AENARA introduces Off-World Habitat Wall Section, a commissioned Mars habitat concept, at the new Powerhouse Parramatta museum. The Wall Section installation is exhibited within Task Eternal, the world’s largest aerospace exhibition, opening 7 November 2026. AENARA’s commissioned structure exposes the architecture, materials, utilities, and technologies anticipated for a Mars habitat in the year 2075, making visible the systems required for a safe and habitable environment beyond Earth.

By cutting through the habitat's walls, the installation reveals how a future habitat's protective structure and life-support systems work together. Beginning as a NASA-endorsed study, AENARA’s commission integrates 3D-printed structural shells, an inflatable membrane, thermal insulation and systems for power, data, water and air circulation. 

"I find it imperative that we design surface habitat environments that are as Earth-like as possible, while being transparent about the inherent risks of living within a fundamentally hostile spaceflight environment, as far away from home as possible," said Melodie Yashar, founder of AENARA.

Alongside safety and technical performance, AENARA's habitat concept considers how architecture could support health and well-being during a long-duration mission. Natural light, large windows and an interior environment that feels as familiar and Earth-like as possible are central to the proposal.

In the museum, visitors will encounter a sectional cut through the 2075 Mars habitat concept developed as part of a year-long feasibility study by AENARA, NASA collaborators, industry, and university partners. The study investigated how to autonomously build habitats and civil infrastructure using only local materials in a future Mars mission. The study concluded with a concept of operations for landing, deploying, and using in situ technologies for manufacturing oxygen, water, and sulfur concrete for construction. 

As NASA begins planning and procurement for a future Moon base this decade, projects that put off-world construction concepts into practice reveal just how far we have to go before far-out visions of extraterrestrial living become reality. AENARA's project brings into sharper focus the social, ethical, and geopolitical pressures of realizing off-world infrastructure and construction responsibly. 

Future habitats will need to be built with limited labor and infrastructure, making in-situ resources and robotic construction essential. AENARA's ongoing research considers how these same technologies could contribute to new ways of building on Earth.