
