UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Almost 34 million miles from Earth, Mars exists as the solar system’s next frontier for human space exploration. A team of Penn State researchers has accepted NASA’s challenge of designing an autonomous system capable of creating a human shelter on the red planet using 3D-printing technology. With the focus of the project on Mars, and research with a science-fiction-edge spurring the imagination to expand, perhaps the most profound application of their work is on Earth.
The team’s breakthroughs have opened the possibility to applying the technology to create sustainable housing options that could revolutionize the construction industry and address larger societal issues such as homelessness.