Interactive Space Terrain: Building NASA-Derived Topography Puzzles

Through this project, planetary geology is brought to life through 3D-printed puzzles created from actual NASA topography data. I produced extremely accurate models of the South Pole–Aitken Basin, one of the oldest and deepest impact craters on the Moon, and Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system, using data from NASA Trek and Moon2STL.

I used Fusion 360 to create unique puzzle outlines that split each landscape into interlocking pieces after transforming the topographic data into editable models. This allows you to examine the features and elevations of these planetary surfaces up close, in addition to making the models enjoyable to assemble.

A Bambu P1S was used to print the puzzles, and the fine relief and texture of the landscape were beautifully captured. These models provide a fresh perspective on the wonders of our solar system, regardless of your interests in space exploration, puzzles, or just hands-on learning.

Note: This qualifies for the student judges prize. I am a currently enrolled High School student in Alberta, Canada, who just got accepted to the University of Alberta Engineering Program.

Website for topography data:

1. https://trek.nasa.gov/#related-links
2. https://jthatch.com/Moon2STL/

Website for puzzle generator:

1. https://draradech.github.io/jigsaw/jigsaw.html

Any version of Fusion 360

To start, choose a planetary region you’d like to turn into a puzzle. Great sources for accurate, high-resolution terrain data include NASA Trek and Moon2STL.

When downloading your model:

1. Set the height exaggeration to its maximum — this enhances the terrain relief so elevation changes print clearly.
2. For NASA Trek, adjust the resolution setting from 400 to 200 to balance surface detail with manageable file size.

Once you have your terrain model (usually an .STL or .OBJ), you’ll need a matching puzzle outline to overlay later in Fusion 360.

Go to this jigsaw puzzle generator and input your desired dimensions.

For my puzzles, I used a 5×5 grid sized at approximately 10 cm × 10 cm. You can experiment with the number of pieces depending on how complex you want the final puzzle to be — fewer pieces for a clean, display-friendly look, or more for an extra challenge.

Open Fusion 360 and create a new design. To bring in your terrain model, go to the Insert tab and select Insert Mesh. Choose the .STL or .OBJ file you downloaded from NASA Trek or Moon2STL.

When positioning your mesh:

1. Make sure it’s centred on the origin — this will make later steps like sketch alignment and splitting much easier.
2. If the mesh imports at an unexpected scale, use the Scale tool under the Modify tab to resize it to your desired puzzle dimensions (for example, 100 mm × 100 mm).

Next, it’s time to bring your puzzle outline into Fusion 360. Go to the Insert tab again and choose Insert SVG. Select the puzzle file you generated earlier and place it on the same plane as your terrain mesh.

Once imported, copy and paste the SVG directly in the workspace. This converts it into a fully editable sketch, allowing you to modify or reposition the puzzle lines as needed.

Now, align the sketch with the bottom face of your terrain mesh. It doesn’t have to be a perfect fit — just make sure the puzzle area covers the key features you want to include in the final print (for example, the caldera of Olympus Mons or the rim of the South Pole–Aitken Basin).

Before cutting the terrain into puzzle pieces, it’s important to add a slight tolerance between each piece. This ensures that the puzzle fits together smoothly once printed.

To do this, open your puzzle sketch and use the Offset tool (found under the Sketch → Modify menu). Select each puzzle outline and offset it inward slightly to create space between adjacent pieces.

This step can be time-consuming, as every piece needs to be adjusted individually — but it makes a big difference in the final assembly.

1. For my models, I used an offset of 0.3 mm, which resulted in pieces that fit a bit loosely.
2. A tighter fit can be achieved with an offset between 0.1 mm and 0.3 mm, depending on your printer’s precision and calibration.

Take your time here — consistent offsets across all pieces will make the finished puzzle look professional and align accurately with the terrain surface.

Before you can cut or extrude your puzzle pieces, the imported terrain mesh must be converted into a solid body that Fusion 360 can edit.

To do this, switch to the Mesh workspace and select your terrain. Then use:

Modify → Convert Mesh.

In the dialogue box:

1. Set the operation type to Parametric, so it stays linked in your timeline.

Once the conversion is complete, the mesh becomes a fully editable solid body. You can now use it in operations like extrude → intersect to carve out your puzzle pieces in the next step.

With your puzzle outlines finalized, it’s time to start turning them into 3D terrain pieces.

Begin by selecting each face of the puzzle sketch individually. Then, open the Solid tab and choose Extrude.

When extruding:

1. Set the operation type to Intersect — this is critical. It ensures that each extrusion only keeps the part of the terrain that falls within that specific puzzle piece outline.
2. Extrude upward past the highest point of your terrain model to guarantee that the entire height of the landscape is captured in the final geometry.

Once each piece has been extruded and intersected with the mesh, you’ll have clean, separate 3D puzzle pieces that retain all the topographic detail of your chosen planetary surface.

If you plan to create more terrain puzzles in the future, you can save time by exporting your puzzle outline for reuse.

Once you’ve finished editing and applying offsets to your sketch, right-click the puzzle sketch in the Browser panel and select Save as DXF. This will export the sketch as a 2D vector file that can be imported into new Fusion 360 projects.

By reusing this DXF file, you can quickly apply the same puzzle layout to different terrain models without having to redo all the offset and alignment work — especially helpful if you want to create a series of planetary puzzles using the same grid design.

Now comes the moment you’ve been waiting for—making your terrain puzzle!

Export your project as a .stl or .obj file and then upload it into your slicer program to print!