Days before NASA announced the presence of water on Mars, a team of WSU students spent a week in New York as one of 30 national finalist groups in NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge.

The team included Thomas Gualtieri, Susmita Bose, Amit Bandyopadhyay, Sam Robertson, Neva Hubbert and Bonnie Hollon.

The key concept behind the challenge was to develop a habitable structure for four individuals that could be used on Mars, WSU professor Bandyopadhyay said. Beyond making it habitable, it is necessary to determine how the structure would be made before humans could inhabit Mars.

“You’re not thinking of sending people there,” he said. “You’re thinking about sending robots there. They will build this house. So come up with a design first about what the house should look like.”

The focus on pre-habitat construction has been obvious from the beginning of the challenge, and has been on Bandyopadhyay’s radar since 2010 when NASA reached out to him. NASA wanted 3D objects printed from moon rocks and heard about Bandyopadhyay’s work with WSU professor Bose on orthopedic implant prints.

“Our strength was the not the design,” Bandyopadhyay said. “Our strength was more in the manufacturing side of it.”

Traveling to Mars lasts about two and a half years, so as Bandyopadhyay began to form his team he needed to make sure all aspects were being addressed.

“You really cannot send something as an ‘oops, forgot this,’” he said. “It’s not a trivial thing we are talking about.”

To work on design, other team members including mechanical engineering doctoral students Gualtieri and Robertson, architecture undergraduate student Hubbert, and civil engineering undergraduate student Hollon were brought on board.

“It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot during the process,” Gualtieri said.

Gualtieri and Robertson worked closely with Hubbert, gaining her creative input while also communicating with other team members when necessary.

“We emphasized efficiency and feasibility in regards to our habitat,” Gualtieri said. “Everything is tough in space.”

The WSU team’s entry proposal utilizes simulated rocks and surface material. A 3D WAZZU DOME (domed outpost for Mars Exploration) is built with a printer. The concept would work both above and below the ground.

NASA judged the entry based, primarily, on the novelty of architecture, efficiency in the architecture and structure, and 3D printability.

“The architecture and engineering really brought the project to where it is right now,” Gualtieri said. “It got us to New York.”

Of the 30 finalists, a group named Icehouse won the competition. In spite of not winning the challenge, Bundyopadhyay said the team was honored to be one of the top 30.

Teams from all over the world, including Poland and Israel, were present at the event, he said.

“It was a lot of work,” Gualtieri said. “It was a lot of fun. It’s definitely one of the more fun projects I have been a part of because you really get to use your imagination and build some novel ideas that may or may not work.”

It was an eye opening experience for Bandyopadhyay, who is glad everyone had the opportunity to be a part of it. He recognizes what they did well and what they may have changed now that the challenge is over.

“What happened on Monday (water on Mars) — if that happened three years back, I think many of our designs would have been a little different,” he said. The team that won first place utilized ice in their proposal.

Bandyopadhyay believes manned trips will be made soon, possibly within the next 10 years. He believes challenges like the one his team participated in are going to assist in the progress of those trips.

“I think that this is not just science fiction anymore,” he said. “I think doing this kind of project energizes students in a very different dimension.”