<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cancri-comp.jpg\"\/)
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
HELL OFF EARTH<\/p>\n
Hellish 2,400C ‘super Earth’ may be stuffed with GEMS with global lava ocean<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\u201cBut space and weight aboard our vehicles are precious, and taken by the many other resources we will need for survival.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we are seeking the technology to reuse the materials we will already be carrying, and combine them with what is already available at our destination, which is, in this case, soil.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recycle here on Earth \u2013 why not on Mars?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sadly there\u2019s no guarantee that any of these designs will make it to the red planet, but here\u2019s what some of the concepts looked like.<\/p>\n
Hassell & EOC<\/p>\n
The Hassell + EOC concept uses a swarm of wheeled mining robots.<\/p>\n
This hi-tech robo-fleet would excavate and collect regolith that could be processed into feedstock \u2013 the building material.<\/p>\n
Printing would then be used to quickly fabricate structures that blend in with the Martian landscape.<\/p>\n
And because they\u2019re built from Mars material, the buildings can colour-match the surroundings.<\/p>\n
Kahn-Yates<\/p>\n
This home has a sandwich design with polymer shells and an inner concrete layerCredit: Nasa \/ Kahn-Yates<\/p>\n
This space habitat is made out of inner and outer polymer shells that sandwich an interior \u201csulphur concrete\u201d layer.<\/p>\n
But the concrete layer is omitted at certain parts of the design to allow natural light in.<\/p>\n
And it would feature panels that could unfold horizontally internally to split the tower into three floors. It\u2019s not far off a townhouse for Martian colonists.<\/p>\n
Mars Incubator<\/p>\n
This concept uses a hub-and-spoke design with a large central living spaceCredit: Nasa \/ Mars Incubator<\/p>\n
The panels would be fit together on the Martian surface by robotsCredit: Nasa \/ Mars Incubator<\/p>\n
The Mars Incubator design uses habitats that are arranged in hub-and-spoke designs.<\/p>\n
So the largest living space would be in the centre, built with panels made from polyethylene and basalt fibre.<\/p>\n
And robots would fit these panels together on the Martian surface.<\/p>\n
Beneath each habitat module would be environmental control and life support systems, as well as mechanical, electric and plumbing systems.<\/p>\n
AI. SpaceFactory<\/p>\n
These towering habitats would be built using bioplastic and basalt fibreCredit: Nasa \/ AI SpaceFactory<\/p>\n
The New York-based Team AI. SpaceFactory conjured up a giant tower made from bioplastic that\u2019s reinforced with basalt fibre.<\/p>\n
According to Nasa, the cylindrical shape is meant to maximise the amount of usable living space to surface area and for reducing structural stresses.<\/p>\n
It also uses a double-shell structure design so that the tower can expand and contract with the temperature swings that you\u2019d expect on the Martian surface.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tHow long does it take to get to Mars?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/mars-red-planet-3d-rendering-774444311.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIt’s not that short of a trip…\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an immense distance between Earth and Mars, which means any trip to the red planet will take a very long time
\nIt\u2019s also made more complicated by the fact that\u00a0the distance is constantly changing as the two planets rotate around the sun
\nThe closest that the Earth and Mars would ever be is a distance of 33.9million miles \u2013 that\u2019s 9,800 times the distance between London and New York
\nThat\u2019s really rare though: the more useful distance is the average, which is 140million miles
\nScientists on Earth have already launched a whole bunch of spacecraft to (or near) Mars, so we have a rough idea of how long it takes with current technology
\nHistorically, the trip has taken anywhere from 128 to 333 days \u2013 admittedly a huge length of time for humans to be on board a cramped spacecraft.<\/p>\n
Image credit: Shutterstock<\/p>\n
Northwestern University<\/p>\n
This space home has a foundation created by robot buildersCredit: Nasa \/ Northwestern University<\/p>\n
It has a central multi-use space surrounded by functional roomsCredit: Nasa \/ Northwestern University<\/p>\n
The idea is to connect these habitats to others using a network of tunnelsCredit: Nasa \/ Northwestern University<\/p>\n
This bizarre design sees rovers using 3D printing to create a foundation.<\/p>\n
And then they would deploy an inflatable shell, which would then be protected by a 3D-printed outer shell.<\/p>\n
The base would use a hub-and-spoke design with a central \u201cmulti-use\u201d space that\u2019s surrounded by \u201csectioned spaces\u201d.<\/p>\n
These could be used as crew quarters, lab space, or kitchen and dining, for example.<\/p>\n
And the idea would be that you have multiple of these modular habitats connected by a network of tunnels.<\/p>\n
SEArch+\/Apis Cor<\/p>\n
These radiation-blocking homes would protect colonists from danger<\/p>\n
They still allow for natural light to enterCredit: Nasa \/ SEArch+\/ApisCor<\/p>\n
These space homes are designed by SEArch+\/Apis Cor with specific materials and thickness to provide radiation shielding for anyone living inside.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s important, as radiation is a real threat to space colonist health.<\/p>\n
They\u2019d be built using high-density polyethylene and regolith, the rocky material on the surface of Mars.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s flanked by overlapping shells that allow for natural light to enter \u201cwithout compromising radiative protection\u201d.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tMars facts\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHere’s what you need to know about the red planet…\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun
\nIt is named after the Roman god of war
\nThe landmass of Mars is very similar to Earth but due to the difference in gravity you could jump three times higher there than you can here
\nMars is mountainous and hosts the tallest mountain known in the Solar System called Olympus Mons, which is three times higher than Everest
\nMars is considered to be the second most habitable planet after Earth
\nIt takes the planet 687 Earth days to orbit the Sun
\nThe planet has a diameter of 4,212 miles, and has an average distance from Earth of 140 million miles
\nMartian temperatures can vary wildly, reaching as high as 70F\/20C or as low as -225F\/-153C<\/p>\n
Team Zopherus<\/p>\n
These homes are built by a lander equipped with 3D-printing robotic capabilitiesCredit: Nasa \/ Team Zopherus<\/p>\n
The homes could be quickly constructedCredit: Nasa \/ Team Zopherus<\/p>\n
The robot would extract local materials from the planet\u2019s surfaceCredit: Nasa \/ Team Zopherus<\/p>\n
The Team Zopherus creation involved using a moving 3D printer.<\/p>\n
And it would deploy robots that would retrieve local materials from the surface of the Moon or Mars.<\/p>\n
The lander structure would enclose the printer, which would allow the processing of these extracted materials.<\/p>\n
That might include calcium oxide and Martian rock, which could then be turned into building materials.<\/p>\n
And it would then use these to print out various structures for space colonists to live inside.<\/p>\n
Once the 3D-printing is complete, the lander would then move across the Martian surface to start the process again.<\/p>\n
X-Arc<\/p>\n
Robots would gather materials from nearby to create these space homesCredit: Nasa \/ X-Arc<\/p>\n
Each structure would have three levels for colonists to enjoyCredit: Nasa \/ X-Arc<\/p>\n
The X-Arc habitat concept uses materials that have been extracted from the planet\u2019s surface using robots.<\/p>\n
Nasa says that polyethylene would be manufactured on the Martian surface, and then combined with ground basalt to create a printing material.<\/p>\n
This would then be used to 3D-print a shell structure with three levels.<\/p>\n
Then pre-made parts would be placed inside the habitat with help from robots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FUTURE space colonists could live inside giant 3D-printed homes on the Moon and Mars \u2013 and we might…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[92,90,416,7018,56,54,55,8444],"class_list":{"0":"post-344536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-nasa","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-space","11":"tag-space-and-astronomy","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom","15":"tag-weird-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}