The Ouroboros 3D Printed Habitat is a Finalist (Top 30) competition entry for the NASA Centennial Challenge: 3D Printed Habitat on Mars (2015). This project responds to today’s aspiration of initiating a new and sustainable humanity on Mars and beyond.

Project Description

Ouroboros is an additive manufacturing and spatial concept for producing architectural-scale composite structures on planet Mars. These structures are high-strength, light-weight, and air-tight—all from compounds present on Mars. The shape of the structure is a shared symbol of ancient cultures. Thus, ouroboros is the idealized embodiment of metabolism, i.e., an infinite process of re-creation, of something beginning anew as soon as it ends.

At its basis, the Ouroboros habitat promotes a metabolic rhythm of activity. To this end, we choose a circular geometry and processing of materials. Our proposal for the NASA Centennial Challenge consists of a materials processing unit, a 3D CNC loom, and pultrusion module. Specifically, using emerging technologies, we synthesize a pressurized and climate controlled living space from Martian resources.

A CNC loom forms the thermoset textiles into a global toroidal shape. This results in a new additive manufacturing process of structural composites, resembling a three-dimensional textile weaving process. Structurally speaking, the lightweight tensile shell of the habitat takes full advantage of the reduced Martian pressure and gravity. That is, it allows for minimal material usage and maximal reconfigurability of the interior.

I developed this project in collaboration with Prof. Caitlin Mueller, while a member of the MIT Digital Structures Group.

Press and Exhibition

“Interplanetary Architecture” by M. Blanding, MIT News , October 15, 2015.

On view at the Maker Faire by Maker Media, New York Hall of Science, New York, September 22-23, 2015.