MoonDAO Makerspace at Vitalia

DAOs are trustless governance systems which are able to distribute decision making across  various members. They’re governed by code instead of hierarchy and with most anyone who holds a token, holds the opportunity to vote. 

Amongst the coolest of DAO's is MoonDAO, AKA the internet's space program. The philosophy is that space belongs to all of us and aspires to accelerate the development of a self sustaining self governing settlement on the Moon. 

A lot of the ways they’re innovating is related to their system of governance which really deserves a talk all of its own. Far flashier is their Astronaut training program where you can ride in one of those training planes which fly in parabolic arcs creating weightlessness alongside NASA astronauts. MoonDAO working with Blue Horizons has even sent a number of it's members into space. 

Another MoonDAO initiative is supporting research and development to make a sustainable colony and this is how I came to know about them. We spoke with MoonDAO in January of this year during the beginning of Vitalia and they could see the potential here. Vitalia really is a hotbed of brilliant people. The problem with traditional conventions is that no matter how many awesome people you gather without adequate equipment and space it’s just going to remain talk. Many relationships and projects are able to find traction after folk get home, but it’s so much better to capture that enthusiasm immediately. Vitalia needed a lab and a makerspace. 

MoonDAO reached out to us and hand-held us through the proposal resulting in the MoonDAO Makerspace at Vitalia. The makerspace coexisted with our Biohacking Lab and was really central to the Vitalia experience. I want to share some of the many projects that couldn’t have happened without MoonDAO’s help.  So why would MoonDAO support us? I think one of the more memorable technologies that come out of the Star Trek franchise has to be the replicators. No matter how much we improve thrust-to-weight ratios, we’re still going to be limited in what we can bring with us into the final frontier. Technologies related to rapid and efficient fabrication are vital to space exploration and colonization. No matter how comprehensive we try to make our space station tool shop, it’s going to be that pentalobe bit we left back home that we end up needing. 

This is similar to how I felt that first month in Roatan. There were so many potential projects that were obstructed because we were missing some basic but unobtainable supply or piece of equipment. We’ve since gotten a lot more of our lab shipped over but being on an island, this remains a concern. One solution is additive manufacturing such as through 3d printing. Instead of trying to make a comprehensive tool kit, we can reform materials into the perfect tool for the job each time. MoonDAO supports us because it enables the Vitalia community to do the cool science we’re already going to do, in an environment where the 3 weeks for shipping makes us as isolated from tooling as a mission to the moon. Now the shipping issues are in the midst of being resolved. There’s even a new drone landing pad atop the Duna building; however, Roatan is an island of futurists and a perfect opportunity to apply and demonstrate new technologies to provide everything from basic needs to advanced medtech interventions. 

Life.SI is a company out of Argentina that specializes in the manufacture of 3d Bioprinters and is doing pioneering work in personalized pharmaceutical testing. It’s mind blowing stuff. Adi was literally printing organ scaffolds in my lab. Their printers have multiple heads allowing for many different mediums and we’re collaborating on new implant designs where we’ll be able to culture and grow your own cells into the implant itself prior to placement. The biggest obstruction to direct BCI is access to the brain. The CNS is just so delicate and any holes we make through the barrier represent immense risk but using chemotaxic agents we think we’ll be able to get the nervous tissue to come to us. Adi was able to demonstrate his tech and even teach classes to Vitalian regarding 3d bioprinting due to the help of MoonDAO. 

Another cool project was driven by my friend Anton Kulaga and jewelry designer Livia Zaharia. They created a number of cool rings which were then custom sized for each Vitalian. There was a lot of interest and we’ve purchased a number of new materials to work with and in the future we’re going to incorporate lights and tech to functionalize the jewelry. 

There were just a ton of applications for the Makerspace. The equipment was constantly running. Sometimes it was new knobs for a stove or some clever little adaptor someone needed. Kyle from Ixian started an entire art project based on mathematical ratios and I can’t wait to see the larger final piece. The makerspace was a major piece of what made Vitalia so cool. 

The most important project however is one which we haven’t yet completed but I think will make a real difference in the lives of the people around us. We want to make custom prosthetics for those on the island and Honduras missing limbs. It’s a serious issue here. Lack of access to medical care and prosthetics relegates many to poverty. We’re fortunate that we’re far from being the first to want to do this. Organizations such as Enable and Limbitless have been using 3d printing to change peoples lives for years. I’ll share more as we progress but we’re hoping to act as a node to these preexisting networks of people who volunteer to print limbs for those in need. It can really make a difference to people living here in our community. We've already scanned our first patients and now that we're back on the island we'll start fabrication shortly. 

So MoonDAO is pretty cool. They have a clear vision of what they want. They’re doing all the crazy cool stuff like flying their members to space. But at the same time, they’re supporting and funding projects to benefit even the most marginalized. I’m proud to be working with MoonDAO and I look forward to further collaborations. 

So what’s next? Well, we just moved into our new labspace and we’re figuring out what the next iteration of the MoonDAO makerspace will take. For now, we’ll be offering access to 3d printers, injection molding equipment and a ton of electronics engineering tools. We’re looking for a place where we can create a more permanent makerspace and incorporate a wider selection of tools. So much growth is happening out here right now and if anything, the demand for a good makerspace is higher than ever. We’re happy to be a part of this journey.