Penn State team members stand in front of the first fully enclosed 3D-printed housing structure at NASA's 3D-Printed Mars Habitat Challenge in Peoria, Ill.

UNIVERSITY PARK — When the results of phase three of NASA's 3D-Printed Mars Habitat Challenge were revealed, Penn State fell just short of besting its friendly rival, AI SpaceFactory.

But in the process, the team engineered a breakthrough that moves forward 3D-printing construction research and pushes the team closer to the goal of creating sustainable housing on Earth.

For just more than two years, Penn State Den@Mars, a team composed of students and faculty representing the College of Arts and Architecture, Engineering and Agricultural Sciences and the Materials Research Institute, has been competing in NASA's challenge to develop advanced 3D-printing technology to produce a structurally sound habitat that can be printed by NASA space explorers on Mars and beyond.

The second-place finish in the final stage of phase three, announced in early May in Peoria, Ill., required the two remaining teams to 3D-print a one-third scale habitat. The honor earned the Penn State team $200,000, bringing its competition earnings to $500,000.

Along with the winnings, the team has received grant money from Penn State as well as in-kind contributions of materials and consultation from Autodesk, Gulf Concrete Technologies and Tilcon. The support has pushed the team to tackle the numerous challenges that its design presented, which included printing a fully enclosed structure — something that has never been accomplished in 3D-printed home construction research, according to Jose Duarte, Stuckeman Chair in Design Innovation in the College of Arts and Architecture.

The team's habitat design features a cylindrical base completed with a dome-style roof concept that requires the 3D-printing robotic arm to add layers of pastelike concrete that inch closer to the center of the structure, resulting in a pointed roof that fully encloses the structure.

“Printing an enclosed roof has never been done before,” Duarte said. “It was an amazing feeling and the success really highlighted the collaborative nature of the team. We had big dreams and because of everyone involved, they became a reality.”After each team's structure was completed, they underwent strength testing. The habitats were hit with a small wrecking ball and ultimately crumbled under the pressure of a backhoe that slowly pressed on the top of the structures with its bucket.Mars is almost 34 million miles from Earth, but the need for sustainable building on our home planet is becoming greater as factors such as climate change become more prevalent, according to Shadi Nazarian, associate professor of architecture.“We definitely feel a sense of social responsibility with this research,” Nazarian said. “Imagine an area that was devastated by a tornado; this type of technology could be sent to that area and shelters can be immediately printed for those who lost everything. This thinking drives our research and feels much more attainable with our latest achievement.”To showcase the concept, the team is working with Penn State to identify an area on campus where a 3D-printed tiny house could be constructed. The building will be fully sustainable and offer a glimpse into the future of home construction.

Penn State University’s entry in phase three of NASA’s 3D-Printed Mars Habitat Challenge is demolished after strength testing. The habitat was hit with a small wrecking ball and crumbled under the pressure of a backhoe that slowly pressed on the top of the structure with its bucket.Photo courtesy of Penn State University