from Hacker News

NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Competition

by soulmerge on 7/30/18, 12:12 PM with 13 comments

  • by soulmerge on 7/30/18, 12:19 PM

  • by iliasku on 7/31/18, 2:19 PM

    probably unrelated but anyone here knows any resources for 3d printed houses here on earth? specifically in europe. i know of https://www.iconbuild.com/home for US market

  • by jcriddle4 on 7/31/18, 3:16 PM

    Material strength is really important. Atmospheric pressure is about 14 pounds per inch at sea level. You can probably drop that to 10 pounds per inch or maybe less. For a square foot of wall, at 10, you would be at 12 * 12 * 10 or 1440 pounds of pressure. So for the cylinder style of design a one foot high band say 30 feet in diameter would have over 40,000 pounds pushing on it. That design uses basalt fiber, which has been around for quite some time and is quite strong. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basalt_fiber

  • by ClassAndBurn on 7/31/18, 3:39 PM

    This is amazing! Really innovative designs and ideas. As 3D printing is a new technology, even on Earth, I wonder if there are traditional designs using bricks or other materials created from the native soils and rocks that would potentially have more understood construction properties and lifespans.

    The additional bet of building something on an entirely new planet an entirely new way seem risky. (but awesome, if someone from NASA is reading this; don't stop)

  • by caio1982 on 7/31/18, 5:40 PM

    AI. SpaceFactory's Marsha seems simple yet elegant, not too much of an exotic architectural design but also (IMHO) based on possible 3D printing engineering. I like the idea of having the printing machinery separate from the building and the logic behind going with that shape. Loved it.

  • by ryanmercer on 7/30/18, 12:16 PM

    Now to figure out the easiest way to make the materials in situ.