On episode 117 of This Week in Space, Rod Pyle and guest host Isaac Arthur talk with ICON Build’s Evan Jensen about 3D printing habitats on the moon and one day on Mars.
We’ve seen images of huge glass domes on the Moon and Mars for decades, but the reality of building settlements outside Earth is likely to look much different. This week we’re joined by Evan Jensen from ICON Build, a company that in just a few years has created homes in Texas through 3D printing. Now, in collaboration with NASA, they are also investing heavily in researching how to 3D print habitats on the Moon and one day Mars.
It’s not easy to work in a vacuum – water freezes and evaporates instantly, and all the other materials you need have to be transported there. ICON has some unique processes that it tests in its large vacuum chambers, and the results are truly fascinating. Join us to look into the future of life on other worlds!
Download or subscribe to this show on: https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space.
Get ad-free episodes with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit
Space news of the week
Model Falcon 9!
Finally, did you know you can launch your own SpaceX rocket? The stunning scale model of a Falcon 9 rocket from rocket manufacturer Estes, which you can pick up now. The launchable model is a detailed recreation of the Falcon 9 and retails for $149.99. You can save 10% by using the code IN-COLLECTSPACE at checkout, courtesy of our partners collectSPACE.com.
About this week in space
This week in space covers the new space age. Every Friday we dive deep into a fascinating topic. What is happening with the new race to the moon and other planets? When will SpaceX really send people to Mars?
Join Space.com’s Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik as they tackle these questions and more each week on Friday afternoon. You can subscribe today to your favorite podcatcher.
Rod Pyle is an author, journalist, television producer and editor-in-chief of Astra ad magazine. He has written 18 books on space history, research and development, including Cosmos 2.0, Innovation the NASA way, Interplanetary robots, Blueprint for Battlestar, Amazing stories from the space age, First on the moonand Destination Mars
In a previous life, Rod produced numerous documentaries and short films for The History Channel, Discovery Communications and Disney. He also worked in visual effects Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and on Battlestar Galactica reboot, as well as various sci-fi TV pilots. His last television credit was with NatGeo’s documentary on Tom Wolfe’s iconic book The right things.
Responsible for Space.com’s editorial vision, Tariq Malik has been Space.com’s editor-in-chief since 2019 and has covered space news and science for 18 years. He joined the Space.com team in 2001, first as an intern and soon after as a full-time reporter covering spaceflight, exploration, astronomy and the night sky. He became managing editor of Space.com in 2009. As an on-air talent, he has presented space stories on CNN, Fox News, NPR and others.
Tariq is an Eagle Scout (yes, he earned the Space Exploration Merit Badge), a space camp veteran (4 times as a kid, once as an adult) and took the ultimate trip on the “vomit comet” while reporting on zero gravity fires. Before joining Space.com, he served as a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times, covering the beat of the city and education. He has degrees in journalism from the University of Southern California and New York University.
