[meteorite-list] NASA Tests a Versatile Habitat for Long-Term Missions

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2011 14:11:43 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201110042111.p94LBhxX003159_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/38733/

NASA Tests a Versatile Habitat for Long-Term Missions
By Katharine Gammon
Technology Review (MIT)
October 4, 2011

The partially inflatable habitat could be adapted for use on the moon or
Mars, or for deep space itself.

Despite recent cuts to its manned space program, NASA continues to
research ways that astronauts might live safely in space during
prolonged missions. The agency recently completed tests of a prototype
astronaut habitation unit in the rugged, barren, almost-Martian
landscape of the Arizona desert. The habitat could be tested in space
within a decade, and might one day serve as a home away from home for
astronauts on the moon or Mars.

The tests, completed last month, included sending in crews for overnight
stays, and running simulations of work that would be done in a single day.

The current prototype housing unit has a hard cylindrical shell,
contains four rooms, two outside additions for dust mitigation and
hygiene, and an inflatable component that adds a second level for
sleeping and relaxing.

The inflatable loft design was part of a university competition called
XHab <http://www.spacegrant.org/xhab/2011>. The researchers explain that
a final design could be fully inflated, or could have a small hard shell
inside an inflated exterior. Hard shells, while heavier to transport,
are better at blocking dangerous radiation from space.

Inflatable space habitats have been a popular idea since the 1970s, but
the new project is the most advanced to date. Inflatable units are a
typical option because they offer a lot of volume for the weight of
materials, so the cost of getting the housing to space is lower.

The team also tested a prototype robot that could explore the surface of
Mars and be controlled by an astronaut from inside the habitation.

"It changes things if you're running that robot in close proximity,
versus trying to operate it from Earth with a 50-second time delay,"
says Kriss Kennedy, project manager of the Habitat Demonstration Unit
project. <http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/hdu_team.html> The
results were presented this week at the American Institute for
Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Space 2011 conference in Long Beach,
California.

The habitation system uses embedded sensors to reduce the need for
checkups by crew and ground control. "We are infusing more technologies
so that crew wouldn't have to repair the unit if there were a problem.
Inside the unit, the electronics can be controlled by iPads and iPhones,
allowing the crew to adjust the lights and temperature.

Deep space missions are inherently risky. Radiation from galactic cosmic
rays, which can cause cancer, and from solar flares, which can cause
quick death, is a serious issue for long-term space habitation. Cargo
bags, used to carry loads up to space, could used to change urine into
water via a purification technique called forward osmosis and then help
pad the walls with water to protect the crew inside.

The unit could be adapted for missions to the moon, Mars, an asteroid,
or simply as a free-flying habitat in space. "Different missions require
different sizes of habitation," says Tracy Gill, who works within the
Space Station Utilization Division at NASA's Kennedy Space Center,
because of the different items needed onboard. Within 10 years, the team
plans to have a demonstration unit either flying in space or attached to
the International Space Station.

Flying habitats need to be easy to repair, says Jeffrey Hoffman,
a former astronaut and professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT.
"Unlike the International Space Station, it won't be possible to send up
replacement parts, so local materials will be key," he says.

Daniel Lester, an astronomer at the University of Texas at Austin, says a
habitation like the one NASA is testing could be a useful place to house a crew
servicing space telescopes, or assembling spacecraft to travel to
farther-off places like Mars.
Received on Tue 04 Oct 2011 05:11:43 PM PDT