So continues the space-age fantasy of humankind someday living successfully on the Red Planet, or undertaking expeditions to the far ends of the universe. In this spirit, NASA and America Makes' launched their 3D Printed Habitat Challenge late last year, wherein multi-disciplinary teams proposed shelters equipped to endure the environments of Mars and (eventually) deep-space exploration.

Following rigorous evaluations by the jury and a public showcase at the NYC World Maker Faire this past September, the eight-member Clouds AO + Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch) team took home the overall winning $25,000 prize with their "Mars Ice House" design, out of 30 finalist submissions.

Enticing sci-fi aesthetics aside, the Mars Ice House's optimistic approach focuses on interior-to-exterior terrestrial concepts that could enable inhabitants to live comfortably and in harmony on the Martian surface, instead of buried underneath and completely closed off. "The architecture of ICE HOUSE...emerged from an imperative to bring light to the interior and to create visual connections to the landscape beyond, allowing the mind as well as the body to thrive," the team writes on their project website.

According to the designers, the Ice House's semi-transparent outer shell incorporates water-ice** to allow filtered sunlight into the interior while also protecting against harmful radiation. Additionally, an exterior transparent ETFE membrane prevents the 3D-printed ice shells from vaporizing into Mars' atmosphere. Based on the (MTV) Transit Habitat**, the Ice House's innermost lander core is built as a vertical habitat that consists of private and communal spaces. Its vertical orientation also allows the inhabiting astronauts to gradually adjust to the Martian landscape.

Another outstanding aspect of the Mars Ice House is the intermediate zone between the habitat interior and the outer shell. The "interstitial zone" includes adjustable environmental features that let astronauts "experience the 'outside' without the use of EVA suits". Further adding a familiar terrestrial greenery inside, the shelter features vertically growing hydroponic gardens that would supply the crew with food and oxygen.

Read up on the Mars Ice House in further detail here. You can also find more project images in the gallery below.

**Sources originally linked by Clouds AO + SEArch