[un/loquer] Fwd: [lapaillasse] news :NASA Wants Your Help Figuring Out How to Build Space Habitats

[Fabio Barone]

Después del jardín el espacio.


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Remi Sussan <remi.sussan en gmail.com>
Date: 2015-05-19 2:00 GMT-05:00
Subject: [lapaillasse] news :NASA Wants Your Help Figuring Out How to Build
Space Habitats
To: lapaillasse en lapaillasse.org


2,25 millions de dollars à distribuer tout de même :-)

Dommage qu'apparemment le projet ne comporte pas de volet "biosphère"...


http://gizmodo.com/nasa-wants-your-help-figuring-out-how-to-build-space-ha-1705086485

If and when we send colonists to Mars and beyond, we’re going to need
habitats unlike any we’ve built before. To encourage out-of-the box
thinking, NASA and America Makes are kicking off a $2.25 million dollar
competition to design and build 3D printed space habitats.


One of the biggest barriers to the construction of a space colony is
shoring up the money to ship the building materials we’ll need. Since it
currently costs roughly 10 grand to blast a pound of anything off our
planet, scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs have been asking how we
might get away with less cargo. Indeed, that’s one of the main thrusts
behind asteroid mining, which could offer spacefaring humans a bountiful
supply of water and metals.

Other technologies that take advantage of in situ resources have been
discussed in the context of a Martian habitat, but so far, the focus has
been on how we might get enough water to drink and oxygen to breathe. While
these vital pieces of the puzzle, we could save ourselves a lot of money
and effort if we were able to manufacture infrastructure using indigenous
materials, as well.

Which is where the new competition comes in. While some money is being
offered for just plain awesome architectural concepts, the lion’s share of
the prize pot focuses on the 3D printing technologies needed to fabricate
infrastructure from in situ materials and recyclables.

NASA breaks it down for us:

    The first phase of the competition, announced Saturday at the Bay Area
Maker Faire in San Mateo, California, runs through Sept. 27. This phase, a
design competition, calls on participants to develop state-of-the-art
architectural concepts that take advantage of the unique capabilities 3-D
printing offers. The top 30 submissions will be judged and a prize purse of
$50,000 will be awarded at the 2015 World Maker Faire in New York.

    The second phase of the competition is divided into two levels. The
Structural Member Competition (Level 1) focuses on the fabrication
technologies needed to manufacture structural components from a combination
of indigenous materials and recyclables, or indigenous materials alone. The
On-Site Habitat Competition (Level 2) challenges competitors to fabricate
full-scale habitats using indigenous materials or indigenous materials
combined with recyclables. Both levels open for registration Sept. 26, and
each carries a $1.1 million prize.

So, if you’ve always thought you had a brilliant idea for how to build a
Martian city or a deep space generation ship, now’s your chance to find
out. Worst case scenario, you come up with a cool concept. Best case, you
become the architect or engineer behind humanity’s first outer space
colony, with generations of Martians and Alpha Centaurians singing your
praises. Doesn’t sound too bad either way. [NASA]
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