The Mycotecture project team at NASA’s Ames Research Center is developing technologies that will enable the “growing” of habitats on the Moon, Mars, and beyond using fungi and the subterranean filaments that make up their main component, known as mycelium. Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, have successfully tested the next-generation SpaceCAL microgravity 3D printer. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have unveiled ecovoxels—modular, reconfigurable building blocks that can be used for both construction on Earth and for creating living and working spaces in space. As part of the European Space Agency’s First! initiative, CompPair, in collaboration with Com&Sens and CSEM, has developed a new self-controlling and self-healing carbon fiber composite material.
As NASA prepares for long-term missions to the Moon and Mars for the benefit of all, the concept of growing habitats could help “grow” mushroom-based homes for future explorers.
A team of researchers from NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, will receive new funding through NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program to further advance their habitat research, NASA said in a statement.
The NIAC Phase III grant will provide $2 million over two years to continue the technological development of the Mycotecture Off Planet project in preparation for a potential future demonstration mission. The work is led by Lynn Rothschild, a senior scientist at NASA Ames.
“NASA is preparing to explore space more deeply than ever before, and doing so will require new scientific and technological advances that don’t yet exist,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “NASA’s Space Technology Command and the NIAC program are discovering groundbreaking ideas—ideas that make the impossible possible. This new research is a significant milestone in our Artemis program as we prepare to return to the Moon to live, learn, invent, and create, and then to Mars and beyond.”
Some habitats, such as landers and rovers, will be delivered to planetary surfaces. However, the Mycotecture project team is developing technologies that will allow for the “growing” of habitats on the Moon, Mars, and beyond, using fungi and the subterranean filaments that make up the bulk of fungi, known as mycelium. This development will allow researchers to travel with a compact habitat constructed of lightweight material containing dormant fungi. By adding water, the fungi could potentially grow around this structure, transforming it into a fully functioning human habitat while providing safe insulation to prevent environmental contamination.
Bricks made from mycelium, garden waste, and wood chips as part of a microarchitecture project. Similar materials could be used to build habitats on the Moon or Mars. NASA
“We are committed to developing technologies to transport our astronauts, accommodate our researchers, and facilitate valuable research,” said Walt Engelund, associate program administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We invest in these technologies throughout their life cycle, recognizing their potential to achieve our goals, benefiting industry, our agency, and all of humanity.”
The Mycotecture project could lead to the creation of a new multipurpose material for in-space construction, reducing mass and conserving resources for additional mission priorities. The technology’s conceptual validity has been validated by previous NIAC grants. The team created several combinations of fungal-based biocomposites, fabricated prototypes, tested the materials in a planetary simulator, evaluated improvements, including the incorporation of radiation shielding, and developed detailed designs for mycelium-based lunar habitats. This project has potential applications not only on Earth but also on other worlds. Mycelium could be used for water filtration and systems for extracting minerals from wastewater.
“Mycotecture Off Planet exemplifies how cutting-edge concepts can transform our understanding of future exploration missions,” said John Nelson, NIAC program manager. “As NASA enters a new era of space exploration, NIAC is helping the agency lay the foundation needed to bring innovative ideas to life.”
The work under the Phase III grant will allow the research team to optimize the material’s properties. This will also enable the team to move on to testing in low-Earth orbit. In the future, this project could be used in commercial space stations or lunar missions, with the ultimate goal of use on Mars.
The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program supports promising research ideas in the early stages of development, progressing through several sequential research phases. In January 2024, NASA announced 19 proposals for Phases I and II. NIAC activities are funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, which is responsible for developing new, cross-cutting technologies and capabilities needed by the agency to implement current and future missions.
Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, successfully tested the next-generation microgravity 3D printer, SpaceCAL. The tests were conducted as part of Virgin Galactic’s crewed suborbital space mission 07, which launched on June 8, 2024.
During a 140-second test run, SpaceCAL 3D printed four objects in PEGDA liquid plastic. These included models of space shuttles and small tugboats called “Benchys,” which are traditionally used as benchmarks (hence the name) to evaluate the printer’s quality and performance.
“SpaceCAL performed well in microgravity during previous parabolic trajectory tests, but it still had a lot to prove,” said Taylor Waddell, a graduate student and one of the project’s researchers. “This latest mission, funded by the NASA Flight Opportunities program with support from Berkeley Engineering and the Berkeley Space Center, allowed us to confirm the readiness of this 3D printing technology for use in space.”
3D printing technology has experienced rapid advancement over the past decade, forever changing manufacturing. Early models were printed primarily using 3D pixels called voxels, which were meticulously arranged point by point, layer by layer, to form a three-dimensional structure. Over the past five years, scientists have significantly improved the capabilities of this technology, creating increasingly complex and creative 3D parts from a wide range of materials, from metals to biomaterials.
A terrestrial version of SpaceCAL, simply called “computer-assisted axial lithography” (hence the name CAL), was developed by Hayden Taylor and his team at Berkeley in 2017. The scientists’ goal was to address the lack of 3D printing technologies capable of printing complex, custom-defined 3D geometric objects in a single step.
Instead of building structures from the bottom up, CAL used light to trigger the chemical curing of projected patterns in a light-sensitive resin, “thus creating a 3D part of arbitrary, user-defined geometry in a single, single-step operation.”
The SpaceCAL 3D printer aboard the VSS Unity, which launched on June 8, 2024. Virgin Galactic
The structure is cured through a polymerization reaction, where chemical building blocks in the resin are combined into a chain, or polymer, under the influence of light, resulting in the precise and rapid formation of complex, high-resolution, three-dimensional structures.
CAL (and SpaceCAL) can create complex parts in just 20 seconds—a significant improvement over printers, which typically take hours to create similar objects. The team also demonstrated the system’s versatility by successfully printing with over 60 different materials, such as silicones, glass composites, and various biomaterials, according to the press release.
The ability of CAL and SpaceCAL to operate efficiently in microgravity, where many other 3D printers struggle, makes them particularly promising for space exploration applications. Furthermore, low-gravity conditions may offer an advantage to 3D printing, as the absence of gravity minimizes issues related to material flow and shrinkage, improves certain material properties, and may expand design possibilities.
“With CAL, we’ve been able to demonstrate—first in those early zero-gravity missions and now in this spaceflight—that we can print parts in microgravity, which is not possible on Earth,” Waddell said.
These developments are quite exciting, as 3D printing is likely to become an integral part of upcoming space missions. NASA and the European Space Agency have already begun advancing plans to use 3D printing on the Moon and the International Space Station.
“You can reduce that mass, speed up those missions, and reduce the risk by taking manufacturing technologies with you,” Waddell said.
This could give astronauts the ability to manufacture construction materials, tools, medical equipment, and spare parts on-site. “If your spacecraft breaks down, you could print O-rings, mechanical fasteners, or even tools,” Waddell said.
Thanks to advances in 3D bioprinting, this could also mean organ or tissue replacement. “CAL is also capable of crew regeneration,” Waddell added. “We can print dentures, skin grafts, or lenses, as well as personalized essentials for astronauts, which is also very important on missions like this.”
But objects 3D-printed in space could still reach our planet and serve people living on Earth. “The long-term goal is to print organs in space using CAL and then transport them back to Earth,” Waddell said.
“These experiments are truly aimed at advancing technology for the greater good,” he continued. “While this is for space, there are always many ways to benefit people here on Earth.”
In recent decades, the construction industry, responsible for a significant portion of global carbon emissions, has faced stringent demands to reduce its environmental impact. The challenges associated with traditional building materials such as cement and concrete, which form the basis of most modern structures, necessitate the search for innovative solutions that can minimize their carbon footprint and accelerate the transition to more sustainable construction methods.
This is precisely the aim of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, who have proposed a new approach that combines sustainability and modularity.
In their study, published in the journal Matter in April 2025, scientists presented ecovoxels—modular, reconfigurable building blocks that can be used for both construction on Earth and for creating living and working spaces in space. These blocks, according to the developers, can reduce carbon emissions by 40% compared to traditional building materials.
Ecovoxels, short for eco-friendly voxels, are the three-dimensional equivalent of pixels and are made from polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), a partially biopolymer derived from corn sugar, and reinforced with recycled carbon fibers from aerospace waste. These materials, while reducing their environmental impact, offer greater flexibility in construction, as the blocks can be easily assembled into large structures and then disassembled and rebuilt without generating waste. This opens up opportunities for adaptable and sustainable architectural solutions that can effectively address housing affordability issues, particularly in environments with increased risks of natural disasters.
Ecovoxels. Georgia Institute of Technology
According to Christos Athanasiou, one of the study’s authors, the use of ecovoxels is the result of a synergy between knowledge in structural mechanics and mechanical design, coupled with sustainability principles. The team conducted a series of tests, during which the blocks demonstrated excellent performance. They withstood loads typical of standard building structures while maintaining a high degree of adaptability: by varying the blocks’ shape, they could be used in a wide variety of construction situations, from load-bearing walls to aircraft components.
A comparison of ecovoxels with other alternatives, such as 3D-printed concrete and cross-laminated timber (CLT), revealed that ecovoxels offer significant environmental benefits. They have a carbon footprint 30% lower than concrete and 20% lower than CLT. This makes them a promising option for sustainable construction, offering both high performance and minimal environmental impact. These blocks can be used not only for residential construction but also for emergency shelters, where speed of construction and environmental safety are critical.
Interestingly, ecovoxels have applications beyond just Earth-based construction. Their light weight, quick assembly, and ability to use local materials make them ideal for construction in environments where traditional methods are impossible, such as on the Moon or Mars. In space, where every extra kilogram counts, this technology enables the creation of quickly erectable and stable structures that could be used to build shelters for future Mars or Moon missions. Athanasiou emphasizes that this opens new horizons for the exploration of extraterrestrial territories, where every detail and speed of construction are crucial.
The future envisioned by researchers is one of creating an environment that not only minimizes harm to the environment but also promotes its preservation. Ecovoxels, with their high adaptability and resilience, could be not only a solution to the growing housing affordability crisis on Earth but also an important step toward sustainable construction beyond our planet.
Russian scientists have created self-healing solar panels for space. Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) scientists have created reliable solar panels for space that “self-heal” after exposure to background radiation, RAS President Gennady Krasnikov announced on Tuesday during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We’re expanding our constellation in space. They need energy, and silicon batteries are typically used… they’re expensive, but most importantly, they degrade under the influence of background radiation. Solar batteries, firstly, are cheaper, and secondly, they have the same efficiency as silicon batteries, 27%. But most importantly, they have self-healing mechanisms, a proven mechanism that heals damage caused by radiation. They’re more than 100 times more reliable,” Krasnikov said.
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As part of the European Space Agency’s First! initiative, CompPair, in collaboration with Com&Sens and CSEM, developed a new self-controlling and self-healing carbon fiber composite material. The Cassandra project demonstrated that Healtech materials can be heated in situ to repair cracks that may develop during operation. This technology is ideal for reusable spacecraft components.
Thanks to advanced composite technologies, self-healing spacecraft structures may soon be possible. Swiss companies CompPair and CSEM, along with the Belgian company Com&Sens, have joined forces with the European Space Agency (ESA) to modify their self-healing carbon fiber composite for use in space transportation, according to the ESA press service.
Cassandra demonstration panel in the ESA lab
The Cassandra project (short for Composite Autonomous SenSing AnD RepAir) incorporates sensors and a heating element embedded in a carbon composite material, allowing spacecraft to autonomously repair damage in the early stages.
Cassandra is part of ESA’s Future Innovation in Space Transport (FIRST!) initiative, which is identifying and testing innovative technologies that could benefit European space transport.
Cassandra Demonstration Diagram. ESA
Composite materials, such as carbon fiber-reinforced polymers, are increasingly used in spacecraft structures. They consist of a polymer matrix reinforced with layers of carbon or glass fiber. This creates a strong, lightweight material that is resistant to corrosion. However, composite materials are also susceptible to damage—especially if they undergo repeated flights to and from space—and small cracks can grow over time. Repairs can be costly and labor-intensive and can also weaken the structural integrity.
With this in mind, CompPair developed “HealTech”—a composite material capable of “self-healing.” When heated, the material activates a healing agent within it, which spreads out, repairing damage caused by impact or stress.
The composite prototype was created by integrating a network of fiber-optic sensors into resin-impregnated fibers developed by HealTech. The sensors accurately detect any damage to the structure. Once detected, the material is heated to 100–140°C through embedded 3D-printed aluminum meshes.
Infrared images of Cassandra’s recovery process on a test sample under heating. ESA
Tests were conducted on various material samples ranging in size from 2×10 cm to 40×40 cm. The tests focused on the effectiveness of damage monitoring, uniform heating, and self-healing properties. Thermal shock tests were also conducted to monitor the material’s response to typical cryogenic chamber conditions.
The next stage of testing will involve adapting the material to larger forms, such as an entire cryogenic fuel tank.
This material could reduce waste generated by space missions and is ideal for reusable launch vehicles. “Incorporating this technology into our systems could bring enormous benefits to space transportation,” says Bernard Decotigny of ESA. “It will help develop reusable space infrastructure and reduce mission costs. This truly demonstrates the potential of European innovation in the space sector.”
Cassandra Test Panel. ESA
CompPair CTO Robin Trigueira stated, “I’m excited about the benefits in autonomy and durability we can deliver for future spacecraft and launch vehicles, bridging the gap between science fiction and reality! This project is a significant step for CompPair in the space sector. HealTech opens up unprecedented technological possibilities for monitoring and managing the health of composite materials, clearly demonstrating the potential of self-healing composites to improve the cost-effectiveness of reusable space structures.”
CompPair’s Head of Research and Development, Cecilia Scazzoli, explains: “I’m thrilled to have demonstrated that HealTech composites with condition monitoring and heating systems offer autonomous damage detection and repair, as well as high microcrack resistance. This makes them suitable for the challenging requirements of fuel tanks and reusable space structures, and paves the way for the creation of lighter, easier-to-maintain spacecraft components.”
In this October 20, 2025, photo, tiny ball bearings surround a larger central bearing during a fluid particle experiment conducted inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) aboard the International Space Station’s Destiny Laboratory Module. The container, installed in the MSG and filled with a viscous fluid and embedded particles, is subjected to frequency oscillations to observe how the particles cluster and form larger structures in microgravity. The results of this research could lead to the development of firefighting methods, the reduction of lunar dust, and improved plant growth in space. On Earth, the data obtained could help understand pollen distribution, algal blooms, plastic pollution, and the transport of sea salt during storms. In addition to identifying potential benefits on Earth, research conducted aboard the space station helps in the development of long-term missions like Artemis and future human expeditions to Mars. NASA/Zena Cardman
Since 2000, NASA and its partners have used the orbiting laboratory to conduct groundbreaking research and collaborate to advance human exploration of the depths of our solar system. Research aboard the space station helped lay the foundation for the life support and safety systems of the Orion spacecraft, which will carry four astronauts around the moon during the Artemis II mission. These systems include radiation measurement equipment, carbon dioxide removal systems, a portable water-based fire extinguisher, emergency fire masks, a toilet, a heat exchanger, and a backup emergency navigation system.
NASA astronaut Jonny Kim photographs Earth landmarks from the dome of the International Space Station. NASA.
The Artemis II program also includes a number of scientific objectives, many of which build on research and methods developed aboard the space station. One example is the Spaceflight Standards experiment, which monitors psychological and physiological data. This study will aim to collect information on astronauts beyond low Earth orbit, furthering our understanding of how the body adapts to life and work away from Earth.
Organ chip experiments use small devices containing cells to simulate the response of tissues and organs to space stressors and therapeutic treatments. These devices and associated equipment have been used in several experiments aboard the space station and will continue their work in the lunar environment to study the impact of deep space stressors on human health using cells from Artemis II astronauts. Research using organ chips can be used to develop improved preventative measures and personalized treatments for people on Earth and in space.
(Left to right) Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency); Laural O’Hara and Jasmine Moghbeli, both of NASA; and Satoshi Furukawa of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) demonstrating active crew dosimeters used to monitor radiation. NASA
Methods proven through Earth observations conducted by the crew aboard the space station complement the lunar observations conducted by the Artemis II crew and the lunar imaging capabilities of handheld devices. The crew will analyze and photograph geological features of the lunar far side, providing critical information for surface exploration during the Artemis III program. Methodologies developed from Earth observations, including target planning, visualization software, and scripts, have been adapted for lunar observations, enabling the development of an operational plan and preparation for future exploration missions.
Small, energy-efficient satellites called CubeSats are launched from the Space Station and other spacecraft to test new technologies and conduct scientific research in low Earth orbit. Building on this success, NASA is collaborating with international agencies to launch CubeSats aboard the Artemis II mission to demonstrate technologies and conduct research in high Earth orbit.
This composite image shows the International Space Station passing over the Moon. NASA/Joel Kowski
The space station remains a critical testing ground for optimizing communications, robotics, and other technologies for missions to the Moon and Mars. Researchers are also studying the impact of spaceflight on humans, developing tools to monitor crew health, and improving plant growth to ensure the safety and well-being of astronauts.
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