But ... why would I want to live on the risky, dangerous, radioactive-flooded and meteor-struck surface? It is much cheaper and much safer to simply seal the existing underground lava tubes and use them! Much more spacious, too.

Would it be feasible to melt regolith to create hard surfaces/bricks? I know it requires a lot of power, but there is virtually no fluids to mix concrete.

Pure fantacy. They pretend a wheeled drone is a excavator. They are not and such work take a long time. In short this is garbage.

Awesome.

A significant number of my friends get all excited when they watch videos like this. Truth is, the AI and robotics needed to complete these structures are at least a generation away, maybe more. One clogged printer nozzle stops the entire project, so the AI necessary for contingencies like this are crucial. Our first people on Mars will live like moles in lava tubes, and even then, not until we develop the robotics needed to map and prepare the floor surfaces of those tubes. I like to dream, but I'll not see it in my lifetime to be sure, maybe my grandkids will.

3D printers work on earth but how does the fluid pour and hold up at two hundred degrees BELOW ZERO? How about the south pole check on systems? The moon and Mars the NEXT gerations. Launch at thy South Pole as well, causes and effects... Landings as well. Plant the flag and shoot for moon.

I like XArc wants a lava tubes portfolio to select the Investment and show us their vision. I love the shot in the lava tube, as a conceptor.

Have we built any prototypes yet? :)

If we ever have permanent base there it mostly will be UNDERGROUND. It's the only meteorite and radiation safe solution and also it's huge savings on heating. Only 2m under the surface of Moon temperature is stable all the time and is about -25C. Best option is to build at the bottom of some crater and than cover it with local sand (regolith) that gives bullet proof safety and insulation.

PYRAMIDS: Perhaps we should build space habitats, on the Moon and Mars, just as our ancestors built the pyramids. They are the most economical use of 3d printing, inflatable habitats, and multiple story building. They also provide the most economical and quickest way to guard against micro-meteorites and radiation. You must ensure that you can move machinery, equipment & stores to the appropriate level within the habitat, and pyramids provide a smooth ramp to every level. This approach basically involves blocks of polymer-infused regolith, surrounding a space filled with tamped loose regolith, containing walled empty space for habitation, or even just stacked inflatable modules, and a helical ramp just inside the blocks, with access to each level, to move things around. Robots could collect and distribute regolith, make blocks of amalgum, tamp regolith, move equipment critical stores and habitat structural elements into place. And just why would you need windows, if you have cameras outside and video projectors inside the habitat? kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGXGlXeKZr-pd6M

I wonder when architects will realize that heat from the habitat could warm the ground enough to deform it. Also, each module will require food & water storage and sewage treatment machinery. Don't forget areas devoted to food production! This plan doesn't assign NEAR enough space to food growth. Won't be much room left for astronauts! What about power? Where are the wind and solar collectors? Where are the storage batteries??? Architect bias expects that all these are "external services".

Don't we need the shelters to be good for 3 years, due of flight prep and time of travel. To Mars. And we'll NEED capable robotics to pre- establish everything. So we'll have a Chance, of living. The planet is dangerous as heck for life. We need alternatives to Earth for a species survival. But let's not be fools.

why no elevator ? it is near weight less

This is the Real Face of how important Chemistry is...for all life to Develop.

I think i saw this kind of miniature model with toy excavators, and digger, and Mars Trucks in one of the 3D printing videos.

With the various corporations presenting their "printed habitats" we are seeing the call out to investors , these videos are becoming sales "brochures" there is no doubt we will start seeing high tech "billboards" promoting "Off World positions vacant" with these corporations in our very near future.....

Imagine , despite the training and focus on the objective , going to Mars from your life on Earth is a bit depressing yeah , it's asking a lot , no , everything from the people taking these first steps , it is all new and exciting at first but then .... well , look at the "hab" and picture yourself trying to cope with that as one of the first people to live there. It's these first "experimenters" that will have to deal with the early"trials and tribulations" . But I suppose it's not exactly like suffering.

Why does it need an elevator?

Such a bad design. Takes 3 years just to build the thing

Do you people really think autonomous machines will be able to build a habitat as complex as what is planned...ask anyone who has been on a building site and they will tell you that nothing goes as planned... there are Always problems...machines always break...get clogged...parts don't fit...Let's say the project is finished but fails the pressure test...do you think machines can do what a person can do...change and adopt? IMO...Machines are good at digging and moving lots of material...let them dig a hole for the first arrivals to install an inflatable like a Bigelow 330...and the machines can reverse the dig and cover the structure that will give protection from High energy particles and stabilize the temperature

HATE THE VOICE.

Radiation: "Am I some kind of joke for you?" | - . -)

YEA, LOOKING FOR ANOTHER HOME, MARS, THE MOON, ANY PLACE, WHY? THE EARTH IS ON FIRE UNDERGROUND, THIS IS WHY WE HAVE EARTHQUAKES & VOLCANOS, THE OIL UNDERGROUND IS FEEDING THE FIRE, WE NEED TO USE UP THE OIL UNDERGROUND.

Everyone commenting on this will be long dead and forgotten by the time realistic human habitation is feasible on Mars.

I always wondered about the possibility of meteorites hit on Mars. As there is no thick atmosphere, almost any small size meteorite would reach the surface and can make a massive explosion. I was thinking maybe the best place to make a colonies in Mars would be the under the surface. This not only would preserve the astronauts from the meteorites , but also would perfectly shield them against the sun and cosmic radiations.

creating building materials using mars resources - excellent idea - better than transporting it - do we know if microbes (or anything else harmful) are within this processed material that could effect humans (given most of the raw material is from mars)

show that its possible on Earth first. otherwise i see some magical wires, which don't exist.

1/6 gravity should make bowling easier.

Welcome to another episode of Fantasy Island.

Is it just one big printer that will do al the job or requires the assistance of other smaller printers for the fine details?

So far, I very much like it, very practical and realistic looking. Now, if it were me, I would add one more floor if it were all possible...

I might eventhere to say that I see 5 people living there, easily..., the more realistic aprouch I have seen so far, how ever, it takes to long to be ready....

Who here is hexhab client?

How would they cook their food? Using the Bathroom? What about trash? Entertainment? Free time? After work how would the people have fun? Cleaning dishes and clothes? Law and order? Crime?

That's so cool!

The build in Mars is can be taking 5 or 10 year

А Рагозин у нас бесполезный, развалил роскосмос и нихера не делает.

build parts from drons conect in space and send all toun ....

I just wonder if there would be a problem with the plastic expanding when heated in a low pressure environment?

the people who think that there is water on mars are dumb

I don;t like that shape, looks super uncomfee to my eyes

Amazing

Man I wish the future was now. I hope I see this in my lifetime

Very good guys but you should add your internet adress to the about page, hard to find you

ой балаболы когда зделаете тогда и балабольте

What if ! The big question ! What likely to go wrong. Strong winds,floods,comets, Radiation,alien invasion, Alien animal invasion that maybe living under ground. Habitat is the life line until the planet is up and running.

inflatables are better

Very interesting and substantial structure. not making direction reference to structures,,,it will be hard work for first settlers,,one way ticket to mars,,,12 hour plus shifts,,hard life.

the fact that this uses water, and requires a large pit to be dug means that it will never be used also a dome is hard to print and is not the optimal shape to maximize livable surfaces. Plus the interior design is so industrial it would never be suitable for a permanent home. No one wants to live in a factory

I think more underground construction is needed, not just a dome above ground.