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MARSHA

A NASA WINNING DESIGN FOR MARS

Marsha is a first-principles rethinking of what a Martian habitat could be. Marsha made us to rethink habitat design by responding to a completely different set of questions. Designing for Mars!
It is born of a careful response to the Martian environment and a synergy between architectural, structural and construction principles with the crew’s experience at the center.

Marsha won the Nasa 3D printed habitat challenge Design Phase 1 in 2018




Besides designing and modeling, I led the official multimedia submission to NASA and created the conceptual 3D printing construction animation.


The first task for any Martian home is to hold an Earth-like atmosphere. A simple trade study of spatial and material efficiency shows that a vertically oriented cylinder is the best formal basis for a surface habitat.





The layout must reflect the strict flow of tasks typical of Space missions. But since sustained social and mental health are also mission critical, habitats should offer elements of surprise and literal room for the crew to slip outside of an overly prescriptive existence.




In this alien environment, construction sequence and materials must be rethought entirely.





On May 4th, after three phases and $1.6 million awarded the team participated in the Nasa Challenge at Caterpillar’s demonstration facility in Peoria, IL on 2019



Team AI SpaceFactory won the grand prize of $500,000 by successfully printing a 1:3 scale prototype of the primary structure




Design Phase 1:

Jeffrey Montes 
Sima Shahverdi
David Malott
Tony Jin

Construction Phase 1&2:

Jeffrey Montes
Christopher James Botham
David Malott

Construction Phase 3:

Jeffrey Montes
Christopher James Botham
David Riedel
James Earle
James Coleman
Amit Adhikaree

with AI Space Factory

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Featured Work          

TERA


AN EARTH HABITAT    

Built with NASA award winning technology, TERA is a forward thinking terrestrial habitat inspired by the shape of our Martian habitat, Marsha. Tera offers a sustainable solution for building on this planet, while advancing the technologies for living on another. I lead the design team in this project.




TERA Crowdfunding 

We set up a successful fundraising Indiegogo campaign for Tera’s upstate new york construction.


Click here

for TERA fundraising indiegogo champion page






Built with NASA award winning technology, TERA is a forward thinking terrestrial habitat inspired by the shape of our Martian habitat, Marsha. Tera offers a sustainable solution for building on this planet, while advancing the technologies for living on another






TERA’s rich and playful interior, made of birch and poplar, evokes that of a tree-house. Free of pre-defined rooms, TERA’s various activity areas are perched on, and nestled in, a spiraling form emerging from the landscape. TERA’s open plan maximizes daylight and air circulation—further enhanced by energy efficient LED lighting and underfloor heating to provide year-round comfort




We studied different porosities and profiles based on our material property, printability and possible construction equipment


The first floor includes areas for sitting and food preparation, an
herb garden, bathroom and storage. Along the way to the second floor and embedded in
the stairs is a small library and study area. At top is a queen-sized sleeping pod under a
large skylight.




Design Team : 
Sima Shahverdi, David mallot

Fabrication Team :

  Chris Botham, James Earl, James Colman, Amit Adhikaree


with AI Space Factory

Check out 
MARSHA - HYDROPOD - KYTE

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