Utopia Talk / Politics / NASA's moon-orbiting space station

murder Member	Sun Jan 08 20:20:41 NASA's moon-orbiting space station will be claustrophobic, architect says Living quarters of NASA's moon orbiting Gateway station will be so tiny that astronauts will not be able to stand upright inside, an architect involved in the station's design said.  NASA and its international partners plan to begin construction of the Gateway station in the moon's orbit in the next couple of years. When complete near the end of the decade, the space lab will be about one sixth of the size of the International Space Station (ISS), featuring two habitation modules that will force crew members to all but forgo personal space.  "The International Habitation module will have habitable space of about 8 cubic meters [280 cubic feet] and you will have to share it with three others," René Waclavicek, a space architect and design researcher at Austria-based LIQUIFER Space Systems, said at the Czech Space Week conference in Brno (opens in new tab), the Czech Republic, on Nov. 30, 2022. "In other words, that would be a room 2 by 2 by 2 meters [6.6 by 6.6 by 6.6 feet]. And you are locked in there. There are other rooms but they are not bigger and there are not many of them." Waclavicek was involved in the design phase of the Europe-built International Habitation module (opens in new tab), or I-Hab, which is one of Gateway's two habitable elements, essentially bed rooms combined with lab space (the other being the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (opens in new tab), HALO, developed by Northrop Grumman in the U.S.).  When working on the design, the architects had to bow down to practical demands dictated by the nature of the project, Waclavicek said. Their initial hopes for larger modules, offering a more generous volume of habitable space akin to that available at the International Space Station, had to be abandoned due to the impossibility of launching massive components to the moon.  "We started off in the first phase with a cylinder with outer dimensions similar to what we know from the ISS," Waclavicek said. "That's about 4.5 m [15 feet] in diameter and 6 m [20 feet] long. But due to mass restrictions, we had to shrink it down to 3 m [10 feet] in outer dimensions. And that left us with an interior cross section of only 1.2 m by 1.2 m [4 feet by 4 feet]. Most of the internal volume is consumed by machinery, so it's essentially just a corridor, where you have to turn 90 degrees if you want to stretch out." The International Space Station, with its 7.2 by 7.2 feet-wide (2.2 by 2.2 m) interiors, where astronauts could even perform space gymnastics routines, offers a luxury experience compared to what awaits moon explorers on Gateway.  "[The I-Hab] really is just a cylinder with a hatch on each end and two hatches at the sides and a corridor going through the length axis," Waclavicek said. "Even if you want to pass one another, it's already quite difficult, you have to interrupt whatever you are doing in the moment to let the other fellow pass by you." Somehow, the architects managed to incorporate about 53 cubic feet (1.5 cubic m) of private space protected by closing doors for each crew member living inside the i-Hab. But the experience of staying aboard the Gateway will be challenging for more reasons than the cramped living quarters alone. As Waclavicek said, most of the module will be occupied by noisy and vibrating life-support technology, the constant hum of which will likely badly grate on the nerves of most mere mortals.  "Actually, you are living in a machine room," Waclavicek said. "The life-support systems make noise, they have a lot of fans, and you have only 1.5 cubic m of private space where you can close the door and tame the noise." The architects explored ways to ease the pressure on the crew and make the experience of staying aboard the Gateway more enjoyable, but they kept hitting technical limits, including those of launch vehicles available to send the module to its destination. "We always get asked "where is the window?" Waclavicek said. "At the International Space Station, the most popular place where astronauts spend every free minute is the window. But there are technical problems associated with it. The moon is a thousand times farther away [than the ISS] and each window is a disturbance in the continuity of the structure. Also, glass is very heavy so a window is the first thing that gets canceled." There will, however, be smaller windows on the Gateway, located in the refueling module ESPRIT, which will also be built in Europe.  While the American HALO module may be launched as early as 2024, I-Hab's journey to the moon is not expected before 2027. Currently, Waclawicek said, the team is working on the Critical Design Review, an important milestone before hardware manufacturing can commence, and has started building a real-size mockup for testing human interaction with the habitat environment. http://www...-claustrophobic-architect-says
Sam Adams Member	Sun Jan 08 22:28:18 "space station will be claustrophobic" Lol duh.
Seb Member	Mon Jan 09 08:07:56 Sounds horrible! What happened to those inflatable habitats Bigelow space were promoting?
TheChildren Member	Mon Jan 09 09:54:59 hbututbutbutbut china station so tinyyyy we have da iss, soooo big and now u have da tiniest...if u can pull it off at all lol hahaha
TheChildren Member	Mon Jan 09 09:55:25 othar countries should 4get ur country and come partner with china hahaha
Rugian Member	Mon Jan 09 10:54:44 If Elon was designing this the quarters would be 2,800 cubic feet.
TheChildren Member	Mon Jan 09 11:22:14 and lightnin bolts be shootin from his arse and u wuld have space clubs and movie theatres 4 da crew 2 boogie on friday night and they wuld have da bars and chef 2 cook da 5 star michelin meals my nigga. buhahaha dream on.
TheChildren Member	Mon Jan 09 12:41:36 this is wonderful news! rejoice yankeez. ""Actually, you are living in a machine room," Waclavicek said. "The life-support systems make noise, they have a lot of fans, and you have only 1.5 cubic m of private space where you can close the door and tame the noise." " fk yea! private space is overrated anyway. now imagine sleepin and facin 6 months in a fkin machine room with da engines on 24/7 owned owned owned onwddd!!
murder Member	Mon Jan 09 14:56:14 "If Elon was designing this the quarters would be 2,800 cubic feet." Nope. They'd be working 24/7, so what would they need private space for?
obaminated Member	Mon Jan 09 15:05:32 Well. 24/7 is excessive but I doubt they'll have much more to do but work while orbiting the moon.
murder Member	Mon Jan 09 17:26:09 "What happened to those inflatable habitats Bigelow space were promoting?" That's what I was wondering.
murder Member	Mon Jan 09 17:27:32 "Well. 24/7 is excessive but I doubt they'll have much more to do but work while orbiting the moon." Work and near real-time videophone sex.
Habebe Member	Mon Jan 09 17:31:02 "Nope. They'd be working 24/7, so what would they need private space for?" Didn't radicals from California just bitch and complain that Elon was forbidden to offer personal accommodations of private space at Twitter?
TheChildren Member	Tue Jan 10 02:04:04 hello yankeez, rejoice! u get 2 live in a machine room with da engines and fans and shit rollin 24/7 private space is da overrated anyway. ull get permanent light and sound show! lmao eat sleep and rest and enjoy da awesome lights and sounds. woohoo. u win. owned owned owned
TheChildren Member	Tue Jan 10 07:11:03 ""Actually, you are living in a machine room," Waclavicek said. "The life-support systems make noise, they have a lot of fans, and you have only 1.5 cubic m of private space where you can close the door and tame the noise." " >> ah yes, misses this gem. 1.5 meters eh...so it basically a closet! hahaha harrypotter style baby.
TheChildren Member	Wed Jan 11 03:19:53 get ur broomcloset ready kids! ur new reality! sleepin and livin in a machine room with ur broom closet. im sure inside ur broomcloset, da noise and lights will all be reduced significantly so u can get 4-5 hours of da sleep every night! and at 1.5 meters, u will be sleepin standin i supposed. da finest luxuries awaits u! just think of da starz. owned owned owned
TheChildren Member	Wed Jan 11 04:10:30 ""Actually, you are living in a machine room," Waclavicek said." >> revenge of da russian! owned pwned pwned yankeez
TheChildren Member	Wed Jan 11 08:56:52 wageslave work and sleep exactly da same place, every bosses dream right there! minimal time for commute, bitches u was born 2 do this shit. 4 country and glory
murder Member	Wed Jan 11 14:16:43 Have you though about going outside once in a while? Fresh air will do you good.
TheChildren Member	Wed Jan 11 14:28:14 yes! touch some grass, so u know this is reality 4 u. this is real bitches. broomcloset in da machine room. owned owned owned
murder Member	Wed Jan 11 14:33:46 Yes, touch some grass. That won't be an option for those astronauts. Though I imagine that spacewalks will be the number one form of recreation whether anything needs fixing or not. I fact I wouldn't be surprised if most of the astronauts spend all day clinging to the outside of the space station like some Indians hanging on the outside of a bus.
murder Member	Thu Feb 02 00:12:35 "What happened to those inflatable habitats Bigelow space were promoting?" Someone is still working on them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCOHbybFgLo
kargen Member	Thu Feb 02 01:24:15 Can't they stay in the hotel across the street from the studio like they did when they filmed the "moon landing"?
TheChildren Member	Thu Feb 02 01:24:15 broom closets r ur reality! behold! superior engeneerin at work!
Seb Member	Thu Feb 02 08:02:36 Wow that's some awesome videos! Thanks. I'm honestly surprised SpaceX hasn't acquired them if they are serious about Mars. But maybe not worth until they get the starship working.
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