The idea of living off-planet is not a new one--from science fiction depictions of setting up bases on distant solar systems, we are now actually far closer to being able to set up habitable structures on extraterrestrial locations: the Moon, for example.

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According to NASA scientists, it may be entirely possible to set up a base on the Moon as early as 2020. Doing so would serve to be an ideal starting point for exploring the feasibility of traveling farther out--to Mars for example--and setting up habitations there.

While addressing the numerous challenges associated with living on a foreign planet, building a habitable structure is, of course, of paramount importance. However, the biggest hurdle is that of transporting construction materials--structural material, electrical fittings and wiring, piping and the like.

"Most of the ideas for buildings on other planets are based on taking stuff from earth and assembling stuff there," said Behrokh Khoshnevis, a professor of engineering at the University of Southern California, in an interview with Tech Insider. "Even taking one pound of material from here to the moon is about $100,000...it's ridiculously expensive to think about building infrastructure and habitats over there."

Khoshnevis has invented a method that may just address this challenge. This building approach is known as Contour Crafting, and it aims to simplify building structures on other planets. The system works by using a giant robot to layer concrete to build houses--effectively 3D printing an entire structure, including ducting for power, plumbing etc.

The project is currently in Phase II of a $500,000 (approximately Rs 3.35 crore,) two-year study, and while there isn’t any available timeline for when this 3D printing method will actually be deployed in space, it’s a solution that could enable building shelters on other planets quickly and at comparatively low cost.