1. Bubba and Robbi plan to travel to Mars to build and test an inflatable habitat called "Bubble Technology". 2. The bubble concept involves a self-transporting inflatable rover that expands into a shelter once a suitable location is found. Prefabricated materials from Earth are combined with in situ resource utilization, like filling structural voids with sintered Martian sand. 3. The document discusses construction methods like inflating successive layers and filling voids to form support pillars and a protective sintered brick dome. Locating the bubble in Valles Marineris is proposed to take advantage of thicker atmosphere and potential water sources.

1. Episode #1: Bubba and Robbi go to Mars
“Robby” the Robot “Astro” the astronaut “Bubba” the bubbleThe voice of reason The planning team
Scalable construction
Dynamic multi-purpose space -> increased standard of living
Exploit local climate to our benefit
Mars conditions
are harsh. From
low atmospheric
pressure to cold
temperatures.
We need to
optimize for
success.
Well, when you put it like that.
I guess I could get rid of my
pool table and pinball machine.
1
Energy efficient morphology
100 m3
100 m3
3X surface
X surface
Function over formBring small amounts of high performance
materials/ technologies from earth
Selective use of 3D printing -> effectivity
No, Robby, we
are only printing
critical parts of
the home. We
aren’t printing
things just for
the sake of
printing them...
If you don’t have a gym
on Mars, you will get
muscle atrophy and die.
Time advantage. Time is cheap
Relax! It will take
you at least a year
to commute there.Plus
another
decade to
build the
technology
It is going to take
you HOW MANY
YEARS to build my
home on Mars?!
High redundancy in the construction process - aka survivability!
THE 3DP ADVENTURES OF
CORE
CONCEPTS
starring
TECH
ARCH
Can I 3D
print a skull?
Please,
please,
please!!! All
of the new
3D printers
are printing
them!
Social dynamics -> Varying degrees of public and private spaces
private
public
I think
BFF’s joined
at the hip
we’re cool
we’ve met
before
Anything from
composite to digital
materials to 3D printed
bio-mimicri structures.
My only
shovel
broke
We don’t want this to
happen to us on Mars.
That is why there is a
plan C in case plans A
and B fail.

2. Valles Marineris
Bubba
Predesigned structural voids are filled
with Martian soil for constructive support
I found it! The
perfect place :)
Thicker atmosphere,
water potential and
lots to research!
Come on guys, umm...
I mean rovers! Fill
this bubble up with
Martian sand.
After I’m filled with sand, I’m
covered with another layer of
sand and a brick dome, for
protection against meteors
and radiation. Now sintering
brick #23B
I go around Mars looking for
quartz rich sand I can
sinter. Then I sinter it into
a brick and carry it to its
corresponding location within
the brick dome.
We chose
semi-
buried.
But it
could also
be...
Has anyone seen
a good crater
around here?!
Bubble
Concept overview
Self transporting habitat
The exact bubble
will depend on
the micro-location.
Above ground (F*** radiation) Wedged in the side of a cliff
10 feet meters under, literally!
I have additional “side wings” that
can be inflated in stages based on
the width of the crater I find...
More
about
Bubba’s
location
later...
Find
crater
Inflate core
structure
Fill pillars and
base with sand
Inflate expand-
able wings
Cover with sand
and brick dome
See my top
view? My pillars
are filled with
sintered sand.
Lets keep driving
towards the optimal
crater the guys from
NASA found...
2
1
There are
. multiple
sinterning robots who
work in syncronization
to build the dome. This
also provides redun-
dancy in case one is
compromised.
A small gas container is released inside of
the bubble to expand it
2
3
4
5
We can bring very small
. amounts of gas due to the
extremely low atmospheric pressure
and Mars. This, together with low
gravity, facilitates easy inflation and
high relative internal pressure.
Like a caterpillar turning into a
butterfly, Bubba roams Mars in
compact rover form, expanding to full
capacity only once it finds a suitable location.
The essential technological systems are
combined inside the rover, and when inflated
become an active part of the habitat.

3. BUBBLE TECHNOLOGY
3
An Inflatable structure
Sinergy with additive sintering
Sophisticated Internal structure
Construction order / methodology
Mars atmospheric conditions are ideal for inflatable structures. The atmospheric pressure
. on ground level is 200X smaller then that on earth. This means that inflating a structure to
a certain pressure requires much less gas. Combining that with the gravity being one third of that on
earth, it is expected to take down the amount of gas needed by 600X to withstand the equivalent
mass on top of the structure compared to earth. This means that very little amounts of gas need to
be taken from earth for the inflation process if pumping is too energy intensive.
By predesigning the cut of the bubble, it is possible to fully control its spacial structure to any
desired shape, much beyond the standard bubble shape.
Inflating may be achieved by releasing gas containers prepositioned inside the bubble, that maintain
a constant pressure by use of smart passive valves made of digital materials that are pressure sensitive.
The bubble technology introduces a smart combination between in situ
. fabricationon Mars, and prefabrication on Earth.
Prefabrication utilizes most advanced technologies available on Earth. The sheet material
that makes the structure’s skin can be highly robust but light (i.e. composite fabrics),
introduces optimal behaviour for Martian conditions, and integrates energy supplying
systems within itself. It can have the optimal complexity and reliability to weight ratio.
In situ fabrication is used to create large mass parts of the construction that are nearly
impossible to bring from earth. They act mainly as an engineering skeleton of the
habitat, and critical mass for radiation blockage. Through this combination, we believe,
the most efficient and practical process can be achieved.
The inflated bubble conceptually acts as a supporting structure for an additive manufacturing
. process. This is done in two different manners. First, the constructional in situ voids act as guides
to the formation of pillars that hold the structure from collapsing under compressive stress. Second, the
entire inflated structure acts as a support to the formation of a dome structure that covers the entire
bubble. The air pressure inside the bubble, combined with the “in situ” pillars, introduce enough strength
to hold big amounts of sintered Martian sand, and even the weight of a rover climbing on top of it.
The complex structure of the bubble is naturally followed by a suitable construction methodology. As
described in previous pages, once positioned inside a crater the bubble is inflated, when successive layers
are selectively inflated to fill the existing gap between the bubble core and the crater’s surface. Further
gaps are covered with sand by the rovers to give them access to the top of the bubble from where they
can fill it with sand. Once fully inflated, the constructional in situ voids are filled with sand, and then the
more internal voids surrounded by the sand are filled with sintered/melted sand. The sand filling is done
by rovers by means of an articulated arm, a parallel cable robot, or by climbing on the bubble.
When the creation of in situ pillars is done, the formation of the sintered dome starts. The dome covers
the entire overground exposed area of the bubble and acts as protection from radiation, sand storms,
meteorites, and other elements.
Constructional In Situ Voids which are
. filled with Martian sand, either in a grain
form or sintered. Those voids are morphologically
external to the inflatable structure and have
direct contact with Mars’ atmosphere. Any void to
be filled with sintered sand is surrounded by non
sintered sand void, to avoid the hot sintered sand
from melting the bubble’s skin.
Habitat Voids, once populated, are then filled with
breathable air. Those make the biggest portion of
the habitat by volume.
Additional types of voids may be filled with
specialty materials, i.e. to supply further protec-
tion from radiation.
The inflated structure is constructed
. from several conceptual void types;
Together, the different void types make the
entire construction volume.
Constructional Gas Voids, in which the inflating
gas is released. When inflated, those voids act as
the constructional skeleton of the structure.
Insulation Gas Voids - Those act as a tempera-
ture insulation layer, they may be alternatively
absent of any gas (vacuumed) for optimal insula-
tion. Morphologically, they separate between the
habitat void and the Martian atmosphere and
Martian ground.
Prefabrication combined with in situ

4. What if we let
the bubbles fill
passively with
sand, because
of the dust
storms?
Love it! But that
might not be fast
enough... How about
that combined with
solar powered micro
pumps to fill the
bubbles...
Take that
Martian sand
storms!
Imagine a bubble that is passively filled with sand during Martian dust storms.
Dozens of these bubbles can be sent to Mars and thrown onto its surface. Over the years
they will passively stabilize themselves and become ready for habitation...

5. 1:75
We have a great idea for
creating a Mars habitat, but
where should we put it?!
Haughton crater on Devon
Island in Canada
You know what they
say about real estate,
LOCATION-LOCATION
-LOCATION!
We need a
practice site on
Earth, ASAP!
It has water aquifers and is a
great place to research. Plus
it isn’t as freezing or as hot
as the rest of Mars, since it is
near the equator.
On Mars we can settle in Valles Marineris.
Gobi desert in AsiaMcMurdo Dry
Valleys in Antarc-
tica
3D PRINTING
LOCATION
6
Low humidity, no snow
and 32o kph winds
Rapid temperature changes, up to
35 °C within 24 hours. -40°C in the
winter, +50°C in the summer
3D printing technology is primarily used to create large mass structures. In order to exploit the existing resources on Mars, sintering
technology is used. This technology combines the use of Martian soil that is sinterable, with available solar radiation that can be
optically condensed to produce sintering heat. Additionally, solar power converted to electricity may be used to control an XYZ manipu-
lator.
The 3d printing process is designed to have high redundancy. Several rovers may be used to mine the sinterable soil of Mars. Geared
with spectroscopy sensors, the rovers travel around the construction site looking for sinterable ground. When found, a predefined shape
of a “brick” is sintered by the rover on the spot. The brick is then transported by the rover to the construction site where it is
sintered to the back to the entire structure. When sintering the brick, existing rocks in the area may be used as volume fillers to
accelerate the production process. Therefore, the rover is geared with 3d scanning technology and algorithms to assess and understand
the geometry of a rock.
The rovers act as a group of mini-builders that communicate between themselves and a headquarters. They produce the bricks accord-
ing to a predefined plan in the right order to create a dome shape that will cover the bubble. The result is a manufacturing process
that can be dynamically distributed. It demonstrates high redundancy as it uses several similar mini-builders, and very flexible as each
body is created from smaller bricks.
The concept of 3D printed pillars inside an inflatable structure was further developed to demonstrate the creation of internal details
of the habitat. The core concept of sintered skeleton holding an inflatable structure can be used to create furniture such as tables
and chairs, or as local constructional support within the habitat. One can imagine that prior to landing on Mars, the 3D printing rovers
can manufacture sintered rods that will serve as raw material for the manual construction of more complex shapes.
The bubble concept allows us to exploit the revolution of 3D printing not only on Mars itself, but also
on Earth, as 3D printing may be used to easily manufacture complex inflatable structures such as the
proposed bubble.
Our first priority in choosing a location is to protect against exposure to the elements such as: climate profile, temperature
. extremes, day-light behavior and storms, meteors and radiation. In light of these considerations, we chose the Valles Marineris
canyon system as the optimal location. Located in proximity to the equator means minimal fluctuation in temperature. The 7 KM deep
canyon provides a thicker atmosphere and the canyon walls acts as additional protection from the elements.
Reliability testing of the habitat will be in three extreme Earth environments, to simulate the climate on Mars. These places were
chosen due to their climate profile and fluctuation, presence of dust storms, scarcity of water and terrain makeup.

6. 1:75
ARCHITECTURE
7

7. Fiber optics detail Water tank from above
Sanitation separate from food for good health
Research area near door to minimize the spread of dust
Sleeping area doesn’t face public functions to provide privacy
No wall between living room and kitchen to increase social life
LAYOUTINTERIORINFASTRUCTURE
Furniture and internal walls are built
into the pre-fab bubble
Supports inserted into bubble shell
The same techniques
used to make Bubba
can be used to make
furniture, like me!
Water
Electric
Light
Heat
Take that
MTV cribs!
Function
over
form!
Moving
partitions
Sintered sand
construction
elements
8
The bubble incorporates
. dynamic partitions, providing
the ability to open and close sections
based on social or pragmatic needs. The
layout is based on functional needs.
The overall shape of the bubble is a round dome. This shape was chosen for its energy efficiency. A sphere is the most
. energy efficient shape for a home because it minimizes the face surface of the envelope of the building, that interacts with
its surroundings. The bubble incorporates moving partitions, built in furniture and a plethora of infrastructural solutions. The dynamic
partitions prevent “stir craziness” in the astronauts by allowing their space to change over time. Additionally, it allows for compart-
mentalization, should part of the habitat become compromised.
As structural complexity of
. the prefabricated bubble is
figuratively endless, many internal
structures can be incorporated in its
shape and be ready for use once the
bubble is inflated. For instance,
built-in chairs, tables, work stations
and storage nooks.
The bubble is
. intended to be
quickly integrated
with external
systems and lead
their supply into the
habitat through
prefabricated
channels.
Solar energy in the
. form of light is
collected from external panels
brought through an optical
fiber into a main inlet, from
where it is distributed through
successive optical fibers
throughout the internal living
space.
The same
. optical
fiber system may
be used to create
heatthat can be
used for activating
a small scale 3D
printer, among
other uses.
The bubble
. contains
additional inlets
and distributing
systems for water
and electricity,
which are also
collected through
external units.

8. WATER PIPING ECLSS LOCATION
STATIC WALL CIRCULATION
HIGH SOUND LEVELS
1:150
DYNAMIC WALL
MEDIUM SOUND LEVELS
LOW SOUND LEVELS
ROOM FUNCTION
SIZE (m²)
9
KITCHEN &
LIVING ROOM
RESEARCH
BATH
FITNESS
BEDROOM
BEDROOM
BEDROOM
BEDROOM
STUDY
BATH

9. Are we
there yet?!
BUBBLE BASE