News Detail

ACI Convention Attendees Explore Possibilities of 3-D Printed Concrete on Mars

3/31/2017

ACI members from the Mayaguez campus at University of Puerto Rico talk with Tony Kim, NASA’s project manager for the Centennial Challenges competition, at the ACI Convention in Detroit, MI, USA.

Attendees to the ACI Concrete Convention and Exposition in Detroit on March 25-29, 2017, learned about the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) multi-phase challenge to build a 3-D printed habitat on Mars.  The NASA Centennial Challenges want input and ideas from the ACI member community to build a 3-D printed habitat for deep space exploration, including the agency’s journey to Mars. The multi-phase challenge is designed to advance the construction technology needed to create sustainable housing solutions for Earth and beyond.

Phase one, which was completed in 2015, awarded $40,000 to three leading teams who developed innovative habitat architectural concepts that take advantage of the unique capabilities that 3-D printing offers. The current phase two, scheduled to conclude in Summer 2017, focuses on the material technologies needed to man­ufacture structural components from a combination of indigenous materials and recyclables, or indige­nous materials alone. Phase two has a prize purse of $1.1 million, and serves as a qualifier for participation in phase three.  Phase three will focus on the fabrication of a scaled habitat design using indigenous materials combined with or without recyclables, and will have a prize purse of $1.4 million.

To learn more about the competition, please visit www.nasa.gov.  For more information about ACI and the ACI Foundation’s support for the initiative, contact Ann Daugherty, Director, ACI Foundation, at ann.daugherty@acifoundation.org.