Space architecture
[7] Any structures that fly in space will likely remain for some time highly dependent on Earth-based infrastructure and personnel for financing, development, construction, launch, and operation.In this story several details of the mission (crew of three, spacecraft dimensions, Florida launch site) bear striking similarity to the Apollo Moon landings that took place more than 100 years later.Verne's aluminum capsule had shelves stocked with equipment needed for the journey such as a collapsing telescope, pickaxes and shovels, firearms, oxygen generators, and even trees to plant.[8] The projectile was shaped like a bullet because it was gun-launched from the ground, a method infeasible for transporting man to space due to the high acceleration forces produced.Expanding room for movement, physical exercise regimens, sanitation facilities, improved food quality, and recreational activities all accompanied longer mission durations.Architectural involvement in space was realized in 1968 when a group of architects and industrial designers led by Raymond Loewy, over objections from engineers, prevailed in convincing NASA to include an observation window in the Skylab orbital laboratory.[14] For example, humans have lived in submarines deep in the ocean, in bunkers beneath the Earth's surface, and on Antarctica, and have safely entered burning buildings, radioactively contaminated zones, and the stratosphere with the help of technology.The project aims to create conditions as similar as possible to a real Mars mission and attempts to establish ideal crew size, test equipment "in the field", and determine the best extra-vehicular activity suits and procedures.This problem is not unlike that faced in remote research stations or military tours of duty, although non-standard gravity conditions can exacerbate feelings of unfamiliarity and homesickness.Furthermore, confinement in limited and unchanging physical spaces appears to magnify interpersonal tensions in small crews and contribute to other negative psychological effects.[18] These stresses can be mitigated by establishing regular contact with family and friends on Earth, maintaining health, incorporating recreational activities, and bringing along familiar items such as photographs and green plants.[19] The importance of these psychological measures can be appreciated in the 1968 Soviet 'DLB Lunar Base' design: ...it was planned that the units on the Moon would have a false window, showing scenes of the Earth countryside that would change to correspond with the season back in Moscow.As a solution, flexible furniture (collapsible tables, curtains on rails, deployable beds) can be used to transform interiors for different functions and change the partitioning between private and group space.Therefore, structural considerations for the orbital environment are dramatically different from those of terrestrial buildings, and the biggest challenge to holding a space station together is usually launching and assembling the components intact.The inability to fall back on the safety of the ISS during the latest Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission (because of different orbital inclinations) was the reason a backup shuttle was summoned to the launch pad.Bigelow Aerospace took the unique step in securing two patents NASA held from development of the Transhab concept in regard to inflatable space structures.[40] Bigelow Aerospace may choose to launch many of their modules independently, leasing their use to a wide variety of companies, organizations, and countries that can't afford their own space programs.Five Apollo Lunar Module descent stages stand upright in various locations across the equatorial region of the Near Side, hinting at the extraterrestrial endeavors of mankind.While the Altair and surface systems would have been equally necessary for Constellation program to reach fruition, the focus was on developing the Orion spacecraft to shorten the gap in U.S. access to orbit following the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2010.There were even designs for small "boats" to shuttle crew and supplies between ships during the cruise to the Red Planet, which was to follow a minimum-energy Hohmann transfer trajectory.This mission plan would involve one-way transit times on the order of eight months and a long stay at Mars, creating the need for long-term living accommodations in space.In every serious study of what it would take to land humans on Mars, keep them alive, and then return them to Earth, the total mass required for the mission is simply stunning.The problem lies in that to launch the amount of consumables (oxygen, food and water) even a small crew would go through during a multi-year Mars mission, it would take a very large rocket with the vast majority of its own mass being propellant.Using hydrogen imported from Earth and carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere, the Sabatier reaction can be used to manufacture methane (for rocket propellant) and water (for drinking and for oxygen production through electrolysis).Before a human was sent, robotic spacecraft mapped the lunar surface, proved the feasibility of soft landings, filmed the terrain up close with television cameras, and scooped and analysed the soil.[57] A robotic exploration mission is generally designed to carry a wide variety of scientific instruments, ranging from cameras sensitive to particular wavelengths, telescopes, spectrometers, radar devices, accelerometers, radiometers, and particle detectors to name a few.Under the historical model of government-orchestrated exploration missions initiated by single political administrations, space structures are likely to be limited to small-scale habitats and orbital modules with design life cycles of only several years or decades.Whether exploding nuclear weapons or diversion of mass is used, a sizable human crew may need to be sent into space for many months if not years to accomplish this mission.Perhaps one day a fleet of robotic spacecraft will orbit close to the Sun, monitoring solar activity and sending precious minutes of warning before waves of dangerous particles arrive at inhabited regions of space.Perhaps after gaining experience with routine spaceflight by exploring different worlds in the Solar System and deflecting a few asteroids, the possibility of constructing non-modular space habitats and infrastructure will be within capability.
Spaceflight mission architectureSpace Station FreedomInternational Space Stationinhabited environmentsouter spaceAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES)International Astronautical Congress (IAC)American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)Space RaceRoscosmosspace tourismspacecraft designarchitectureengineeringaerospace engineeringindustrial designphysiologypsychologysociologySasakawa International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA)University of HoustonVienna University of Technology (TU Wien)International Space UniversityTU WienMiddle EnglishapheticOld FrenchMiddle Frenchspacecraft engineeringscience fictionFrom the Earth to the MoonApollo Moon landingsgun-launchedrocketryWernher von BraunKonstantin Tsiolkovskyspace elevatorartificial gravityairlocksextra-vehicular activityspinning space stationCollier's WeeklyYuri Gagarinspaceflightlow Earth orbitSkylabarchitectural theoryArchitectural design valuesLouis SullivanVitruviusDe Architecturaornamentform follows functionmodern architectureVitruvian triadWalter GropiusFunctionalismorganicallyMars Desert Research Stationextreme environmentsAntarcticastratosphereAerial refuelingAir Force Oneelectrolysislife support systemsFlashline Mars Arctic Research StationMars SocietyDevon IslandmicrogravitysimulatorNeutral Buoyancy Laboratorystresslaunch vehiclesEugène Viollet-le-Ducspace environmentcorrosionCarbon-fibercomposite materialstruth to materialsSpace Shuttlerobotic armgravitational fieldspace agencyflight controllerscontracted-outsubcontractorsacademiaresearch fundingboundary of spacesuborbitalspaceplanesbusiness jetsSpaceShipOneSpaceShipTwoVirgin GalacticMike MelvillScaled CompositesB-29 SuperfortressWhiteKnightTwoapogeeaerospace architecturerocket motorastronomical objectSoyuz spacecraftShenzhou spacecraftMir space stationApollo spacecraftcosmicorbital debrisatmospheric reentryIntegrated Truss StructureColumbus modulespace foodProgressWaste managementemergencyHubble Space Telescopeinclinationsneutral body postureTransHabBA 330Bigelow AerospaceGenesis IGenesis II