On Wednesday, the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association announced that the Rosenberg Moon Habitat from Ingersoll Machine Tools, Inc. in Rockford is the winner of their fourth annual Makers Madness contest. With more than 300,000 votes cast over the course of the eight-week competition, the Rosenberg Moon Habitat was awarded this year’s title of “The Coolest Thing Made in Illinois.”
The Rosenberg Moon Habitat is a 3D printed polymer structure designed to be carried on a SpaceX Starship and then constructed on the moon to house a crew of two people. Manufactured in collaboration with the Institut auf dem Rosenberg in Switzerland, this structure is the world’s tallest single-piece 3D printed polymer structure at 23 feet tall, but is only 5 millimeters thick.
As the winner of the contest, the Rosenberg Moon Habitat beat out more than 250 other products during the course of the bracket-style tournament.