ORIGAMI-style space homes that spring off the ground on Mars could house future visitors to the red planet.
These hi-tech habitats would pop up with “one pull of a string” – with no tools needed.
It’s the impressive brainchild of Massachusetts Institute of Technology geniuses who have invented a brand new way of designing buildings.
They would lay thin and flat on the ground, before springing into life for instant use with a single tug of a string.
Its creators say that the system could be used to create “modular space habitats”.
And these could be yanked up with a single pull by “robots working on the surface of Mars”.
HEAVEN’S DOOR
The stunning Mars homes for colonists that’ll be printed by robot builders
LUNAR-GHINI!
Stunning space cars including hi-tech Moon van being built for lunar colonists
But it’s not only useful for space – scientists say these quick-build creations could be rapidly deployed in disaster zones.
For instance, they could be used to quickly mock up a temporary field hospital after a “devastating tsunami”.
“The actuation mechanism is easily reversible,” MIT explained.
“And if the string is released, the structure quickly returns to its flat configuration.
“This could enable complex, 3D structures to be stored and transported more efficiently and with less cost.”
The project was revealed in a paper called “One String to Pull Them All”, riffing on J.R.R. Tolkien’s iconic The Lord of the Rings line.
And though it might seem just like origami, it’s actually closer to another Japanese art called kirigami.
Origami works without cutting the paper, but kirigami is the ancient Japanese art of paper cutting.
So they use cutting to creature a structure that gets thicker when stretched and thinner when compressed.
The researchers created an algorithm to work out the smallest number of points that the string needs to lift to fully deploy the 3D creation.
Then it works out the shortest path connecting those “lift points”.
And this means an “optimal string path” can be calculated to make it as easy as possible to yank up the structure with a single pull.
“Our method makes it easy for the user,” said lead author and MIT grad Akib Zaman.
“All they have to do is input their design, and our algorithm automatically takes care of the rest. Then all the user needs to do is to fabricate the tiles exactly the way it has been computed by the algorithm,” Zaman said.
MIT also said that it doesn’t really matter how the structures are “fabricated”.
So they could be built using a moulding method, or by 3D printing.
They just need to follow the core design laid out by the scientists for the system to work.
“The simplicity of the whole actuation mechanism is a real benefit of our approach,” Zaman explained..
How long does it take to get to Mars?
It’s not that short of a trip…
- There’s an immense distance between Earth and Mars, which means any trip to the red planet will take a very long time
- It’s also made more complicated by the fact that the distance is constantly changing as the two planets rotate around the sun
- The closest that the Earth and Mars would ever be is a distance of 33.9million miles – that’s 9,800 times the distance between London and New York
- That’s really rare though: the more useful distance is the average, which is 140million miles
- Scientists on Earth have already launched a whole bunch of spacecraft to (or near) Mars, so we have a rough idea of how long it takes with current technology
- Historically, the trip has taken anywhere from 128 to 333 days – admittedly a huge length of time for humans to be on board a cramped spacecraft.
Image credit: Shutterstock
“The user just needs to provide their intended design.
“And then our method optimises it in such a way that it holds the shape after just one pull on the string, so the structure can be deployed very easily.
“I hope people will be able to use this method to create a wide variety of different, deployable structures.”
The researchers aren’t done, either.
In the future, they’d like to create a mechanism that deploys itself – rather than requiring a human or robot to begin the process.
That way, future Martian homes could spring up off the ground without any physical interaction.
The bad news is that there aren’t any immediate plans to send humans to Mars.
Nasa is currently making its way through its Artemis Program, which aim to return humans to the surface of the Moon.
Mars facts
Here’s what you need to know about the red planet…
- Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun
- It is named after the Roman god of war
- The landmass of Mars is very similar to Earth but due to the difference in gravity you could jump three times higher there than you can here
- Mars is mountainous and hosts the tallest mountain known in the Solar System called Olympus Mons, which is three times higher than Everest
- Mars is considered to be the second most habitable planet after Earth
- It takes the planet 687 Earth days to orbit the Sun
- The planet has a diameter of 4,212 miles, and has an average distance from Earth of 140 million miles
- Martian temperatures can vary wildly, reaching as high as 70F/20C or as low as -225F/-153C
Artemis I saw the successful uncrewed test of the Space Launch System and Orion capsule in 2022.
This is set to be followed by Artemis II in 2026, which will see the first crewed test flight of the SLS and Orion.
That’s expected to take place between February and April this year.
Then in 2027, Nasa expects to put humans back on the Moon with its Artemis III mission.
This will be the first American crewed lunar landing since 1972’s Apollo 17 mission.
Crewed missions to Mars aren’t expected until the 2030s at the earliest.
Sign up for The Sun Tech newsletter for gadgets, games & more
Hello! I’m Sean Keach, The Sun’s Head of Technology and Science
I’ve been writing about gadgets, games and the future of technology for more than a decade.
During that time I’ve penned thousands of articles, filmed hundreds of videos, talked tech on TV and radio, and travelled around the world to bring you the latest on Apple, Meta, Google, Amazon, Netflix and more.
And I’ve got a weekly newsletter called The Sun Tech that you can read for free every Thursday.
I bring you the latest from the world of tech, including behind-the-scenes action, exclusive content, expert analysis, and plenty of help advice – so please follow along!
