NASA announced a big contest for Mars habitat designs in May, with the stipulation that the structures had to be 3D printable. Now, the competition finalists are out on the 3DP Challenge Tumblr.

Some of them look straight out of the American southwest. Others like a bizarre loom explosion. There's also another that's one-part construction equipment, one part radiation shield. But perhaps my favorite is the one from Team Staye, a gradually inclining, subterranean corkscrew building that winds below the surface of the equator, providing shielding from radiation, water from glacial deposits, and warmth from its regions, which can reach a high of 70 degrees Fahrenheit in the Martian summer.

NASA used Mars as a framing device, but it's easy to see it used elsewhere, like the Moon. The Martian environment is far from home, harsh, and unforgiving, meaning that NASA needs to make astronauts survive on limited resources in an environment with deadly radiation, scant water resources, frigid temperatures, and a thin toxic atmosphere.

The finalists have a shot at $50,000 from the agency for the best habitats, while those who figure out fabricating technology have a heftier $1.1 million prize before them. But it's pushing the agency toward thinking about harnessing space resources, so someday, there could be a 3D printed structure built out of raw materials from an asteroid or any number of other in situ materials. And someday, you might even live on one ... even if it's just on the Moon.

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