NASA'S $2.25M CHALLANGE

NASA'S $2.25M CHALLANGE

NASA and America Makes have challenged innovators in the additive construction market to design a habitat for deep space exploration for the first stage of the competition and to fabricate such facilities in the second phase.

The organizations will award a $50,000 prize and a pair of US$1.1 million purses for the winners of the multistage challenge. Registration opened for phase one on Saturday, and the second stage will launch on September 27.

Entrants have been challenged to design a 3D-printable habitat for the first phase of the competition, and the team that wins that level will be awarded $50,000.

The second stage of the contest challenges teams to a) develop fabrication technologies; and b) build a 3D-printed habitat, using "indigenous" material with or without recycled materials. The winners of the two levels each will be awarded $1.1 million.

NASA has encouraged entrants to "think outside the box," so the organization expects the teams to get creative in approaches and to leverage advanced technologies to realize their designs, emphasized Janet L. Anderson, a spokesperson for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Teams can compete in any level and won't be negatively impacted for focusing on one.

"Teams may perhaps develop a way to use heat to fuse materials, or use a chemical reaction to solidify a slurry material," Anderson told TechNewsWorld. "Any of these groundbreaking technologies could win the 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge, and go on to be a game changer for future NASA missions or commercial ventures."