FYI,

Lessons learned from past proposed domed city.


"Doomed Dome: The Future That Never Was"
H+ Magazine
http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/politics/doomed-dome-future-never-was

In the bright and shiny future, we all live in green, gleaming communities,
monorailed shuttles at the ready, climate-controlled at all times -- a sort of
Logan's Run, but without the forced euthanasia. It almost happened in, of all
places, an old mill town in northern Vermont.

Winooski and its 7,000 people lie just north of Burlington, Vermont and next to
Lake Champlain. The name means "wild onion" in the language of the Abenaki
Indians, for the plants that grew along the river of the same name, whose rapids
powered the mills that sustained the town for decades. But by the 1960s the
mills had lost to modern technologies, and Winooski became a kind of poor and
overshadowed cousin to its progressive (some said socialist) neighbor.

Vermont, the saying goes, is nine months of winter and three months of bad
skiing. Winooski's January lows are -20 Fahrenheit or lower, and winters see 75
or more inches of snow. Residents shovel the stuff for months, and then unshovel
it in the spring, spreading the high piles across their driveways to encourage
melting. Getting from your car to the store can at times feel like the Iditarod.

In the late 1970s the U.S was in its second energy crisis of the decade and
roiled by double-digit inflation. Oil was at a then-shocking $38 a barrel ($107
in today's dollars), having risen eightfold in the previous ten years, and Jimmy
Carter went on television in a Cardigan sweater to urge Americans to turn down
their thermostats. Few towns were hurting more than frigid Winooski, whose
residents spent about $4 million a year to stay thawed.

One night in 1979 a group of its creative young city planners went to dinner and
Mark Tigan, then the city's 32-year-old director of community development and
planning, decided that not enough attention was being paid to energy
conservation. Then, in the way that only a few glasses of wine can facilitate
brainstorming, someone said, half tongue-in-cheek, they should put a dome over
the city.

The next morning it still seemed like a good idea -- or, at least, not
necessarily completely absurd.

At the time, Winooski was second in the amount of federal money received per
capita, and was favored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development as a
place to pilot new ideas. Tigan had his staff prepare a white paper on the dome.
They wrote that a one square mile dome would reduce resident's heating bills by
up to 90 percent. Tigan presented the idea to the city council.

Clem Bissonette, then on Winnoski's city council and now its ex-mayor, asked
Tigan, "Are you nuts?" But when Tigan explained it could mean millions in HUD
money, Bissonette and the rest of the city council quickly signed on, and a
young reporter named Jodie Peck who was covering the meeting wrote about it for
the next day's Burlington paper.

The following morning, Tigan recalls, three satellite trucks were parked in
front of city hall, and within days the town was receiving 20 bags of mail a day
from enthusiasts all around the world. Companies were calling, wanting to build
the Winooski Dome.

The city's request for $55,000 for a feasibility study went to Washington, and
enthusiasts pushed it up through channels. A deputy assistant secretary at HUD
named Bob Embrey said he would fund it.

"I didn't hear one organized voice against it," said Tigan. "The Woodchucks
loved it," he said, referring to the city's long-time French-Canadian residents,
"since it meant that they'd never have to shovel snow again. They thought of it
as their little piece of Tampa Bay."

Naturally the media was full of questions, and Tigan and his staff had few real
answers. Basically, he says, they made it up on the fly. "They asked how high it
would be, and we said 250 feet, so it wouldn't block planes but clear the town's
highest building (eleven stories). Would it be clear or opaque? `Of course
you'll be able to see through it,' we said. What about automobile exhaust? `Oh,
we'll have electric cars or monorails inside.' By the time the media was done
constructing it, we had a picture in place."

Tigan contracted with John Anderson, a Vermont conceptual architect, to produce
drawings of the Dome. Anderson's vision was not a hemispheric shape, but more
like the top half of a hamburger bun. He colored it whiteish yellow and eschewed
any inside support structures.

Anderson's picture was the first tangible view of the Dome. Thinking ahead, he
envisioned a vinyl-like material attached over a network of metal cables,
ranging from transparent (on the southern side, to allow in sunlight) to opaque
on the northern side. Air would be brought inside by large fans and heated or
cooled as necessary. The Dome would be held up by air pressure just slightly
above atmospheric pressure. Entrances and exits would consist of double doors,
akin to an airlock. The homes inside would require no individual heating or
cooling -- "you could grow tomatoes all year-round" he said. If the Dome were
punctured it would come down slowly, allowing for ample warning. Anderson now
recalls it as a "totally fun" project, though he did occasionally get insulted
in restaurants by some local residents. "What will happen to our children?" they
asked.

Enthusiasts organized an International Dome Symposium, held in March 1980.
Buckminster Fuller, then busy assisting in Brasilia, the planned capital city in
Brazil that had been hacked out wholesale from the Amazonian jungle, flew in to
express his enthusiasm. Fuller (naturally) proposed a structure of multiple
geodesic domes, but in any case declared the engineering "not terribly
difficult," and pointed to already existing structures like large airport
terminals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fuller had built the "US Pavilion" at Expo
Montreal in 1976 -- three-fourths of a sphere consisting of 1900 molded,
transparent Plexiglas panels, 200 feet high and 250 feet in diameter, covering
1.1 acres. Winooski's dome would cover nearly the entire town, 800 times that
area. He stressed that the biggest challenge was not keeping the dome up, but
holding it down against the force of rising warm air.

Tigan and his staff waded deeper into the idea. Someone calculated that it would
make economic sense if heating oil rose above $1.25 a gallon -- it was then at
$0.99 per gallon. (Today it sells for about twice that, in current dollars.) And
then there was the money saved on snowplowing. They applied for HUD money, not
so much to study the feasibility of the engineering, but to learn how people
might react to such a unique living situation, and to refine the economics and
the environment.

Everyone had an opinion. The New York Times editorialized against the Dome,
saying it would ruin the view. The financial pages of Saudi Arabian newspapers
feared it for the precedent it might set. Tigan appeared on the Letterman show,
McNeil and Lehrer, and others. Then, Senator William Proxmire from Wisconsin,
famous (and some said, short-sighted) for his "Golden Fleece Awards," given
monthly to a project he deemed a waste of federal funds, got wind of the idea.
President Carter, struggling for reelection in a terrible economy with Americans
being held hostage in Iran, personally called up Embrey -- the project backer at
HUD. In May, 1980, HUD turned down Winooski's request for funds.

After Ronald Reagan won the autumn election, money for such projects dried up
very quickly. Peck, the reporter who broke the story and who is now a realtor in
Vermont, called it "wonderful publicity for the town, but it was a great idea
that would never work."

Tigan, now an associate professor of Community Development at the Clark
University, disagrees. "Economically it's a slam dunk," he said. The biggest
issue, he believes, would be the public taking of land via eminent domain to
secure the area around the edges, illustrated by the 2005 controversial Supreme
Court decision in Kelo vs. City of New London. Such issues, Tigan expects, will
become more common in the future as environmental sustainability and even
survival become economic issues.

"You could have had year-round fly-fishing," he says with a bit of a sigh. "If I
had stayed in Winooski, it would be under a dome now."

Mark Reiff

FYI,

: Abstracts for the 40th ICES (2010 July, Barcelona) are due next
: Monday, November 2 -- just six days from now.

: The complete Call for Papers with more details is posted at:

: http://www.spacearchitect.org/pubs/ICES2010/cfp.htm

: The ICES color brochure is posted at:

http://www.spacearchitect.org/pubs/ICES2010/ICES%202010%20Final%20CFP.pdf

: I hope that you can join us in Barcelona next July.

: Regards,

: Ted Hall
: twh@...

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"Foster + Partners in Bid to Build in Outer Space"
Building Magazine
http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=29&storycode=3148859&c=1

: Practice joins European consortium interested in investigating idea
: of settlements on the Moon

: After dominating the architecture scene for 40 years, Norman Foster
: seems to have decided that the world is not enough: his practice
: has joined a European consortium to look into how future structures
: could be built on the Moon, Building can reveal.

: The consortium is to tender for a contract from the European Space
: Agency as part of the Aurora programme. The agency's objective is
: to devise, and then implement, a plan for robotic and human
: exploration of the solar system, with the Moon and Mars as the most
: likely targets, and to to establish a more permanent presence on
: the Moon.

: The open invitation to tender asked companies to investigate the
: possibility of adapting materials found in space for building
: purposes. Research undertaken by the Apollo astronauts in the late
: sixties will also be used.

: A spokesperson for Foster + Partners confirmed the practice's
: involvement. She said: "It's a study to look at possible building
: technologies that might be used for space exploration."

: Tenders must be undertaken with partners with experience of working
: in space. Industry experts believe the consortium that Foster is a
: part of stands a good chance of winning, owing in part to the
: expertise of other members of the team such as Alta Space, a
: specialist in space technologies.

: One of the consortium members said: "The expertise required for
: this kind of study is specialised. We know of only one other
: tender."

: Foster has already designed a spaceport in New Mexico for Richard
: Branson's commercial space flight venture Virgin Galactic.

: The European Space Agency was unavailable for comment.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"Lord Norman Foster Plans to Build on the Moon - London-based architect
reaches for the stars with secret lunar project"
Guardian (UK)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/sep/21/lord-norman-foster-moon-auror\
a

: Having left the capitals of half the world studded with towers,
: tents, gherkins and globes, the architect Lord Norman Foster is now
: gazing into the heavens.

: His firm, whose most famous projects include the British Museum's
: Great Court and the rebuilt Reichstag in Germany, is joining a
: European consortium pitching for the farthest frontier.

: The project would be part of the Aurora programme of the European
: Space Agency.

: According to Building Magazine, it would investigate adapting
: materials found in space for building purposes, using data from the
: original Apollo moon landing, and new information gathered by robot
: vehicles on Mars.

: Among the objectives would be building permanent structures on the
: moon.

: A spokesman at the London headquarters of Foster and Partners
: confirmed "there is a tender" but refused to elaborate on Foster's
: plans to conquer outer space, possibly by adding a nice glass dome.

: Foster and Partners is designing the world's first private
: spaceport for Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, which is scheduled
: to start launching from the New Mexico desert in 2011.

Mark Reiff

I have not been the most active participant in this particular forum
but if members here would kindly indulge me, I would like to offer a
proposal that I think is especially relevant.

As a member of the Living Universe Foundation -the global organization
founded on realizing the space development vision of Marshal Savage's
book The Millennial Project- I have long been working on a wiki
project updating this vision to contemporary technology, logistics,
and futurist theory. This work can be found at this site;

http://tmp2.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

Recently, I have been completing the section of this project
concerning the so-called Avalon phase of development; one of the eight
basic strategic phases of TMP development which is concerned with the
colonization of the Moon and Mars. (originally focussed on the former,
now incorporating both as the settlement strategies and technologies
are largely the same) An innovation in this phase for TMP2 is the
proposal of telerobotic pre-settlement; the use of tele-operated
robots to pre-establish an industrial infrastructure for later manned
settlements and pre-construct initial habitats through the use of
excavated structure -the most direct approach to utilizing indigenous
materials for habitat construction of scale and the simplest approach
for doing it with robots. The point to this approach is to radically
reduce the costs of establishing a local infrastructure to sustain
colonization at a stage when it cannot be cost-justified by exports -
if it ever can. (New World colonization was predicated on the profit
motive but, given the comparative costs of asteroid exploitation,
destinations like Mars may never be viable sources of export and so
their colonization must be rationalized in other ways. This is
generally true of most places in space. Long-term, we go there not for
what we can bring home but for what we might make there) Working on
this concept, I became aware of a unique opportunity presented by this
particular development strategy, which has led me to this proposal.

The cultural relevance of space development has long been difficult to
maintain because of the personal inaccessibility of participation. We
are generally left on the outside of the fence looking in, relegated
to the role of audience and fan clubs for government agencies,
corporations, rich entrepreneurs, and other elites. During the first
Space Race, the general public -in the US and USSR at least- felt a
great sense of personal participation in this endeavor regardless of
what they actually did for a living. This was a matter of national
unity where, much like a war effort, entire societies were recruited
to help through their collective productivity -whether or not what
they did had any actual relation to space activities. This sense of
social participation, coupled to nationalism, made space relevant in
the mainstream culture, hence the countless bars, restaurants, hotels,
and other businesses and attractions with space-themed names and
decor, its marketing exploitation in mass media, and the explosion, at
this time, in the growth of science fiction media. But as the space
agencies became increasingly entrenched and self-absorbed
bureaucracies increasingly isolated from -and to some degree even
contemptuous of- the mainstream society space activity became
decreasingly relevant to the popular culture -replaced for some by
SciFi which offered a much more swank vision of the future than the
aesthetically disappointing sub-duty in a junk yard viewed through a
kaleidoscope vision of a 'real' life in space the agencies had to
offer. We now live in a world with more rocket launches, space
activity, and astronauts than ever in history, and yet the general
public is largely oblivious to it all unless some disaster occurs.
Indeed, unless one can trump-up some impression of hazard, danger, or
controversy it's hard to even get the mainstream news to make note of
a recent launch.

Recently, the X-Prize competitions and their attendant cadre of New
Space entrepreneurs have engendered an encouraging but brief
resurgence of popular interest in space, largely by realizing the
popular fantasy of the Astronaut Farmer; the common man conquering
space in-spite of the governments and bureaucracies. It looked as
though, at last, the space center fences were being torn down by a new
generation of entrepreneurial individuals eager to realize access to
space for all. But, as great an accomplishment as Space Ship One was,
it also proved a great disappointment. As the billionaires stepped
forward to steal the spotlight, it quickly became apparent that,
instead of the Astronaut Farmer, this New Space effort was more about
Astronaut Oligarchs. The X-Prize and New Space soon became
characterized as New Gilded Age follies with a sometimes mocking
representation in the media. Instead of seeking ways to reach out, the
Ansari organization and the New Space entrepreneurs have quietly
retreated into an increasingly exclusive community suspicious and
contemptuous of outsiders and disdainful of all critics. X-Prize
events have started being divided between public events and more
exclusive events for elite insiders while the assortment of X-Prize
competitions have shifted toward things a shrinking number of people
can actually participate in as well as diverging from the theme of
space. (rocket-plane races? Really? We're going to get to space by
reinventing NASCAR?) Compounded by the current world recession, this
resurgence of interest is again on the wane. Once again, the common
man has come to realize he's left sitting outside the fence -a new
class-barrier fence- looking in, relegated to the role of cheering
section for another collection of elites.

But in working on the concept of telerobotic settlement, I noticed
that this particular idea had much appeal among members of the growing
Maker movement -always interested as they are in potentially
disruptive technology they can get involved in at small scales. Most
people are not astronaut material. Most will never have an opportunity
to work for space agencies or aerospace companies old or new. Most
will never be able to start their own space ventures. Most will never
be able to afford space tourism. But a great many people, all over the
world, can and do build robots for a hobby -robots that aren't mere
toys but can often perform practical tasks. Thus the concept of
telerobotics offers a new possibility of personal participation in
space development across a very large demographic impossible for the
lofty realm of manned space flight. Robots aren't 'rocket science'.
Whether you're a poor school kid in a developing country or a wealthy
entrepreneur in a superpower nation, through telerobotics you have a
chance for your ideas to solve real problems, become real hardware,
and for your electric progeny to someday get to space. This offers the
prospect of a new worldwide space program open to participation by
anyone with ingenuity and a modicum of Maker skills. I liken the
concept of telerobotic settlement to The Greatest Model Train Layout
Ever -the kind you might one day move into.

Now it's certainly true that, ultimately, the telerobotic settlement
still needs launch and other expensive systems to deploy it and
eventually to transport its colonists. But there is so much creative
and technical work to do ahead of this that we need not concern
ourselves too much with it in the present. The flexibility when
deploying robots means we can use whatever is at hand when the time
comes. For the moment we can leave this to the space agencies and
large corporations if we must. Once the gravitas of a program has
reached critical mass -in the form of a settlement package ready to go
and a truly global community insistent on its deployment, they will be
compelled to step-up with the necessary transportation. In the
meantime it's sufficient to know that current launch capability is
adequate to the task and that the strategy of telerobotics can
leverage even the most modest of orbital capability greatly. The true
breakthroughs in launch capability are not likely to come from rocket
technology itself as contemporary rocketry already functions at very
close the limits of the physics. The real breakthroughs in the future
will be in how systems are made and function -which this telerobotic
settlement scheme will directly contribute to as part of its own
pursuit of a compact deployable and comprehensive industrial
infrastructure.

The great virtue of the telerobotic approach is that it vastly reduces
the cost of operating in space through the elimination of man-rated
systems until you are prepared to send people there to live. At the
cost of the Shuttle and ISS programs, a vast industrial infrastructure
may have already been deployed on both the Moon and Mars. Similarly,
no gigantic space agency budgets or special facilities are needed to
develop these robotic systems. It can be done anywhere, from people's
garages to large dedicated research centers. And we can deploy, in any
relatively remote location on Earth, fully functional testbed
settlements where all the tasks performed in the ultimate space
settlements can be accurately replicated for the sake of systems
development. From the perspective of telerobotic activity, the Earth
environment is no less rigorous than that of the Moon or Mars and
communications latency and intermittence is simple enough to emulate
in software. Aside from the issue of radiation hardening, we can be
relatively sure that any collection of hardware than can survive the
environment in the likes of Iceland or the desert central plain of
Antarctica is probably going to withstand the conditions on the Moon
or Mars.

Many may argue that you cannot 'replace' astronauts with robots
because the human being is functionally superior. But the fact of the
matter is that this doesn't matter. Certainly, telerobots will do
things at a much slower pace than human beings might -particularly
given the complication of communications latency. But the differences
in cost between manned and unmanned space flight are so extreme that
one cannot rationalize man-in-space overhead on the argument of
superior mechanical performance. It simply doesn't matter that a human
being is 'superior' to a robot when they cost so much more to send
there, can spend so little time there in an 'outpost' situation, and
carry with them far more risk and hazard to the future of a program
than the odd machine failure. They don't hold 'national days of
mourning' for failed hardware. A robot may be slow and clumsy, but one
can leave it operating in the open environment with little support for
years and design teams of them with some degree of mutual repair
capability.

This telerobotic pre-settlement concept also brings with it a
different approach to the deployment of manned facilities that also
lends itself well to public participation with an even lower bar of
technical sophistication. Initial telerobotic outposts would be
deployed in the open surface environment but ultimately would need to
create large sheltered spaces to deploy more delicate and 'deeply
repairable' systems for industrialization. The most direct approach to
creating this shelter using indigenous materials is by excavation;
digging into the native rock strata to create vaulted chambers in
which to deploy these systems in an environment with less dust, less
temperature extremes, and sheltered from meteoroids and weather. These
structures -initially similar to conventional terrestrial mines- would
eventually form the basis of initial manned facilities, first through
the deployment of pneumatic hull modules, then through the sealing and
pressurizing of sections of vault complexes through modular bulkheads,
and finally with the creation of dedicated human habitats in the form
of large span (some potentially a kilometer wide) domed chambers with
large central gardens and perimeter town-house-like dwellings  under
artificial skies illuminated by surface arrays of heliostats
collecting and communicating their light by fiber optic cable. These
habitats would be outfit in a very simple way deriving from approaches
used to install industrial systems in the unpressurized areas of these
complexes. A grid of plug-in attachment sockets would be installed
along the rock walls to support light framing to host other
components, surface-mount utilities runs, floor decks and PRT/PPT
guideways, and mezzanine structures all enclosed in a system of
modular surface paneling and other plug-in components. In industrial
areas this system would allow for the full use of volumetric space
within the vaulted structures, affording the entire interior surface
area potential attachment points for systems and tracks for transport.
In manned habitats, pressurized using modular bulkhead units and
integral CELSS, it allows for the creation of a comfortable
environment where visual cues of the subterranean nature of the
habitats are kept to a minimum, large garden habitats can be
cultivated, and great aesthetic diversity is possible within the
simple but large domed structural forms. (unlike the tin cans in the
desert of past visions of space habitation, our model of living in
space is -believe it or not- the Portobello mansion. -
http://eatmypotato.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/the-portabello-estate.jpg
     -   http://www.redferret.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/portabelloestate.jpg
   - No more sub-duty in a junkyard viewed through a kaleidoscope...
Take THAT Star Trek!) Eventually such excavated complexes would be
supplemented by built surface structures in the form of modest but
thickly walled modular precast 'regolete' (regolith-derived concrete)
structures and large built-up mound-formed domes whose interiors would
be outfitted in the same ways as the excavated structures. Lava tubes
and other natural subterranean space would also be retrofit for human
habitation in the same way and may become the focus of larger colonies
-and space scientists suggest these lava tubes can be kilometers wide
and hundreds of kilometer long.

This simple construction approach lends itself well to casual
experimentation and ingenuity here on Earth and allows extremely
realistic mock-ups to be created almost anywhere -from actual mine
complexes like the Kansas City Suptropolis to any large span
industrial structure- using off-the-shelf materials and components
such as those of industrial T-slot framing. This offers endless
opportunity for hobbyist tinkerers and industrial and architectural
designers to explore the potential interior design of these habitats
and work out a practical kit of parts that can be telerobotically
manufactured. There's endless potential in exploring the simple
challenge of how to live well in an environment where you are indoors
for your entire life -which is basically what living in space really
means. And anyone with a novel idea can build their own demonstrations
of their dream homes in space to share with the rest of the world. At
the same time, this technology offers direct re-application for relief
architecture and even mainstream housing right here on Earth.

Which brings up another point about this concept. Unlike virtually
everything that has been done in space on a non-commercial basis to
date, virtually everything relating to the telerobotic pre-settlement
concept has some fairly immediate re-application on Earth -some things
with potentially highly disruptive commercial/economic impact.
Everything from how our own homes are built to how just about
everything in the world is made. Accomplishing its basic objective of
pre-establishing a local industrial infrastructure capable of
supporting continuous human habitation at a high standard of living
essentially means realizing the capability to go from dirt and rocks
to microchips while reducing the physical scale of the conventional
terrestrial industrial infrastructure to a collection of systems and
machines on the scale of household appliances -and all of it almost
entirely automated. The ramifications of this for terrestrial industry
and economics are great and compliment the current trends in the
development of digital fabrication -the development of fabbers and
other automated machine tools. On top of this, it would be the
intention of the program to develop all this technology as Open
Source, allowing it to be freely repurposed without restriction
anywhere in the world. Agreeing to this premise would be a
prerequisite for participation in this program. And so these spin-offs
benefit not only a few companies in superpower nations but everyone,
everywhere. This potential has long been overlooked by both space
agencies and the space advocacy community. This is world-changing
impact from modest-cost space development -something long promised by
the First Space Age but never quite delivered in any significant form.

And thus we arrive at the proposal for an International Open Space
Initiative focused on the objective of telerobotic pre-settlement of
the Moon and Mars using exclusively open source technology. This
program would be a truly international endeavor, featuring activities
in as many countries as possible and welcoming participation from
individuals everywhere. The program would be based on several key
elements;

First, a Settlement Systems Architecture document which would
initially be drafted ad hoc (by myself and others) as a wiki project
and then placed in the hands of a committee which manages its
continual evolution. This committee would also initially be ad hoc but
would seek to adopt open exchange through public forums to aid this
evolving architectural scheme. Colonization is a complex process and
this architectural model must elaborate and evolve as technologies
change and new needs and issues are realized. The starting point for
the Settle Systems Architecture is the Avalon section of TMP2 written
by myself and found here;

http://tmp2.wikia.com/wiki/Avalon

This initial group would also be responsible for developing initial
promotional media for the project and possibly initial mock-ups of
different phases of settlement to illustrate this concept -though
these early robots would be small in scale and more visually
suggestive than functional.

Next, a series of system projects and design/build challenges and
performance tests are derived from the Settlement Systems
Architecture. These are the individual projects participants would
pursue, individually or in teams, to produce working open source
designs and prototypes for the individual systems. They would be
presented in open solicitations just like the sections of an open
source software development project. They would also form the basis of
competitive events conducted at public events. Development and
competitions would be divided between raw technology or task-oriented
competitions where participants are working with early concepts and
subsystems and systems design competitions where participants are
attempting to design and prototype functional systems that can be put
through comprehensive performance trials and eventually be deployed at
test-bed settlements. Much like open source software development,
participants in these projects would be relying largely on web based
showcasing of their concepts and -optionally- on-line recruitment of
supporters.

Next, a world convention/exposition event circuit would be established
to produce a series of shows in key locations around the globe at
regular times of the year where the challenges, tests, and
competitions for the different systems projects would be conducted as
public events in concert with promotion and showcasing/exhibiting of
the basic concepts behind the program and the full range of IOSI
activity. Intended to be fun as well as practical, these events would
feature entertainment, 'edutainment', and venues for socialization.
Yuri's Night events and similar parties, purely for fun, could also be
included in the conventional circuit. These events would be regionally
organized and designed to primarily pay for themselves in basic patron
fees. Initially, they may start as simple gatherings in free-access
locations.

A series of test-bed facilities are then established as means of
testing whole systems in an environment analogous to that of space -as
close as is reasonable. These would be subdivided into several sub-
facilities representing different development stages/areas; lander
drop zones (primarily for lander hardware testing but also initial
exploratory robots and transponder units), 'beachhead' outposts (the
initial landing sites), open surface 'cluster' outposts (sites chosen
to support integrated clusters of deployable systems and with
proximity to places for excavation), initial excavated settlements,
transitional manned settlements, and permanent manned settlements. In
addition would be some 'nursery' testbed facilities for earlier
development work using mock-up environments in a sheltered setting -
possibly associated with regional fab labs. Such facilities would also
be used for work on the orbital telerobotics aspects of this program;
the creation of orbital assembly facilities, on-orbit assembled
'beamship' transorbital vessels (so-called because a simple modular
component truss beam is their core structural element, host for
retrofit components), settlement support satellites and waystations,
and so on. These would also include some virtual testbed facilities
employing virtual reality platforms as a test and simulation
environment accessible on-line. These would be used primarily as a
lower-cost way of exploring control and automation software as well as
teloperation user interfacing with convenient access to a global
community of users. (current VR software is hopelessly inadequate to
this task, though some newer open source platforms offer some
possibilities -with the benefit of group support- of adaptation to
support simulations with more accurate and comprehensive physics
modeling)

The first five settlement stage simulations would employ remote
locations -Iceland being a strong possibility- and be operated
exclusively by tele-operation from one or more command facilities
elsewhere on the globe. These would be intended to become fully
functional, deploying analogs of all systems used in space and
intended to produce fully functional outposts capable of independent
repair and self-replication of all outpost equipment. With the
possible exception of some initial systems, all incoming hardware
would be deployed by aircraft using prototype 'rough' and 'soft'
lander systems as used in space and any failed hardware removed would
be delivered by robots to designated dump sites for removal. Humans
would only be allowed on site where there are critical insurmountable
problems. (inevitable early on, but then this is exactly the thing
these sites are intended to learn how to preclude through experience)

The manned settlement mock-ups would be more concerned with interior
design, building systems, equipment, and human assistant robots
intended for interior use. We cannot completely simulate the space
environment for manned habitats because we can't easily or practically
alter gravity, control the ambient air pressure, or build kilometer-
wide dome enclosures. But we can provide settings to explore the
ergonomics of these building systems and habitat interior designs
using simple role-playing scenarios and computer-mediated simulations.
This has no need of remote locations and can be performed most
anywhere there is appropriate large span space, though for sake of a
little more realism mining site locations like the Kansas City
Subtropolis might be employed.

While most of the test site activity would be conducted by dedicated
personnel, the sites would all be placed on-line with extensive arrays
of web cams and various nursery tasks centers that people on-line can
use to manipulate prototype robots via a web interface. This would be
mostly for promotional purposes but its also possible that more
advanced teleoperation could be distributed globally instead of being
strictly concentrated in one or a few command centers -especially as
the scale of the facilities grows and the number of concurrent
activities increases. As described in the Avalon articles, these
settlements are intended to employ a very open communications
architecture based on a multi-level IP WAN where all systems
potentially exist as entities on the web for access to their
individual control systems along with coordinated group control under
higher level 'sequencer' programs. In practice, the ultimate
teleoperated settlements may be managed simultaneously by people all
over the globe. Thus a widely distributed command and management model
is appropriate.

Getting one's hardware into these facilities is the basic goal of the
convention competitions and it's here where they would undergo the
most rigorous testing while still facing competition from later
systems designs. In this program model the engineering is performed
bottom-up through the community of participants. But these facilities
would be where the most hard-core field evaluation is conducted over
indefinite periods of time with the intent of crafting a settlement
'package' ready for space. It will be some time before any of the
hardware that reaches these test sites start achieving a 'spaceworthy
rating' through a test an engineering peer-review process. The
ultimate goal here is to incrementally flesh-out the Settlement
Systems Architecture with working designs and prototypes in a
controlled process of competitive evolutionary selection.

In addition to these more focused facilities, the program may also
sponsor creation of regional fab labs that afford the less well-heeled
participants shared access to tools and serve as 'club houses' for the
IOSI participants in a given region. This would be particularly
supportive of team effort -likely to produce some of the best results
in development- given that the internet alone is inadequate for
collectivizing group effort on hardware. As previously noted, these
may be host to nursery testbed facilities but would be less focused or
specialized, open to activities beyond those of this space program.
There is an important public educational aspect to this and potential
for catalyzing regional entrepreneurship. It would be well suited to
philanthropic support. It could also integrate into the school
environment, scouting organizations, the Mens Shed movement in places
like Australia, developing world outreach, and other such adult and
youth organizations focused on cultivating creativity and invention as
a basis of personal empowerment, community building, and
socialization. The current MIT based fab lab movement is already
demonstrating the great social benefits from this. These could also be
the initial channels of technology transfer out of this open space
program, many of the things developed for the telerobotic settlements
turning into tools in these workshops and being repurposed for diverse
terrestrial uses there.

Though intended primarily as a bottom-up development project
cultivating a vast community of participants, the IOSI would also take
advantage of other sources of philanthropic support. It is likely to
attract attention of space agencies -again in a bottom-up fashion by
first offering space agency engineers a venue for pursuing things the
bureaucracy will not allow them to pursue and then compelling space
agency involvement by virtue of its cultural gravitas. Similarly, a
growing number of corporations -though still predominately in the
areas of computing and communications- are coming to understand the
practical virtues of open source technology development and actively
support it. They would see the IOSI as a great opportunity for
cultivating technology they may eventually use elsewhere while
cultivating a positive public image. Colleges and universities would
also see the IOSI as a great opportunity for educational venues that
can excite students without the hassles associated with partnerships
with the conventional aerospace industry and national space agencies.
And individual philanthropists may realize and appreciate the IOSI as
a truly world space program pursing space development in the most
egalitarian and and socially/culturally inclusive way possible for the
benefit of everyone.

Because this development concept employs such a modest level of
technology to start, getting the IOSI itself started should be
relatively simple to accomplish. The initial tasks would involve
drafting of the initial Settlement Systems Architecture (which I have
largely completed as the Avalon section of TMP2), creating media to
present this and the IOSI concepts with, creating the necessary web-
presence and initial Sourceforge-like project management sites, and
the creation -primarily for promotional use- of a simple working mock-
up outpost based on relatively primitive robots at small scales
designed as visual representation of the basic settlement elements.
(the MiniSpaceWorld could be a good venue for this, though the concept
is divergent from the proposals they're currently soliciting and a
portable form could be more practical) All this is well within the
reach of any existing space advocacy group and far less expensive than
projects like the Mars Society's remote outpost mock-ups.

Certainly, although hardly a new idea (it was even proposed as an
alternative to Apollo), the concept of telerobotic space development
is an alien one in a space industry and advocacy culture obsessed with
the idea of the heroic man in space and where most development
concepts still derive from those of the 1950s. The concept has its
detractors who simply cannot envision robotics being sufficiently
capable -even in an age when UAVs are routinely used in military
operations and when the manned deep sea submersible has already been
completely obsolesced -for two decades- by teleroperated ROVs. But
with so little to show, in terms of social impact, after 50 years of
space flight and with every space agency budget save -perhaps- China's
on the wane, it's time to rethink the approach. I find this IOSI and
telerobotic development concept very compelling. How else can one
realize a true world space program where anyone and everyone can
personally participate?

Eric Hunting
erichunting@...

FYI,

"Experiments Show 'Artificial Gravity' Can Prevent Muscle Loss in
  Space"
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.rss.spacewire.html?pid=28795
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston Press Release

: UTMB / NASA study used centrifuge and simulated weightlessness with
: bed rest

: When the Apollo 11 crew got back from the moon 40 years ago this
: week, they showed no ill effects from seven days spent in
: weightlessness. But as American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts
: began conducting longer-duration space flights, scientists noticed
: a disturbing trend: the longer humans stay in zero gravity, the
: more muscle they lose. Space travelers exposed to weightlessness
: for a year or more -- such as those on a mission to Mars, for
: example -- could wind up crippled on their return to Earth, unable
: to walk or even sit up.

: Now, researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at
: Galveston have conducted the first human experiments using a device
: intended to counteract this effect -- a NASA centrifuge that spins
: a test subject with his or her feet outward 30 times a minute,
: creating an effect similar to standing against a force two and half
: times that of gravity. Working with volunteers kept in bed for
: three weeks to simulate zero-gravity conditions, they found that
: just one hour a day on the centrifuge was sufficient to restore
: muscle synthesis.

: "This gives us a potential countermeasure that we might be able to
: use on extended space flights and solve a lot of the problems with
: muscle wasting," said UTMB associate professor Douglas Paddon-Jones,
: senior author of a paper on the centrifuge research in the July
: issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology. "This small amount of
: loading, one hour a day of essentially standing up, maintained the
: potential for muscle growth."

: Fifteen healthy male volunteers participated in the study, carried
: out in UTMB's General Clinical Research Center. All spent 21 days
: lying in a slightly head-down position that previous investigations
: have shown produces effects on muscles like those of
: weightlessness. Eight rode the centrifuge daily. Measurements of
: protein synthesis and breakdown in thigh and calf muscle were taken
: at the beginning and end of the investigation, using muscle
: biopsies and blood samples. The results showed that members of the
: centrifuge group continued to make thigh muscle protein at a normal
: rate, while the control group's muscle synthesis rate dropped by
: almost half.

: Paddon-Jones cautioned that the rate of muscle protein synthesis
: alone does not necessarily predict changes in muscle function. But,
: he pointed out, it was still a strong indicator that a relatively
: brief intervention could have a positive effect in preventing
: zero-gravity muscle loss -- one that might also be applied on Earth.

: "We've studied elderly inpatients here at UTMB -- 95 percent of the
: time they're completely inactive, and in three days they lose more
: than a kilogram of muscle," Paddon-Jones said. "A human centrifuge
: may not be the answer, but we are interested in seeing if something
: as simple as increasing the amount of time our patients spend
: standing and moving can slow down this process. This NASA research
: is one of a series of important studies that we hope to ultimately
: translate to a clinical population."

: The other authors of the Journal of Applied Physiology article
: ("Artificial gravity maintains skeletal muscle protein synthesis
: during 21 days simulated microgravity") were assistant professor
: T. Brock Symons, associate professor Melinda Sheffield-Moore,
: associate professor David L. Chinkes and professor Arny Ferrando.
: NASA, the National Institutes of Health and UTMB's Claude D. Pepper
: Older Americans Independence Center provided support for the
: investigation.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

: CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT -- SPACE ARCHITECTURE

: The 39th International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES)
: 2009 July 12-16
: Hyatt Regency
: Savannah, Georgia, USA

: Session ICES503 -- Space Architecture -- Organized by
: The Space Architecture Technical Committee (SATC) of
: The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)

: Monday, July 13, 1:30 - 4:45 PM, Savannah Hyatt, Ballroom D

: 1:30 PM   "International Space Station, United States Operational
:           Segment, Crew Quarters On-orbit vs. Design Performance
:           Comparison"
:           James Lee Broyan, Jr. (National Aeronautics and Space
:           Administration, Johnson Space Center); Melissa Ann
:           Borrego (MEI Technologies Inc.); Juergen F. Bahr (ERC
:           Incorporated)

: 2:00 PM   "Life Support System and Habitability Concepts for the
:           ECLIPSE (European Cis-Lunar Interplanetary Port for
:           Space Exploration) Orbiting Station"
:           Ernesto Appella, Emanuele Flesia, Alessandro Quaglia
:           (Master SEEDS III - Politecnico Di Torino - COREP)

: 2:30 PM   "Comparative Configurations for Lunar Lander Habitation
:           Volumes: 2005-2008"
:           Marc M. Cohen (Northrop Grumman Corporation)

: 3:00 PM   "Minimum Functionality Lunar Habitat Element Design:
:           Requirements and Definition of an Initial Human
:           Establishment on the Moon"
:           Massimiliano Di Capua, Adam Mirvis, Omar Medina, David L.
:           Akin (Space Systems Laboratory, University of
:           Maryland)

: 3:30 PM   Break

: 3:45 PM   "Mars Base 10 - A Permanent Settlement on Mars for 10
:           Astronauts"
:           OndÅej Doule (International Space University)

: 4:15 PM   "Human-rating Automated and Robotic Systems â€" (How HAL
:           can work safely with astronauts)"
:           Lynn Baroff (California Space Education & Workforce
:           Institute); Charlie Dischinger (NASA Marshall
:           Space Flight Center); David Fitts (NASA Johnson Space
:           Center)

: The Space Architecture Technical Committee will have a business
: meeting on Monday evening following the technical session.
: Interested observers and new recruits are welcome!  The precise
: time and place are yet to be determined.  Please contact Ted Hall
: <twh@...> if you're interested.

: Please note the following dates and deadlines:

: * June 22 or sooner:

: Reserve an SAE group-rate room at the Hyatt Regency.  The
: discounted group rate expires on June 22.  Note that the SAE
: reserved block might actually sell out before this date, so
: it's best not to delay.

: * June 26 or sooner:

: Pre-register for ICES by June 26 to save $100.  Registration
: fees increase after this date.

: * July 12-16

: 39th International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES)
: Hyatt Regency
: Savannah, Georgia, USA

: * July 13

: Session ICES503: Space Architecture
: Ballroom D
: Hyatt Regency
: Savannah, Georgia, USA

: [Note: This is a change of room from earlier announcements.]

: For more information, please visit:

: 39th ICES: http://www.sae.org/events/ice

: SpaceArchitect: http://www.spacearchitect.org

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"Wanted! Your Views On America's Space Program Goals"
Space.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20090113/sc_space/wantedyourviewsonameri
casspaceprogramgoals

: It's time to put your 21st century thinking cap because you've been
: invited to take part in a new study into why the U.S. has a space
: program.

: The new study "Rationale and Goals of the U.S. Civil Space Program"
: is looking for the public's view on the following questions:

: What's the future of human, robotic, commercial, and personal
: spaceflight? Is your life impacted in a meaningful way by the space
: program? What kind of emphasis should the space program represent
: in going forward? How can the country's civil, or non-military,
: space program address key national issues?

: Views - positive or negative - of the general public are welcomed.

: This study is sponsored exclusively by The National Academies, and
: it is not receiving any funds from government agencies or any other
: external sources. The assessment is a joint effort of the Space
: Studies Board and Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board.

: "Specifically, we are anxious to hear a broad range of views from
: the public, including people from outside and inside traditional
: space interest sectors," said Joe Alexander, study director for the
: appraisal. The effort is geared to explore the long-range rationale
: and goals of the civil space program, he told SPACE.com.

: Best objective judgment

: The ad hoc committee will prepare a report to advise the nation on
: key goals and critical issues in 21st century U.S. space policy.
: Furthermore, the committee's to-do list includes:

: - Identifying overarching goals that are important for our national
: interest.

: - Identifying issues that are critically important to achieving
: these goals and ensuring the future progress of the U.S. space
: activities.

: - Discussing options to address unresolved issues.

: - Using its best objective judgment and recognizing other national
: priorities, the committee will explore a possible long term future
: for U.S. space activities that is built upon lessons learned and
: past successes; is based on realistic expectations of future
: resources; and is credible scientifically, technically, and
: politically.

: What to do next?

: First of all, visit the study's Web site.

Rationale and Goals of the U.S. Civil Space Program
A Joint Space Studies Board and Aeronautics and Space Engineering
Board Study
Questionnaire for Public Input
http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/rationale_goals_civil_space.html

Questionnaire
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/survey/deps/ssbcivilspace.htm

: Please provide input by January 30, 2009!

: Once there, you'll find a summary of the study charge, the
: committee roster, and also a questionnaire that can be
: completed and returned to the study group.

: Note: Those wishing to take part are asked to provide their
: input by January 30, 2009!

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"NASA Eyes Nuclear Power for Moon Base"
Space.com
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/080917-tw-fission-moon.html

: Nuclear power could make a comeback beyond Earth if NASA goes
: forward with a proposed a fission reactor in its future moon base.

: A fission-powered system could generate up to 40 kilowatts and give
: any lunar outpost enough power to supply eight houses on Earth.
: More importantly, astronauts will require a reliable and steady
: energy source on the moon and Mars.

: "The problem with power on the moon is that, depending on where
: you're located, you may have 14 days of darkness," said Lee Mason,
: an engineer at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, who
: heads the project. "We think nuclear offers some advantages there
: in terms of a continuous power source in sun or darkness."

: Engineers envision a nuclear reactor buried under the surface of
: the moon so that lunar soil, known as regolith, can act as
: shielding against the reactor's radiation. Power converters would
: sit atop a tower jutting above the surface, changing the reactor's
: heat energy into electrical energy for astronauts to use.

: The tower would also boast two 50-foot (15-meter) panels made of
: polymer composite material that could give off excess heat from the
: nuclear reactor.

: Far-flung robotic missions, such as the Cassini orbiter currently
: orbiting Saturn, have relied on a different nuclear technology,
: Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTG), which draws on the
: energy from the natural decay of radioactive plutonium. Current
: RTGs produce roughly 100 watts of electricity, in comparison to
: tens of thousands of watts produced by nuclear fission reactors
: that split uranium atoms.

: NASA previously launched just one nuclear reactor into space in
: 1965, but the experimental SNAP-10A reactor shut down after just
: 43 days of operation. Nuclear power made a brief reappearance in
: the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) proposal, but the mission was
: scrapped in 2005 due to budget constraints.

: "JIMO was a little ahead of its time, a very ambitious program, and
: it didn't just quite fit in with the budget projections," Mason
: told SPACE.com.

: Now the moon base proposal offers a new possibility, but Mason's
: NASA Glenn team must first decide which power converter engine to
: use for any nuclear reactor.

: One design, a piston Stirling design from Sunpower Inc., of Athens,
: Ohio, uses two back-to-back piston engines that cancel out each
: other's mechanical vibration. The second design by Barber Nichols
: Inc. of Arvada, Colo., relies on a closed Brayton cycle engine that
: has a rotary system not unlike jet turbine engines. Both power
: converters can produce 12 kilowatts, or roughly 40 kilowatts in a
: pack of four.

: NASA engineers hope to test the efficiency of power converters
: without the nuclear reactor in 2012 or 2013. A non-nuclear reactor
: simulator would provide the heat source for the tech demonstration
: on Earth, courtesy of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in
: Huntsville, Ala.

: The space agency continues to ponder non-nuclear options such as
: solar power for a future lunar base. If NASA does use a nuclear
: reactor, it will resemble reactor technology that the U.S.
: Department of Energy (DOE) "has operated for many years," said John
: Warren, executive head of NASA's Space Power Systems Program in
: Washington, D.C.

: Mason said that the project should finish on schedule if it
: continues receiving the $10 million funding shared between NASA and
: the DOE.

: "We would like to design a system that can last eight years without
: any maintenance whatsoever," Mason said. "The technology is there
: to achieve that."

Mark Reiff

FYI,

Might be of applicable to space architecture as well.

"Get Lost ... and Get Better Architecture
- Testing subjects in a virtual building could lead to improved
design"
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28160899

: Getting test subjects lost in a virtual building could reveal a
: lot about how to construct more people-friendly hospitals,
: schools and other spaces, according to a unique collaboration by
: a group of California neurologists and architects.

: The merging of neuroscience, architecture, psychology and
: virtual reality is allowing researchers to track the brain
: signals of study participants as they navigate through a
: simulated building within a high-tech room called the
: StarCAVE.

: "Our goal is to measure the human response to architectural
: features in a way that we've been unable to measure before,"
: said Eve Edelstein, the project's intermediary and senior vice
: president of research and design for Ontario, Calif.-based
: HMC Architects.

: The project should provide a more realistic understanding of
: how people experience real-world spaces — before a single
: brick is ever laid, said Edelstein, a trained
: neurophysiologist and a visiting scholar at the University of
: California at San Diego.

: The inclusion of electroencephalography (EEG) measurements
: will allow researchers to look at how brain signals change
: when people know where they are versus when they're utterly
: lost.

: Beyond the cost advantages of determining before construction
: begins whether a proposed layout is hopelessly confusing, the
: science could say plenty about how people navigate through,
: interact with, and form "cognitive maps" of physical spaces and
: their virtual stand-ins.

: For a pilot study testing the feasibility of such an approach,
: Edelstein joined collaborators at the university's Swartz Center
: for Computational Neuroscience and at the California Institute for
: Telecommunications and Information Technology, abbreviated Calit2.
: The first order of business: designing a virtual replica of
: Calit2's campus headquarters and projecting it within StarCAVE, a
: five-sided chamber the size of a small bedroom. Within the room's
: slightly inward-tilting space, stereoscopic images displayed on
: 15 large wall panels and two floor screens immerse viewers wearing
: polarized glasses in a virtual environment.

: The researchers also outfitted study participants with a swim
: cap-like hat connected to 256 dangling EEG electrodes to measure
: brain activity. A tracking device on the cap pinpointed the
: position of each volunteer, while a set of cameras captured head
: movements to follow their gazes.

: "It gives us an opportunity to look at an interesting brain
: response and ask what the subject is looking at," Edelstein said.

: Alternatively, researchers can detect when an architectural feature
: is perceived and how it is being analyzed by the observer's brain.

: Neuroscience, she said, traditionally taught that humans could not
: grow new nerve cells through adulthood. But more recent research
: suggests that the adult brain is still malleable, spurring
: researchers like her to ask how architecture can influence the
: formation of new nerve cells in areas such as the brain's memory
: center.

: From a practical standpoint, Edelstein said, more scientifically
: grounded data could be critical in addressing priorities in a
: hospital, like the goal of dramatically reducing patient injuries,
: medical errors and infection rates cited by the Institute for
: Healthcare Improvement's 100,000 Lives Campaign.

: Most medical centers and healthcare facilities focus on signs to
: help people find their way, she said. Other public spaces,
: including hospitals, sometimes use colored stripes on the floors as
: navigational aids.

: Studies suggest that ineffective visual cues can cost a hospital
: hundreds of thousands of dollars annually as staff members take
: time from their jobs to redirect lost patients. Even more
: ominously, Edelstein said, "the cost of getting lost in a
: healthcare setting can be life-threatening." Someone with an
: infectious disease could wander into a hospital area that should be
: a clean environment, for example, or a desperately ill patient may
: be unable to find the appropriate caregiver in time.

: Getting lost and getting a cue

: For her group's proof-of-principle study, the Calit2 space took the
: place of a hospital, with its virtual replica featuring the
: building's lobby, exterior courtyards and some rooms and corridors.
: In the lobby, the researchers added a few details, including a
: colored door, projected shadows, and a version of an outdoor teddy
: bear sculpture made of eight massive granite boulders. The intent
: was to make the lobby as photorealistic as possible, Edelstein
: said. "And so it's rich with visual cues that could assist a person
: in navigation."

: In contrast, the researchers successively removed visual cues in
: the building's south corridor. Study volunteers were then given
: navigational tasks and remote controls to help them get through the
: virtual building, and the scientific team pored over the brain
: responses as the participants found their way.

: "The first thing that was very fascinating to us occurred before
: the analysis of the brain wave response," Edelstein said. "It was
: an observation of the increasingly subtle cues that people used."

: The angle of incoming sunlight, the researchers discovered, was a
: major cue for many participants.

: "That's what humans and animals have been using for millennia and
: we actually remove that in most architecture," Edelstein said. "And
: that was one of the first things that people told us they were
: using."

: With that cue removed in the virtual corridor, people began looking
: for cues as fine as the carpet pattern.

: Although the team is still analyzing the results, Edelstein said
: the experiment supported the concept that scientists could
: synchronously record the brainwaves of individuals moving within a
: real-time virtual reality environment and correlate their brain
: activity and travel patterns in that virtual world. A larger-scale
: study, she hopes, will expand on results and delve into the
: behavior of navigating people.

: The rich complexity of a healthcare environment, with the
: contrasting needs for specialists and patients, young and old, sick
: and well, may be the best place to begin sorting out what cues the
: brain recognizes and which it seems to ignore.

: But Edelstein says the same questions could be addressed in
: educational environments or commercial spaces within a city.

: "It's about looking at the human response beneath the level of
: clutter," she said. "If we can answer questions for healthcare
: settings, I argue that we are answering questions for all spaces
: that serve the breadth of needs."

: Gregory Berns, a neuroeconomist at Emory University in Atlanta who
: studies how neuronal firing patterns affect decision-making,
: praised the study as "a perfect use of neuroscience to peer into
: someone's brain while they do something important."

: Berns, who has followed a similar thread with his new book,
: "Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently,"
: said the relative mobility of EEG technology could lend itself to
: poring over the brain waves of people in existing buildings as
: well.

: "I think virtual reality is a helpful starting point for design,"
: he said, adding, "I'm an advocate of getting a person into a
: physical space."

: A before-and-after test could measure the success of a hallway
: designed to be navigation-friendly, for example.

: "If this worked, potentially an even more beneficial use would be
: in urban planning," he said. "Getting lost in a building is one
: thing, but getting lost in a city is another."

: Beyond navigation, Berns said he could imagine the technique being
: used to record responses to a space intended to be inspiring or
: surprising — and perhaps to prevent the design from going
; overboard.

: "I think it's a bit of a fine line between inspiring because it
: affords surprises in the environment," he said, "and one that's
: completely disorienting."

Mark Reiff

From Ted Hall,

: Call for Papers

: Space Architecture Technical Session for 2009

: The Space Architecture Technical Committee (SATC) of the American
: Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is planning the
: following technical sessions for 2009:

: 39th International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES)
: 2009 July 12-16
: Savannah, Georgia, USA
: http://www.spacearchitect.org/pubs/ICES2009/cfp.htm

: Session Name:   Space Architecture (ICES503)
: Organizer:      Theodore W. Hall <twh@...> (SATC)
: Abstracts due:  2008 November 14

: Description:    As more nations and private enterprises prepare to
: send more people into space, the "right stuff" astronaut paradigm
: for space travelers is quickly becoming a relic of history.  Space
: travel cannot remain a heroic test of human endurance.  The
: architectural principles that provide for comfortable lodging,
: productive work, and enjoyment of life on Earth must be brought to
: bear in the design of facilities beyond Earth, in full recognition
: of the technical challenges presented by the environment.

: Please see http://www.spacearchitect.org/pubs/ICES2009/cfp.htm
: for more information.

-----------

: AIAA Space 2009 Conference & Exposition
: 2009 September 14-17
: Pasadena, California, USA

: Session Name:   Space Construction for Exploration [tentative]
: Organizers:     A. Scott Howe <ash@...> (SATC)
:                 Silvano Colombano <sc@...> (SATC)
: Abstracts due:  2009 January 20 [tentative]

: Description:    The Space Architecture Technical Committee (SATC)
: is teaming with the Space Automation and Robotics Technical
: Committee (SA&RTC) to organize a session focusing on robotic
: construction and human-robotic cooperation.  Construction in space
: and on the surface of the Moon, Mars, and beyond will require
: robotic systems that will be capable of doing earthwork, assembly,
: and construction of habitats and outposts for human crews.  These
: will require advances in mobility, human-robotic interfaces, and
: self-sustainability for the systems.

: For more information as it develops, please check the AIAA web site
: http://www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=1 or contact Scott Howe
: <ash@...>

: I hope that you can join us at one or both of these events.  If you
: wish to submit an abstract, please consider the session
: descriptions and choose the session that best matches your subject.

: Regards,

: Ted Hall <twh@...>

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"How to Build Lunar Homes From Moon Dirt"
Staff Writer
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080903/sc_space/howtobuildlunarhomesfr
ommoondirt

: When humans finally set up residence on the moon, our lives there
: will look very different.

: Since many of the tried and true tools we use on Earth will be
: impossible to carry along, some scientists are hard at work
: inventing from scratch the machines we'll need to make life
: possible on the moon.

: One such example is building equipment.

: "Bulldozers and excavation systems are pretty bulky and heavy,"
: said Kris Zacny, director of drilling and excavation systems at
: Honeybee Robotics in New York City. "We came out with a different
: method of digging that uses gas."

: Zacny's invention digs up ground by injecting gas into the dirt,
: thereby creating a high-pressure situation from which the gas
: naturally wants to escape. When it does fly upward, the gas' strong
: momentum ends up taking dirt up with it.

: Digging up the moon

: In July 2008 Honeybee Robotics was awarded a contract to develop
: tools that will help astronauts live and work on the moon as part
: of NASA's Constellation program. Zacny has relied on the wisdom he
: gained working in diamond, coal and gold mines in South Africa, as
: well as his doctorate research on extraterrestrial excavation, to
: devise creative methods for digging up the moon, including the
: gas-blowing digger.

: In detail, this so-called pneumatic excavation mechanism involves
: gas pumped into the ground through a thin tube encased by a wider
: hose. When the gas escapes, carrying along material from the
: ground, it travels up through the hose to a storage container.

: "It's kind of like a vacuum cleaner, but the reverse," Zacny said.
: Instead of using suction, the machine injects gas down to draw
: material up.

: The contraption weighs a lot less than conventional digging tools,
: though it begs the question: Where will future moon-dwellers get
: the gas needed to operate the machine?

: One good source could be the carbon dioxide breathed out every day
: by astronauts, he said. Another option is to burn any leftover fuel
: in the rocket thrusters on the moon landing vehicle, and collect
: the exhaust.

: "When a spacecraft lands on the moon, it has a little extra fuel
: left over, just in case you have to fly longer than you planned,"
: Zacny said. "Once you land it's a deadweight."

: But burning this fuel to create gas is great way to power the
: pneumatic excavator, he said.

: Reduce, reuse, recycle

: Once the device has sucked up lunar dirt, or regolith, this
: material could be conveniently diverted and used as a protective
: covering over homes (regolith is good for shielding from
: radiation). The dirt could also be processed to extract the oxygen
: bound up in its minerals.

: In order to free up the oxygen trapped inside, regolith must be
: heated to high temperatures. The engineers propose passing the
: material through a heat exchanger after it is extracted. Or, if the
: source of gas for the excavator is from leftover rocket fuel, then
: the exhaust will already be hot, and as it passes into the regolith
: it can heat the dirt up.

: Since every bit of material that we carry to the moon adds
: expensive weight to the spacecraft travelling there, engineers must
: design as many thrifty ways as possible to get what they need from
: the moon and reuse resources.


: "You're going to be recycling quite a bit," Zacny said. "It's like
: Lewis and Clark, living off the land."

: For example, instead of carting up heavy water, astronauts could
: travel with hydrogen, and then add oxygen later. Since oxygen is
: the heavier ingredient in water, and it can be extracted from the
: surface, this approach saves precious cargo weight.

: And once a store of water has been created for the lunar colony,
: most of it can be recycled without having to create more from
: scratch.

: Lingering issues

: Though engineers are well on their way toward preparing us for life
: on the moon, some major issues have yet to be resolved.

: "Something that we'll have to consider is radiation," Zacny said.
: "We can close ourselves in habitats, but radiation protection
: requires a lot of shielding. We cannot solve this problem yet.
: Radiation can kill us."

: Moon dwellers will also have to contend with the ubiquitous dust on
: the surface of the moon, which gets into everything and can wear
: down joints and connectors and prevent sealing off doors. It also
: poses a health risk to people, as it can cause breathing problems
: and is difficult to filter out of habitats.

: Other difficulties may lie in the astronauts themselves, as opposed
: to the environment.

: "You can have a lot of psychological issues," Zacny said. "On the
: International Space Station you can see Earth. If there's an
: emergency, in an hour and a half you can come home and be in the
: hospital. On the moon the Earth is farther away and you can feel
: detached."

: Why go to the moon?

: While many scientists are busy planning humanity's future on the
: moon, some people question whether we ought to be even trying to
: make it back to a place we conquered in 1969.

: But Zacny argues the pursuit is worthwhile, not just in itself, but
: for the opportunity to invent new technologies and prepare for our
: eventual quest to Mars. Plus, we can't help but want to try living
: on another world besides Earth.

: "We're going to explore. It's human nature," Zacny said. "It's just
: a matter of time before we establish some kind of base on the
: moon."

: And when we do, Zacny would sign up in a heartbeat.

: "I would go right now. I wouldn't even go back home first," he
: said. "It's the adventure of a lifetime."

Mark Reiff

FYI,

Potential inspiration for space architecture.

"Styrofoam Dome Homes"
Pink Tentacle Blog (Photos and Video)
http://www.pinktentacle.com/2008/08/styrofoam-dome-homes/

: While styrofoam may be most commonly associated with disposable
: coffee cups, meat trays and packaging, prefab home manufacturer
: Japan Dome House Co., Ltd. uses it to construct easy-to-assemble
: modular kit homes.

: Dubbed the "habitat for the 21st century," the Dome House is an
: igloo-shaped structure built from snap-together wall sections made
: of 100% expanded polystyrene foam (styrofoam). It might seem like
: an odd choice of material for a house, but the company lists a
: number of advantages that styrofoam has over traditional materials.
: Unlike wood and metal structures, for example, the styrofoam Dome
: House does not rust, rot or attract termites. It is also highly
: resistant to earthquakes and typhoons. In addition, the walls,
: which are treated with a flame retardant, emit no toxic fumes in a
: fire.

: The styrofoam used in the Dome House's 175-millimeter (7 in) thick
: walls is significantly denser and stronger than ordinary packing
: foam. The material has excellent thermal insulation properties,
: resulting in higher energy efficiency and lower heating and cooling
: costs.

: Construction of the Dome House shell is quick and easy. The
: prefabricated pieces, which each weigh about 80 kilograms
: (175 lbs), can be carried by 2 or 3 people and assembled in a few
: hours. Once the shell is put together, coats of mortar and paint
: are applied for further protection from the elements. (Watch a
: short video of the assembly process.)

: Measuring 7.7 meters (25 ft) wide and 3.85 meters (13 ft) tall, the
: basic Dome House has a floor space of 44.2 square meters
: (475 sq ft). It is possible to construct larger, elongated domes by
: adding more pieces, and joint units allow multiple domes to be
: connected into a single structure.

: Dome Houses, which are approved by Japan's Land and Transport
: Ministry, can be erected anywhere in Japan with the proper permit.
: According to the manufacturer, the versatile structures are
: suitable for use as hotel rooms, restaurants, freezer rooms, or
: even as hog farms.

: The Aso Farm Land resort village in Kyushu uses about 480 styrofoam
: domes as lodging, recreational facilities and retail shops.

: The Dome House can also be used as a bar, karaoke room, steam room,
: and more.

: Whether or not this type of home is truly "perfect for the modern
: age" as the company suggests, the price is right. Dome House kits
: start at around 3 million yen (under $30,000), which does not
: include the cost of transport, assembly, interior construction,
: etc.

: Japan Dome House
: http://www.i-domehouse.com

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"The NASA-ESA Comparative Architecture Assessment"
NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Media Release via
SpaceRef
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.rss.spacewire.html?pid=28640

Full document
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/259221main_NASA_ESA_CAA-Report.pdf

: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is
: currently studying lunar outpost architecture concepts,
: including habitation, mobility and communication systems, to
: support U.S. lunar exploration and science objectives. Elements
: of a surface architecture will rely on the Ares I and Ares V
: launch vehicles, the Orion crew exploration vehicle, and the
: Altair lunar lander for transport to the Moon. The European
: Space Agency (ESA) is currently studying scenarios and
: associated architectures for human space exploration to follow
: the International Space Station Program. These studies are at
: their earliest conceptual stage and fall into three general
: scenario categories, each with their own technical capabilities
: and related timeframes, and each having the potential to
: constitute a distinct European contribution to future lunar
: exploration missions.

: In January 2008, NASA and ESA agreed to conduct a comparative
: architecture assessment to determine if their respective lunar
: architecture concepts could complement, augment, or enhance
: the exploration plans of the other. From January through March
: representatives from NASA and ESA engaged in a series of joint,
: qualitative assessments of potential ESA capabilities as applied
: to NASA's architecture concepts. Initial findings from these
: assessments, with respect to each potential ESA category under
: study, are as follows:

: Scenario 1: ESA Provision of Stand-Alone Capabilities

: - Automated Lunar Cargo Landing System: This capability
: (approximately 1.5 metric tons of payload to the lunar surface)
: would significantly extend surface exploration opportunities by
: enabling enhanced mobility or extended habitation, and creates more
: opportunities for science. Further quantitative analysis is
: required to determine how an ESA lander, combined with various
: mission scenarios could enhance global lunar surface exploration
: and enable potential joint missions.

- Communication and Navigation Systems: Beyond a basic capability for
: communication to be secured by NASA, ESA systems for enhanced
: communication and navigation could provide significant mission
: enhancement for all NASA mission scenarios. There are also
: opportunities for international commercial engagement for the
: provision of communications services. In both cases, opportunities
: for detailed collaboration merit further dialogue.

: Scenario 2: ESA Development of Crew Transportation Architecture
: Elements

: - Human Crew Transportation to low-Earth orbit (LEO), including a
: human-rated Ariane 5 launch vehicle and a crew transportation
: vehicle: Experience on the ISS demonstrates that redundant
: transportation is welcome. However, real redundancy with NASA's
: architecture requires a transportation capability that has at least
: access to lunar orbit.

: - Orbital Infrastructures: A low lunar orbiting station as analyzed
: within the ESA transportation architecture studies and that can be
: utilized by NASA has the potential to enhance mission safety and
: performance, and could enable different mission profiles. To fully
: understand the benefits of this station would require further
: dialogue. Other ESA orbital infrastructure concepts (LEO, Lagrange
: points) do not have synergy with NASA's architecture.

: Scenario 3: ESA Development of Dedicated Lunar Surface Exploration
: Elements

: - Surface Habitation Elements or a Surface Rover: Each of these is
: a fundamental, enabling component of any surface architecture.
: These capabilities merit further quantitative analysis to determine
: how they may enable joint lunar exploration missions or enhance
: total mission capabilities.

: There are differences between what NASA believes to be its key
: capabilities and the three categories of potential ESA
: contributions to space exploration. For NASA, the key capabilities
: identified include the transportation elements of the Constellation
: Program that NASA is committed to developing; they are part of
: NASA's mandate to explore, as expressed in both the 2004 U.S. Space
: Exploration Policy and 2005 NASA Authorization Act. For ESA, future
: contributions to human space exploration are similar to NASA's key
: capabilities in that they address areas of high strategic interest
: to the agency and to Europe as a whole, but final decisions on
: their development and implementation have yet to be made, and
: likely will not be made final until 2011. In this respect any
: particular ESA contribution is more like the surface exploration
: elements NASA has examined during its LAT exercises, which will not
: receive funding for development until 2011. An important goal of
: this phase of the CAA therefore is to provide the reader an early
: perspective on opportunities for long-term collaboration between
: NASA and ESA; a perspective which can be valuable in the near-term
: as programmatic and funding decisions are being made.

: NASA is prepared to continue the dialogue following completion of
: the report, and is committed to support more detailed joint studies
: to further define concepts starting in 2009.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

It's All Decked Out. Give It Somewhere to Go
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2008/07/11/AR2008071102394.html

: Consider the International Space Station, that marvel of
: incremental engineering. It has close to 15,000 cubic feet of
: livable space; 10 modules, or living and working areas; a Canadian
: robot arm that can repair the station from outside; and the
: capacity to keep five astronauts (including the occasional wealthy
: rubbernecking space tourist) in good health for long periods. It
: has gleaming, underused laboratories; its bathroom is fully
: repaired; and its exercycle is ready for vigorous mandatory
: workouts.

: The only problem with this $156 billion manifestation of human
: genius -- a project as large as a football field that has been
: called the single most expensive thing ever built -- is that it's
: still going nowhere at a very high rate of speed. And as a
: scientific research platform, it still has virtually no purpose and
: is accomplishing nothing.

: I try not to write this cavalierly. But if the station's goal is to
: conduct yet more research into the effects of zero gravity on human
: beings, well, there's more than enough of that already salted away
: in Russian archives, based on the many years of weightlessness that
: cosmonauts heroically logged in a series of space stations
: throughout the 1970s, '80s and '90s. By now, ISS crews have also
: spent serious time in zero gravity. We know exactly what
: weightlessness does and how to counter some of its atrophying
: effects. (Cue shot of exercycle.)

: And if the station's purpose is to act as a "stepping stone" to
: places beyond -- well, that metaphor, most recently used by NASA
: Administrator Michael Griffin is pure propaganda. As any student of
: celestial mechanics can tell you, if you want to go somewhere in
: space, the best policy is to go directly there and not stop along
: the way, because stopping is a waste of precious fuel, time and
: treasure. Which is a pretty good description of the ISS, parked as
: it is in constant low Earth orbit.

: This is no doubt why, after the horrifying disintegration of the
: space shuttle Columbia in 2003, the Bush administration belatedly
: recognized that, if we're going to spend all that money on manned
: spaceflight, we should justify the risks by actually sending our
: astronauts somewhere. So NASA is now developing a new generation of
: rockets and manned spacecraft. By 2020, the Constellation program
: is supposed to take astronauts beyond low Earth orbit for the first
: time since Apollo 17 returned from the moon in 1972. Yes, that'll
: be almost 50 years. Where will they go? To the moon -- the only
: place humans have already visited.

: Which leads us right back to the expensively orbiting ISS. It
: hasn't a fig-leaf's role left. The moon is the new "stepping
: stone," with Mars bruited as a next destination. Although NASA
: officials will never quite say so, their current attitude seems to
: be that the station is essentially a high-maintenance distraction,
: even a mistake. Their plan is to finish assembling the thing ASAP
: and hand the keys over to the Russians, Canadians, Europeans and
: Japanese, with minimal continuing U.S. involvement. This should
: happen by the shuttle's mandatory retirement in 2010. Meanwhile,
: we're still writing a lot of high-denomination checks and preparing
: the two remaining shuttles for risky flights to finish something we
: then plan to be largely rid of. This seems absurd. I have an
: alternative proposal:

: Send the ISS somewhere.

: The ISS, you see, is already an interplanetary spacecraft -- at
: least potentially. It's missing a drive system and a steerage
: module, but those are technicalities. Although it's ungainly in
: appearance, it's designed to be boosted periodically to a higher
: altitude by a shuttle, a Russian Soyuz or one of the upcoming new
: Constellation program Orion spacecraft. It could fairly easily be
: retrofitted for operations beyond low-Earth orbit. In principle, we
: could fly it almost anywhere within the inner solar system -- to
: any place where it could still receive enough solar power to keep
: all its systems running.

: It's easy to predict what skeptics both inside and outside NASA
: will say to this idea. They'll point out that the new Constellation
: program is already supposed to have at least the beginnings of
: interplanetary ability. They'll say that the ISS needs to be
: resupplied too frequently for long missions. They'll worry about
: the amount of propellant needed to push the ISS's 1,040,000 pounds
: anywhere -- not to mention bringing them all back.

: There are good answers to all these objections. We'll still need
: the new Constellation Ares boosters and Orion capsules
: -- fortuitously, they can easily be adapted to a scenario in which
: the ISS becomes the living-area and lab core of an interplanetary
: spacecraft. The Ares V heavy-lift booster could easily send aloft
: the additional supplies and storage and drive modules necessary to
: make the ISS truly deep-space-worthy.

: The Orion crew exploration module is designed to be ISS-compatible.
: It could serve as a guidance system and also use its own rocket
: engine to help boost and orient the interplanetary ISS. After
: remaining dormant for much of the one-year journey to, say, Mars,
: it could then be available to conduct independent operations while
: the ISS core orbited the Red Planet, or to investigate an asteroid
: near Earth, for instance.

: But, the skeptics will say, the new Orion capsule's engines
: wouldn't be nearly enough; a spacecraft as large as the ISS would
: need its own drive system. Here, too, we're in surprisingly good
: shape. The ISS is already in space; the amount of thrust it needs
: to go farther is a lot less than you might think. Moreover, a drive
: system doesn't have to be based on chemical rockets. Over the past
: two decades, both the U.S. and Japanese programs have conducted
: highly successful tests in space of ion-drive systems. Unlike the
: necessarily impatient rockets we use to escape Earth's gravity and
: reach orbit, these long-duration, low-thrust engines produce the
: kind of methodical acceleration (and deceleration) appropriate for
: travel once a spacecraft is already floating in zero gravity. They
: would be a perfect way to send the ISS on its way and bring it back
: to Earth again.

: This leaves a lander. A lunar lander substantially larger than the
: spidery Apollo-era LEMs is currently on the drawing board. It's not
: nearly as far along in development as the Ares booster and Orion
: spacecraft components of the Constellation program -- which is a
: good thing. While I question the need to return to the moon in the
: first place, I wouldn't exclude it as a possible destination, so I
: think we should modify the lander's design to make it capable of
: touching down on either the moon or Mars and then returning to the
: ISS with samples for study in its laboratories. Such landers could
: also investigate the moon's poles, where we think water may be
: present, or one of the near-Earth asteroids -- which may have raw
: materials suitable for use by future generations of space
: explorers.

: But, our skeptics will sputter, this will all cost far more money
: than the Constellation program. Who'll pay for it?

: Actually, it will in effect save all the money we've already spent
: on the ISS. And the station is already an international project,
: with substantial financial and technological input from the
: Russians, Canadians, Europeans and Japanese. In recent years, the
: Chinese, who have developed their own human spaceflight
: capabilities, have made repeated overtures to NASA, hoping to be
: let in on the ISS project. They've been unceremoniously rebuffed by
: the Bush administration, but a new administration may be more
: welcoming. An interplanetary ISS -- the acronym now standing for
: International Space Ship -- would be a truly international
: endeavor, with expenses shared among all participating nations.

: How likely is any of this to happen? Not very. A lot depends on the
: flexibility of a NASA that hasn't always been particularly
: welcoming to outside ideas. On the other hand, the agency also
: collaborates with outsiders all the time. So it's not impossible.
: The reason the ISS went from being a purely American, Reagan-era
: project ("Space Station Freedom") to one including the Russians and
: many other nations was a political decision by the Clinton
: administration. A similar political vision will be necessary here.

: All the billions already spent on the space station would pay off
: -- spectacularly -- if this product of human ingenuity actually
: went somewhere and did something. But it would also serve as a
: compelling demonstration that we're one species, living on one
: planet, and that we're as capable of cooperating peacefully as we
: are at competing militaristically. Let's begin the process of
: turning the ISS from an Earth-orbiting caterpillar into an
: interplanetary butterfly.

: michael.benson@...

: Michael Benson, the author of "Beyond: Visions of the
: Interplanetary Probes," writes frequently on space science issues.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"NASA and ESA Complete Comparative Exploration Architecture Study"
NASA
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/jul/HQ_08171_NASA_ESA_Architectur
e_Study.html

: Over the last 6 months, representatives from NASA and the European
: Space Agency, or ESA, have been engaged in a detailed assessment of
: potential programs and technologies that when conducted
: cooperatively could one day support a human outpost on the moon.

: Findings from the study included a significant mutual interest in
: the potential development of lunar cargo landing systems,
: communication and navigation systems, lunar orbital
: infrastructures, and lunar surface systems, such as habitats or
: mobility systems. The study also identified the significant value
: gained from redundant human crew transportation capability.

: "We are very pleased to have worked with ESA on this comparative
: architecture assessment," said Geoff Yoder, director of NASA's
: Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Integration Office in
: Washington. "Since the announcement of the U.S. Space Exploration
: Policy, NASA has sought and welcomed input from its international
: partners on NASA's lunar architecture plans in areas of mutual
: interest. As future exploration plans mature around the world, it
: is becoming increasingly important that we seek compatibilities
: between NASA's plans and those of its potential future partners.
: The work we did with ESA will serve as a model for discussions with
: other potential partners as we begin to implement this very
: exciting mission."

: NASA and ESA experts briefed the results of their Comparative
: Architecture Assessment this week during an ESA sponsored
: integrated architecture review held at ESA's European Space
: Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, The Netherlands.

: "ESA is preparing itself for a round of decisions that will mark
: Europe's role in human spaceflight and exploration for the decades
: to come," said Bruno Gardini, manager of ESA's Exploration
: Program. "After the satisfaction of the successful deployment of
: the Columbus module and Automated Transfer Vehicle, we are looking
: forward to enhancing our role in the partnership for a sustained
: and robust space exploration program, where human spaceflight is
: the cornerstone. The moon is surely an important case study and
: useful test bed to thoroughly prepare for more distant
: destinations. This architecture work is very useful to prioritize
: our proposals to European decision-makers and define a European
: strategy."

: The study assessed the degree to which NASA and ESA's lunar
: exploration architecture concepts could complement, augment, or
: enhance the exploration plans of one another. Technical teams from
: each agency engaged in a series of joint, qualitative assessments
: of the potential scientific and exploration benefits from
: collaboration between the ESA capabilities under study and NASA's
: space transportation systems and lunar surface exploration
: architecture concepts.

: NASA is studying lunar surface exploration architecture concepts to
: support humans returning to the moon before 2020. Consistent with
: the principles of the Global Exploration Strategy -- a framework
: for coordinating space exploration plans of 14 participating
: agencies from around the world -- NASA is pursuing its lunar
: exploration plans under an "open architecture" approach. This
: approach will maximize opportunities for international and
: commercial participation. NASA's architecture concept calls for the
: transportation of astronauts and hardware to the moon using the
: Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles, the Orion crew exploration
: vehicle, and the Altair lunar lander, which are all currently under
: development by NASA.

: ESA is studying scenarios and associated architectures for human
: space exploration, building upon its extensive human space flight
: experience, including its contributions to the International Space
: Station program. While ESA's studies are currently at a conceptual
: stage, some of the scenarios assessed as part of this joint study
: included potential future use of an automated, Ariane 5-based lunar
: cargo landing system; European developed communication and
: navigation systems; and ESA-developed human-rated systems, such as
: a crew transportation system and orbital outposts.

: For more information on NASA's plans to explore the moon, Mars, and
: beyond, visit:

: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration

: For more information about ESA's exploration program, visit:

: http://www.esa.int/esaHS/exploration.html

Mark Reiff

An article written for the TMP2 Wiki project
(http://tmp2.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
) which I thought might be of some interest here. This article looks
at the possible forms of personal dwellings and buildings associated
with 'urban tree' structures featured in the proposed design of EvoHab
type habitats. These large on-orbit built-up habitat structures are
based on the use of a composite hull structure combining modular
pressure hull foundation and shielding panels attached to a spherical
enclosure space frame which then integrate to a polar 'core truss'
structure that passes through the interior center of the habitat and
is used as the primary attachment for functional elements both in the
exterior space and the interior pressurized environment. Elaborated by
secondary truss beam members and used as a conduit for infrastructure
and human traffic, this interior core truss would form the basis of
support for independent dwellings which retrofit to the outside of the
truss, expanding outward into the open volume of the habitat hull
which serves as an indoor 'exterior' space for the habitat. A key
feature of the EvoHab concept is the use of light and image
transmissive hull components which employ the outer surface of the
hull like a cellular heliostat array for light/image emitters on the
inner hull surface linked by fiber optics. (including in-line optical
filtering and high density photovoltaics to gain energy from unused IR
and UV portions of the ambient spectrum) In effect, the inner surface
of the hull becomes a virtual sky for the habitat, either providing
diffuse illumination with a simulation of a terrestrial sky and/or a
composite image of ambient space creating the illusion of a perfectly
transparent enclosure. This is an update of the original Asgard
habitat concept based on water-filled transparent hull systems as
proposed by Marshal T. Savage in the 1980s.

  >

Urban Tree Housing Concepts

In this section we will explore various design concepts for the unique
microgravity housing of the Asgard habitats. We refer to this as Urban
Tree housing based on the basic architecture of EvoHab based habitats
featuring a large axial core truss with various branches to which the
functional elements of the habitat are attached. This tree-like truss
structure would provide the primary conduit of traffic and utilities
systems within the habitat while buildings and residence structures
would be attached on their exterior and accessed through the
interstitial spaces in the sides of the truss structure.

This structure would afford great potential variation in the form of
the individual functional structures or ‘buildings’ that attach to it,
supporting the full potential diversity of architecture found in any
terrestrial community. In smaller habitats, where the distance between
the core truss structure and the outer hull structure is relatively
small, the volume outside the core truss would tend to be treated
primarily as an interior space. For the personal dwelling in these
structures design would be focused entirely on the interior. However,
with the full-scale EvoHab the outer hull would be light-transmitting
and possibly image transmitting creating the illusion of a sky, making
the volume outside the core truss structure an ‘interior outside’
space into which the urban tree buildings project and which they use
as a view space. Thus for the dwellings in this space both interior
and exterior design would come into play in order to create an
aesthetically pleasing habitat and, in some cases, to facilitate human
access and activity in this large ‘outside’ microgravity volume. The
use of plants will also come into play here as a key means to
enhancing the aesthetic quality of the EvoHab environment and many of
the designs we will explore will feature plant cultivation technology
as integral to their structure, making the analogy of the urban tree
very literal indeed.

Dwellings in the Asgard habitat exist in a climate-controlled
environment and, being in microgravity, bear none of the structural
loads associated with conventional buildings. So the primary function
of architecture in this environment is the organization of space,
privacy, and sound insulation. Though smaller dwellings may be
designed as whole unit structures, most larger dwellings will be built-
up structures intended for quick assembly and disassembly and a high
degree of variability for functional adaptation and personalization.
This affords the use of very light materials and structures not
typically considered to have a structural role, such as textiles and
foams. In fact, textiles, foam, carbon fiber composite, cable,
aluminum, Velcro, and other ‘mechanical adhesives’ may be the primary
materials in most Asgard dwelling architecture. Surprisingly (and
rarely considered in most space habitat design), many simple organic
materials may also be employed, particularly sourced from grass plants
like reeds and bamboo as these would be potentially easy to cultivate
in a microgravity environment and easily used in woven materials or
wood-like composites. The classic paper screens of Japanese
architecture may find a new role in this architecture and even tatami
matting as an all-around wall covering! Transparent membrane materials
–elastomerics in particular– are also very likely as a low-mass
unbreakable alternative to glass windows, usually tensioned or
employing pressure rigidization. Though in general there will likely
be less need for glazed enclosures given the climate controlled
environment and these will more often be employed in the roll of
shades and screens or transparent protective barrier enclosures for
wet areas, clean-rooms, or industrial systems.

Let’s now consider some specific possible designs.

Capsule Cabins:
Capsule Cabins would have their origins in the Capsule Hotel units
common to this unique form of hotel accommodation first devised in
Japan to suit the needs of traveling businessmen. (these, in turn,
have their origins in railway ‘sleeper’ cabins of the early 20th
century which themselves may have originated with the enclosed beds of
Asia and medieval Europe) The original Capsule Hotel units were based
on fiberglass shells –usually two pieces–enclosing a bed and
surrounding the occupant with a collection of formed-in-place
accoutrements. These varied with design but typically included TV and
radio, air conditioning, a small writing shelf, lighting, and a number
of small storage compartments. Most were designed for entry through a
single small window/doorway at the foot-end of the capsule with the
units stacked several units high along a wall. In use to the present
day, more recent designs have been larger, allowing a person to sit up
fully in their space, affording more storage and larger appliances,
and based on side-door entry.  This author has anticipated the likely
near-term evolution of these to 1.5x3m-4m units to accommodate the
increasing hassles of air travel and their adaptation into rigid-shell
cabins with a high degree of self-sufficiency for field deployment and
relief housing.

In microgravity such seemingly tiny spaces are comfortable and
functional –albeit still not suited to group occupancy– and have the
benefit of using more surfaces for formed-in accoutrements, since
there is no up or down and sleeping is done suspended or in a tube-
like hammock, freeing up ceiling and floor spaces to other uses. Thus
we arrive at the basic notion of the Capsule Cabin consisting of a
prismatic polygonal enclosure 1.5m wide, variable length, with door
and possibly window (or virtual window) at either end, and an
assortment of accoutrements built into its surrounding walls. This
space would be used in two common positions; a sprawled position where
the occupant is aligned parallel to the length of the space and a
‘seated’, ‘folded’, or ‘wedged’ position where one or more occupants
are in a position with torso roughly perpendicular to the length of
the space and possibly employing straps or wedging of buttocks and
feet to remain fixed to one interior face of the space –a position
used to perform some kinds of work or to engage in face-to-face
conversations. One surface wall of the cabin might be dedicated to
this position by featuring storage cabinets along its length with
recessed hinges and handles affording a flat ‘floor’ surface over
which some types of fold-out tables or shelves might be used.

The basic accoutrements of the Capsule Cabin would be very much akin
to that of the traditional Capsule Hotel unit but with some more high-
tech updates. A combination computer/communications/video display is
likely –designed for flat and fold-out positions in a number of
orientations– as well as some simple food preparation and cabin
cleaning systems. Early space habitats are likely to rely on shared
bathing and toilet facilities but this could be accommodated on the
personal level with the Capsule Cabin through the use of side-attached
‘wet units’ the inhabitant accesses through a side panel. In this same
way, multiple capsule rooms may be combined side-to-side to form
larger dwellings, most likely with dedicated sleeping or storage
areas. Sleeping would rely on simply drifting in the open cabin space
or the use of ‘sleeping socks’ that are strung diagonally between
sides of the cabin.

Early space habitats, which may rely on structures built whole on
Earth, are more likely to feature Capsule Cabins based on rigid
materials using retrofit paneling of softer surface materials. They
would tend to be very tightly integrated into the structure of a
prefabricated habitat. Built-up cabins, which are more likely with
Asgard development plans in general, would be deployable structures
based on foam and fabric materials rigidized by modular framing hidden
beneath the softer material surfaces. A capsule cabin may be
fabricated whole as a prefab of sorts, based on a primarily fabric
shell structure which then uses foam and frame inserts to rigidize it
much like a tent –an easy design concept to demonstrate on Earth.
Soundproofing would be a key factor in their design, given that they
would tend to be used in tight arrays. Generally, Capsule Cabins would
suit habitats with small hull volumes where they would be radial
arrayed in clusters around a central access corridor. Consequently,
like the original Capsule Hotel units, they would be single-sided,
lacking in any sort of exterior shell because their exterior sides are
completely hidden in their installation between hull and central
corridor. However, later designs for larger habitats may feature more
unified cabins with a smooth exterior enclosure surface over the back
of their formed-in features.

As one of the smallest of cabin designs, Capsule Cabins are likely to
be the basis of on-orbit emergency shelter designs, particularly for
community solar flare shelters and possibly employing a pressurized
shell structure with its own independent life support systems. The
basic form factor is also likely to see use a great variety of
applications based on enclosed or open-frame structures, including
industrial workstations, teleoperation stations, semi-automated
medical facilities, the ‘bridges’ of large spacecraft, and the basic
cabins of modest small passenger capacity utility spacecraft based on
‘beamship’ architectures.

Hutch Cabins:
Largely an evolution of the Capsule Cabin, the Hutch Cabin would be
based on taking two opposing faces of a Capsule Cabin and expanding
them into opposing planar surfaces over a larger area separated by a
gap of about 1.5 meters but with no particular limits in area –though
generally they would be within 4 meters square. Rectangular, circular,
or complex layouts would be possible. Side access doors would be the
norm but the cabins would also be suited to vertical stacking with a
central access port in the floor and/or ceiling. This arrangement has
the effect of forcing the assignment of a ‘floor’ surface used
predominately in a ‘folded’ or outstretched body position with back to
the floor or side walls and with radial arrangements of multiple
people. In a sense, one might refer to this as the ‘conversation pit’
of space dwellings, intended to make group use of a space more
convenient but also well suited in small sizes to the solitary
inhabitant in need of more flexible space.

Because this form compels the assignment of a floor plane and the use
of walls as back rests in a ‘wedged’ position, most accoutrements
would be designed for deployability from the floor and ceiling
surfaces rather than being simply ‘built-in’. Pop-up/down designs or
plug-in appliances would be likely. This would tend to produce a less
cluttered environment with less specialization of built-in features.
Sleeping arrangements could be free-floating or sleeping-sock based
but may also be ‘sleep pouch’ based where gently elasticized blankets
hold individuals to the floor surface.

This form factor supports a great variety of materials and layout
designs and one could expect to see an Asian influence in design and
the use of quite traditional materials like tatami matting for the
floor and ceiling surfaces. Large window areas are also possible with
this form, running along the narrow sides, though as a cost in side
seating surface. Radial arrangements around a core access corridor
like that used with Capsule Cabins would be quite practical, the hutch
cabins aligned with the narrow sides to the corridor, and Capsule
Cabin extensions would well integrate to the basic Hutch Cabin form
for various specialized rooms.

Hutch Cabins are likely to be one of the more common forms for large
Asgard habitat dwellings and so are more likely to feature self-
contained structure designs with a definite exterior aesthetic
treatment. They would also likely feature open exterior terraces along
perimeter edges or in circular ‘gazebos’ on top or bottom enclosed in
trellises that may double as plant cultivation systems.

Hutch Cabins would be well suited to group activities such as
conferences, classrooms, and media entertainment where individuals are
arranged radially and focus attention either inward, outward, or
toward the ceiling side for their shared activity. Larger launch
vehicles of the future are also likely to employ such cabin forms as
their cockpits –possibly simplifying future cockpit design to a single
control surface plane over a single flat or radially contoured foam
mattress.

Pod Cabins:
Based on the use of spherical room forms in clusters, this class of
microgravity structure would see the employ of some of the largest and
smallest of spaces in combination, this because while a sphere may be
one of the most efficient of closures for space, they are not
necessarily the most efficient spaces for the human body to move
around in under microgravity or the best form to array equipment
along. However, for the room of specialized purpose and single
occupancy, they offer one of the smallest efficient spaces and, when
combined with a concentric organization of surfaces, an efficient way
to limit  spans in large volume structures to make them more functional.

The Pod Cabin shares some of the same perennial caveats of free-form
organic architecture on Earth and would solve them in similar ways,
primarily by the tight integration of fixtures and furnishings into
the enclosing form. For instance, the bedroom and bed furniture of the
organic design home are often one in the same, the structure
contiguous and ergonomically sculpted. Likewise, the bedroom itself is
an extension of another space, either by concentric hierarchy or
clustered network organization or a combination of the two –always
seeking to keep the span of spaces to within some comfortable human
scale like the spaces of a ant colony or animal warren. Pod Cabins
would employ this same strategy in a more volumetric way, since they
need provide no floor or stairs/ramps. They would employ numerous tiny
rooms of ergonomically specialized purpose, reducing them to a kind of
large appliance. And they would cluster them alternately in tight
‘knotted’ networks and spherically concentric surfaces with spans
between the surfaces limited. In other words, they would employ
complex forms very much akin to the hives of wild bees and wasps.

However, their scale would tend to be limited by the desire for light
and views and the placement of windows and open ‘balconies.’ A typical
small dwelling or one with a more sprawling form may be limited to
clusters of a relatively small number of rooms associated with one
larger lounge space or a common tubular network. A larger dwelling may
enclose such an inner ‘core’ cluster in a concentric outer volume
formed itself by a second outer cluster, the span between the two
clusters being the primary via and common lounge space. Higher degrees
of ‘nesting’ may be counterproductive.

Pod Cabins would likely rely heavily on the use of rigid and semi-
rigid variable density foam materials in combination with mechanical
adhesives. Typical structures would be almost entirely foam-based with
softer material at the surface, harder materials near the core and
around functional fixtures, various utilities bus routes tunneled
through them, the interior and exterior surfaces scored with a grid of
slots to host fabric paneling held in place by semi-rigid tension rods
and rings pressed into the panel slots. Their individual pod rooms
would be critically engineered in ergonomics and designed as whole
units in combination with any electrical, electronic, and mechanical
systems used with them. They may be sculpted whole with new processes
rather than being ‘deployable’ in the manner of other structures and
permanently joined together in custom combinations. They would be less
suited to the use of rigid alloy frame systems unless they can be
adapted to support modularity through rigid saddle-polyhedra module
systems.

Given the more advanced character of their design and fabrication,
large Pod Cabin dwellings are likely a later development, though small
all-in-one units may be likely early-on. Pod Cabin designs may see
increasing use with the evolution of progressively advanced fabber and
nanofabrication technology, ultimately becoming a ubiquitous form with
the advent of [[NanoFoam]] as it would suit that intelligent
material’s biomorphic fabrication processes.

Planar Halls:
An evolution of the Hutch Cabin and incorporating many of its design
concepts, Planar Halls are a likely form of larger microgravity
structure suited to large group facilities as well as individual
dwellings that parallel the ‘pavilion aesthetic’ of in-terrace
dwellings of Aquarian marine settlements. Planar Halls would be based
on large parallel planes separated by a 2 meter gap and linked by a
grid of hand-hold poles and columnar fixture ‘kiosks’. Each pair of
planes could form a ‘floor’ in a stacked structure with large volumes –
usually intended to enclose large machines or volumetric garden
atriums- created by profile ‘terracing’ of these stacked levels.

Planar Halls would likely be based on light planar truss structures
clad in modular paneling, allowing the volume of the planar trusses to
serve as a utilities route and back enclosure to flush-surface-mount
equipment. Primary columns formed on truss framing would be the main
structural supports while hand-hold poles would be placed at various
intervals and freely moved as needed. These poles, along with
additional primary framing, could double as supports for modular
partition walls, though these would also likely be fashioned as self-
contained modular units that may often include active systems –very-
much paralleling the design concepts of the T-slot based UtiliHab
structural system employed in Aquarian development.

Intended as ‘flex space’, the Planar Hall would employ most fixtures
in the form of columnar or enclosure plug-ins between the parallel
planes of the main structure and other plug-ins mounted to one side or
flush-mounted into the plane surfaces. Thus, many ways, the Planar
Hall parallels the concept of ‘open plan design’ in terrestrial
architecture. However, both planes would have potential as a ‘floor’,
partitioning could employ the creation of integral ‘horizontal’
Capsule and Hutch enclosures, and the usual human position when
traversing these spaces would likely be ‘diagonal’ except when in a
stationary position where handholds are used as anchoring points,
individuals using both handholds and an alternating ‘bounce’ between
the planes as the basis of locomotion. All modes of sleeping
arrangement would be usable.

A typical personal dwelling may be based on a single ‘floor’ pavilion
enclosed in elastomeric, fabric, or even paper screen window walls and
with functional areas based on a series of functional ‘islands’
installed between the planes. Soft cover paneling interspersed with
lighting would dominate most of the plane surface area –tatami matting
again an elegant aesthetic possibility for these spaces. Larger
‘buildings’ would employ numerous stacked floors or individual floors
of large planar areas, again organized around freely relocated
functional workstation ‘islands’. They would be particularly useful as
large community activity spaces such as workshops with numerous
machine workstations whose equipment and/or production line systems
need access from the sides, theaters or conference rooms where couch
seating can be plugged into the perimeters of an area of group focus
(a ‘stage’ space or display area), as well as ‘dance’ halls where the
planar surfaces host lighting and sound systems and support poles
would offer locations for people to ‘stand’ and perform their
microgravity dance moves. Large theater structures could be based on
atrium terracing where a large open central space is surrounded by
stacked Planar Hall space allowing for access from behind to balcony-
like theater seating using couch-like seats at the edge of the central
open space. This could afford the design of a kind of spherical
coliseum organized as a terraced central band capped by polar dome
framing supporting lighting and other systems. This is also a possible
organization for communal residential habitat structures that have not
yet achieved the volume suited to an Urban Tree organization and the
use of light transmitting [[EvoHab]] hull systems, the core truss of
the habitat hosting a volumetric garden and public facilities creating
a kind of central community atrium surrounded by stacked terrace
dwellings in combination with other cabin types along the hull wall.

Gazebos and other ‘Outdoor’ Structures:
The space habitat, of course, has no ‘exterior’ in the terrestrial
sense of the term. All space within the habitat is technically
‘interior’ with the distinction between interior and exterior space
within that space is a function of relative spans, lighting, and
hierarchy of enclosure. And large span space is generally of very poor
function in microgravity. Yet the apparent dichotomy between interior
and exterior and their social/cultural roles are important to the
human sense of comfort. Thus one can anticipate the use of
progressively large spans in progressively large volume habitat
structures as the basis of virtual exteriors providing ambient light
and large area views. The [[EvoHab]] concept and its employ of light/
image transmitting hull systems intended to create an impression of an
environment open to space itself is based on this premise. But the use
of such large span space presents many issues for their use, usually
relating to the hazard a lack of gravity presents when one is out of
reach of any handholds. The windows of terrestrial buildings make
little sense in the space habitat as there is no weather to provide a
light/view communicating barrier against. Yet there is a need to
confine the movement of human beings and their loose household
articles that precludes simply employing large open portals. In most
habitat dwellings translucent and transparent screens based on
fabrics, paper, and elastomerics are likely. But for the truly
‘outdoor’ spaces, such as balconies, terraces, and fully open
structures in the large space pace other strategies become necessary.

One likely strategy is the lattice or cage structure, which could be
seen as an analog to the traditional outdoor gazebo, bower, or
pergola. Using geometries with spans between 1 and 3 meters, these
structures would afford an open environment that would not seem cage-
like or confining yet provide enough density of hand-holds to afford a
sense of safety in the large span space. Lattice structures in
particular have the added potential to integrate a variety of fixtures
within their volume using the lattice structure as anchor points.
Tensioned fabric partitions, for instance, akin to the sailcloth
partitions used in many terrestrial outdoor structures. Seating in the
form of channel shaped benches and alcoves that accommodate a wedge
seating position. And also whole smaller cabin structures. An infinite
variety of fixtures could be attached to such structures and, given
the climate controlled nature of the habitat, could form the basis of
residential and work dwellings with a far more open aspect than the
more enclosed forms of cabins.

Given the likely strong desire of future space residents to employ
decorative plants as a means to ‘naturize’ the highly industrial
environment of the early space habitat, many novel systems for the
cultivation and integration of decorative plants into interior design
are likely. We will be discussing some of these systems in detail soon
but one of the most important may be the SkyGarden concept derived
from recent research into the use of semi-permeable ceramic pipes as
the basis of hydroponics systems. These systems combine plant support
with what is essentially a rigid structural element that can
potentially be formed into innumerable shapes. Simple systems are
likely to be based on single poles and narrow panels that may be
installed in the various forms of residential dwelling like a handhold
unit and feature their own integral lighting along with plant life
supports concealed within their bases. Expanding on this, we can
envision these being employed in greater number on the exterior of
dwellings, along terraces and in large arrays covering and concealing
exterior surfaces. As has been suggested previously, this could
ultimately be employed the make the analogy of the Urban Tree very
literal indeed.

Combine this technology with the gazebo and lattice structures
described above and one would have the basis of a large assortment of
very elegant outdoor structures that have the aspect of enormous
plants inside which one can reside like birds roosting in a tree.
These could be combined with the various forms of cabin structures or
be used with larger lattice spans as an enclosure around them, forming
a dwelling with a complex integration of indoor and garden outdoor
space suspended in the large microgravity volume of the habitat
macrostructure. It would seem likely that this combination could
become the definitive [[Asgard]] design vernacular.

Eric Hunting
erichunting@...

FYI,

"Tackling Moondust for Future Lunar Living"
SPACE.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080528/sc_space/tacklingmoondustforfut
urelunarliving;_ylt=ApcNuOHpWRrmEd0YKqAry3wE1vAI

: Better living on the moon could start with keeping lunar dust out.

: Astronauts living on a permanent moon base will need protection
: against the bleak world's asbestos-like dust, not to mention
: shielding from radiation and a plan to ward off psychological
: demons.

: Those challenges weigh on NASA's plans to send humans back to the
: moon before the end of the next decade, when four-astronaut crews
: would have to learn how to live on the lunar surface in a space the
: size of a small mobile home.

: "It's not just like dirt in your house," said Robert Howard,
: engineer and manager of NASA's Habitability Design Center, of the
: moon's ubiquitous dust.

: Lunar dust began as a problem back when Apollo astronauts found the
: gray powder clinging to everything. Even the vacuum designed to
: clean the spacesuits and spacecraft choked on the stuff.

: Now researchers want to know how much dust would settle in
: astronaut lungs within the moon's reduced gravity of just one sixth
: that of Earth's gravity.

: "In the big picture, the questions are: How much goes into the
: lung? Where does it go? How long does it stay? And how nasty is the
: stuff?" said Kim Prisk, a medical researcher at the University of
: California, San Diego.

: Astronauts may spend up to six months living with the lunar dust
: that resembles fresh-fractured quartz, a highly toxic substance.
: Reduced gravity could keep dust particles suspended in the airways,
: which provides more time for the toxic dust to get deep into the
: lungs and reach the bloodstream.

: Prisk and other researchers of the National Space Biomedical
: Research Institute monitored volunteers who breathed in dust-sized
: particles during flights on NASA's Microgravity Research Aircraft.
: The airplanes can make steep dives to briefly simulate reduced- and
: zero-gravity.

: "With the reduced-gravity flights, we're improving the process of
: assessing environmental exposure to inhaled particles," Kim said.
: "We've learned that tiny particles (less than 2.5 microns or
: 0.0025 millimeters) which are the most significant in terms of
: damage, are greatly affected by alterations in gravity."

: Howard and other NASA engineers already have ideas on how to clear
: out unwanted dust in lunar habitats. Electromagnets could pull or
: drive off lunar dust that has metallic qualities, while air hoses
: could also help.

: Astronauts might even leave their suit outside after attaching to a
: suit port outside the moon base or a lunar rover.

: "The suit never comes into the vehicle," Howard told SPACE.com,
: adding that astronauts could crawl out of the suit and into the
: vehicle after locking into place.

: That would also require a new lunar rover that's more mini-RV
: rather than dune buggy, Howard said.

: Radiation and recreation

: Another hazard to astronaut health would come from dangerously high
: levels of space radiation. Massive solar storms or galactic cosmic
: rays from far off could have fatal consequences for any living
: being on the moon. By contrast, astronauts living on the
: International Space Station and flying on shuttle missions are
: protected from the worst by Earth's magnetic field.

: Previous ideas for radiation countermeasures include using
: electrostatic shielding to protect lunar inhabitants. Howard noted
: that ridges near the moon's South Pole could ideally house an
: underground base. Astronauts could also tote around portable
: shielding inside the habitats in cases of emergency involving
: "short duration, high radiation" events.

: Howard and other engineers have not forgotten the human component
: to living on another world, despite grappling with the technical
: challenges.

: "I'm a habitability person, so I'm focused on the psychological
: well-being," Howard said.

: He pointed to psychological lessons from living on the space
: station and observed the importance of having "a place to call your
: own" as private quarters.

: Learning to live on the moon would ultimately provide a stepping
: stone towards learning to live in other alien environments. Call it
: a dry run for the even more daunting and distant prospect of living
: on Mars.

: "It's just five days away in an emergency, so we can go home if we
: have to," Howard said. "We have to have it right before going to
: Mars."

Mark Reiff

FYI,

: CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT -- SPACE ARCHITECTURE

: The Space Architecture Technical Committee of the American
: Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics has organized a
: technical session at

: The International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES)
: 2008 June 29 - July 2
: Hyatt Regency
: 5 Embarcadero Center
: San Francisco, California, USA

: Session ICES503, Monday, June 30, 1:30 - 5:45 PM

: 1:30 PM "International Space Station USOS Crew Quarters
:         Development"
:         James Lee Broyan, Jr., Melissa Ann Borrego,
:         Juergen F. Bahr

: 2:00 PM "Expandable Habitat Technology Demonstration for Lunar
:         and Antarctic Applications"
:         Dave Cadogan, Craig Scheir

: 2:30 PM "High Transparency Inflatable Modules for Space
:         Habitats"
:         Valentin Stavrev, Raffi Tomasian

: 3:00 PM "Survey of Past, Present and Planned Human Space
:         Mission Simulators" Susmita Mohanty, Sue Fairburn,
:         Barbara Imhof, Stephen Ransom, Andreas Vogler

: 3:30 PM Break

: 3:45 PM "A Building for Testing European Rovers and Landers
:         under Simulated Surface Conditions: Part 1 â€" Design
:         and Phasing"
:         David Anthony Nixon, Truls Ovrum

: 4:15 PM "Conceptual Modeling of Human Processes in a Lunar
:         Systems Architecture"
:         David B. Howes

: 4:45 PM "Testing the Celentano Curve: An Empirical Survey of
:         Predictions for Human Spacecraft Pressurized Volume"
:         Marc M. Cohen

: 5:15 PM   General Q&A and discussion

: Conference Registration:

: Register before June 13 to save $100.

: If you wish to register, please go to
: http://www.sae.org/events/ice
: and follow the link for _Register_Now_ near the top of the
: page, or _Register_ farther down (under Registration &
: Resources).


: Hotel Reservations:

: The conference hotel is:

: Hyatt Regency
: 5 Embarcadero Center
: San Francisco, California  94111
: United States

: Phone:  +1-415-788-1234
: Fax:    +1-415-981-3638

: http://www.sae.org/events/ice
: then _Hotel_&_Travel_Information_

: There are several other hotels within walking distance.

: For more information, please visit:

: 38th ICES:
: http://www.sae.org/events/ice

: SpaceArchitect:
: http://www.spacearchitect.org

: I hope you can join us in San Francisco.

: Regards,

: Ted Hall <twh@...>

Mark Reiff

Dear Space ISUnauts and Space Architects,



For those who love space and space architecture we are very sorry to give
you some bad news, our Master Architect, Nader Khalili, internationally
renowned architect, author, and educator, passed away at the age of 72 on
Wednesday, March 5th..



The scientific community and this disciple show his condolences.



May God have Nader along his side,



Good bye good old friend, good bye Nader.



Regards,



Felipe A. Hernández Pino

Space Architect

Chile

ISU-SSP- 2000

astrolipe@...



PD: for more info please visit:



http://www.calearth.org/burial.html

FYI,

: Dear colleagues,

: The Call for Abstracts for IAC 59 in Glasgow, September 19
: - October 3, 2008, is now open:

: http://www.iafastro.org/index.php?id=563

http://www.iafastro.org/fileadmin/template/main/Documents/Events/2008I
AC/IAC2008-Call_for_Papers.pdf

: Please consider your participation and submit your abstracts before
: March 11th!

: E5.3. The Architecture of Space: Tools for Development in the 21st
: Century -- This session will be part of the 19th Symposium on Space
: Activity and Society in section E5.

: IAA Study Group 6.9, The Architecture of Space: Tools for
: Development in the 21st Century, concludes in 2008 at the IAC in
: Glasgow.  Continuing with the related theme from sessions at the
: last two Space and Society Symposiums, Valencia 2006 and Hyderabad
: 2007, the multi-disciplinary aspects of Space Architecture and
: Space Tourism will be addressed.  This session seeks papers on
: topics including, but not limited to: architecture, human factors,
: ergonomics, man-machine interfaces, information technology,
: life-support systems, entrepreneurship opportunities, psychology,
: art, and sociology.

: Best regards,

: Olga Bannova

: IAA Commission VI Space Architecture Study Group co-chair

: Research Assistant Professor
: Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture
: 122 College of Architecture Bldg., University of Houston

: tel. +1 713 743 2352
: fax  +1 713 743 2356

: http://www.sicsa.uh.edu

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"Inflatable Moon Base Prototype Heads to South Pole"
Space.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20071115/sc_space/inflatablemoonbaseprot
otypeheadstosouthpole;_ylt=AoMifJxBzSS4o9dGSBbjFtgE1vAI

: An inflatable habitat designed for explorers on the moon or Mars is
: headed for an Antarctic test run, NASA said Wednesday.

: The habitat – built by ILC Dover and resembling an inflatable
: backyard bounce for children – will make its South Pole debut early
: next year. NASA demonstrated the inflatable prototype on Wednesday
: at ILC Dover's Frederica, Del., facility.

: "We deflated [and inflated] it in about ten minutes," said Larry
: Toups, habitat lead for NASA's Constellation Program Lunar Surface
: Systems Office, in an interview.

: Toups and several other habitat designers from NASA's Johnson Space
: Center and ILC Dover will attempt to deploy the structure in the
: Antarctic this coming January. Their goal: to use just four people
: and deploy everything in four hours. Working in bulky cold weather
: gear will also make the deployment more analogous to the challenges
: facing astronauts clad in cumbersome spacesuits on the moon.

: The habitat prototype will eventually serve as a multilayered test
: platform for new technologies such as health monitoring systems,
: self-healing materials, and protective radiation materials. When
: not inflated, the habitat can save on space and weight during
: transportation. It's just one of several models, including another
: prototype that stands on eight legs and has two pressurized
: cylinders connected by an airlock door, under scrutiny by NASA
: engineers.

: Other researchers at McMurdo Station in Antarctica will use the
: inflated habitat as a staging area from January 2008 to February
: 2009, allowing the designers to monitor its performance using human
: reports as well as data from embedded sensors. NASA and the
: National Science Foundation hope to learn how the habitat material
: behaves in a cold environment and how well the structure retains
: heat and atmosphere.

: Toups said the field demonstration will show that the structure can
: be "packaged in a small volume" but still "expand to a usable,
: habitable volume," even in an extreme environment. If NASA likes
: what it sees, a second or third generation inflatable habitat could
: deploy to the moon as early as 2020, with four-person crews making
: weeklong trips to get a lunar base operational.

: The U.S. space agency is not alone in considering inflatable living
: modules. A private company, the Las Vegas, Nev.-based Bigelow
: Aerospace, has already launched two inflatable modules into Earth
: orbit in anticipation of assembling a new space station by 2012.

Mark Reiff

From Ted Hall,

: Final Call -- abstracts due this Friday, November 9.

: CALL for PAPERS
: SPACE ARCHITECTURE at ICES 2008

: The Space Architecture Technical Committee (SATC) of the American
: Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is organizing a
: technical session at

: The 38th International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES)
: 2008 June 29 - July 3
: Hyatt Regency
: San Francisco, California, USA

: Session ICES 503 - Aerospace Architecture

: Important Dates:

: Abstract deadline:       2007 November 9        (extended abstract)
: Full manuscript deadline:  2008 March 5           (for peer review)
: Final manuscript deadline: 2008 May 12            (revised edition)
: Poster deadline:           2008 June 1            (student posters)
: Conference:                 2008 June 29 - July 3  (presentation)

: The complete Call for Papers with more details is posted at

: http://www.spacearchitect.org/pubs/ICES2008/cfp.htm

: Abstracts are due in four days.

: I hope that you can join us in San Francisco next July.

: Regards,

: Ted Hall

Mark Reiff

FYI,

Space Systems Architect
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab
http://www.jhuapl.edu

: Description

: Play a lead role in the development of spacecraft, space system,
: and space architecture concepts for civilian space missions,
: particularly for the Lunar / Mars Exploration Initiative. Provide
: system engineering leadership for the space department in working
: with NASA to define and execute a development program and mission
: sequence to satisfy the objectives of this initiative.

: Sponsor Technical / System Engineering Direction:

: - Provide technical interface to current and prospective sponsors
: and segments within the sponsor community.

: - Provide system engineering support for the development of an
: overall approach to achieving the objectives of the Lunar / Mars
: Exploration Initiative, to include as necessary end-system
: architecture definition, system of systems development approach,
: critical technology identification, and definition of robotic (and
: possibly human) mission sequences leading to demonstration and
: establishment of the required capabilities.

: - Provide sponsor and business area support for key related
: assessments, including Analysis of Alternatives, Development
: planning, interface to existing & planned infrastructures, concept
: of operations, spacecraft and payload concept trades and associated
: development planning and program definition.

: Proposal Development:

: - Lead proposal efforts in support of tasking for technical
: direction or mission / system developments in the areas defined
: above.

: - Develop system concepts, assessment approaches, capabilities,
: project plans, and cost and schedule estimates.

: - Lead the proposal technical team. Conduct/direct analysis/
: trade-off studies of design approaches, to the system or subsystem
: levels as appropriate.

: Systems and Spacecraft Development:

: - Provide technical leadership for critical mission, system
: development, and study efforts emerging from the above efforts.

: - Support programs at the mission, spacecraft, payload, or critical
: technology levels as appropriate.

: - Play a key role in modeling, analysis, definition of requirements
: and interfaces, and performance characterization / verification, at
: the system and system of systems levels.

: - Provide sponsor technical interface.

: Communications:

: - Prepare outside publications and internal APL reports.

: - Organize and lead system level design reviews.

: - Organize and present status reviews and other forms of reporting
: to keep sponsors and internal program and line management informed.

: Requirements

: Required:

: - B.S. in engineering, physics, or closely related field or
: equivalent with at least 7 10 years experience in work similar to
: the activities listed under Duties.

: - Very strong written and oral communication skills. Ability to
: work effectively in a team environment and to manage a large
: multi-discipline team.

: - Selected applicants will be subject to government security
: investigation and must meet the eligibility requirements for access
: to classified information. Eligibility requirements include U.S.
: citizenship.

: Desired:

: - M. S. (or higher) in engineering, Physics, or related field.

: - Experience in space systems and / or human spaceflight systems.

: - Familiarity with military and intelligence community system
: architecture assessment and development methodologies, and
: willingness to apply / adapt such methodologies to a long term
: national space exploration enterprise.

: - Demonstrated track record in development of sponsored programs.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

Photos can be found on source article.

"Preparing the European Columbus laboratory - new images"
ESA
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMC7BV7D7F_index_0.html

: The European Columbus laboratory is in the final stages of
: preparation for launch to the International Space Station at the
: Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) at NASA's Kennedy Space
: Center, Florida.

: Columbus is scheduled for launch on board Space Shuttle Atlantis on
: flight STS-122 in December. Members of the STS-122 crew, including
: ESA astronauts Hans Schlegel and Leopold Eyharts, recently visited
: the SSPF to inspect the European Columbus laboratory.

: These new images have been released on the occasion of the Columbus
: Media Day at Kennedy Space Center - click on an image to access the
: long caption and hi-res version.

: More views of the Columbus laboratory are linked from the right
: menu under 'More Columbus images' - other views are available in
: the ESA Multimedia Gallery: http://www.esa.int/mmg

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"Could Vertical Farming be the Future? - Farm able to feed
50,000 people could 'fit comfortably within a city block'"
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21154137

: Rice on the seventh floor. Wheat on the twelfth. And enough food
: within an 18-story tower to feed a small city of 50,000.

: Vertical farms, where staple crops could be grown in
: environmentally friendly skyscrapers, exist today only in
: futuristic designs an on optimistic Web sites.

: To Despommier, though, the world already has the need and the
: technology to dramatically improve yields and reliability by
: adjusting its point of view: from out to up.

: A recent exercise conducted by students in his medical ecology
: class found that a self-sustaining vertical farm able to feed
: 50,000 people could "fit comfortably within a city block," rising
: perhaps 18 stories. With adequate funding, a smaller prototype
: could be up and running in seven to 10 years, he predicts.
: Eventually, full-scale versions could be a new feature of city
: skylines, climbing as high as 30 stories and filled with automated
: feeders, monitoring devices and harvesting equipment. And, of
: course, they would feature crops such as wheat, rice, sugar beets
: and leafy greens grown in mineral nutrient solutions or without any
: solid substrates at all.

: These hydroponic and aeroponic growing techniques, respectively,
: have benefited from NASA's strong interest because any long-term
: venture to the moon or beyond would require the use of
: self-contained and resource-limited growth chambers. Despommier
: concedes that current practices must be improved and systems put in
: place to quickly identify and quarantine plants stricken with pests
: or disease. "No pun intended, but the bugs need to be worked out of
: this thing," he said.

: To his critics, that hurdle has tripped up past entrepreneurs and
: may yet be insurmountable. "I can't be very optimistic about this
: study," said Utah State's Bugbee. "None of this is very new. But it
: doesn't mean the whole concept is without merit. It just means the
: claims are greatly exaggerated."

: Bugbee's chief objection is the exorbitant power requirement for
: such a vertical structure.  Plants on the lower floors would
: require artificial light year-round or expensive mechanical systems
: to get more light to them. And during a typical winter in northern
: U.S. cities, he said, average sunlight is only 5 percent to
: 10 percent of peak summer levels due to sapped intensity and
: shorter days.

: "November, December, January and February are really dark," Bugbee
: said. "Plants aren't limited by the temperature, they're limited by
: the light." High-pressure sodium lights may be a reasonable
: stand-in for sunlight to maintain plant growth,  he said, but the
: electric bill is enormous. "Boy have a lot of people gone bankrupt
: trying hydroponic greenhouses for that reason."

: Nevertheless,  greenhouses such as Arizona's 265-acre Eurofresh
: Farms are thriving with their hydroponic tomatoes and seedless
: cucumbers. Gene Giacomelli, Director of the Controlled Environment
: Agriculture Program at the University of Arizona in Tucson, said
: questions of safety, quality and sustainability are pushing
: agriculture in a host of other directions, including Despommier's
: vertical farming idea. "He's one extreme – a very good one,"
: Giacomelli said.

: Several years ago, Giacomelli and collaborators in Arizona explored
: another extreme when they won a contract to design and build a
: growth chamber within a new building at Antarctica's Amundsen-Scott
: Research Station. The chamber can be tweaked remotely by scientists
: back in Arizona but is now largely managed by volunteers at the
: station.

: Besides supplying some much-needed color and light for the research
: station's residents during Antarctica's bleak and bitterly cold
: winter months, the indoor chamber has yielded a range of crunchy
: greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, hot and sweet peppers and even
: cantaloupe. Next year, a student will try to grow watermelon in
: what is arguably the worlds' most inhospitable place for a garden.
: Remarkably, the plot has produced about two-thirds of what top
: greenhouses in North America can deliver.

: "I like to say that we can grow any plant anywhere and any time,
: but for a price," Giacomelli said. The catch in Antarctica is that
: electricity  for the lights and pumps has inflated the cost to
: about $50 per pound of fresh vegetables . "Now, the local person at
: the supermarket would say you're crazy for spending that much money
: on vegetables," he said. "But you give that number to NASA and
: they'd say, `Wow, that's a good number.'"

: Despite a lack of major technological advances, the effort also
: stands to benefit from small but steady improvements in hydroponics
: and automated systems to control temperature, humidity and nutrient
: delivery, according to Giacomelli.

: To curb the excessive reliance on electricity, Giacomelli's own
: group is planning to experiment with fiber-optic tubes called solar
: pipes that can capture sunlight from the Antarctic growth chamber's
: roof. Meanwhile, Utah State University researchers have developed a
: clear piece of curved polyethylene that can retain heat in the
: ground and extend the growing season by up to four months for
: summer squash and tomatoes.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

: CALL for PAPERS

: SPACE ARCHITECTURE at ICES 2008

: The Space Architecture Technical Committee (SATC) of the American
: Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is organizing a
: technical session at

: The 38th International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES)
: 2008 June 29 - July 3
: Hyatt Regency
: San Francisco, California, USA

: Session ICES 503 - Aerospace Architecture

: Important Dates:

: Abstract deadline:  2007 November 9   (extended abstract)
: Full manuscript deadline: 2008 March 5  (for peer review)
: Final manuscript deadline:  2008 May 12  (revised edition)
: Poster deadline:  2008 June 1            (student posters)
: Conference:       2008 June 29 - July 3  (presentation)

: The complete Call for Papers with more details is posted at

: http://www.spacearchitect.org/pubs/ICES2008/cfp.htm

: Abstracts are due 6 weeks from today.

: Regards,

: Ted Hall <twh@...>

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"NASA ESMD Lunar Architecture Update"
NASA via SpaceRef.com
http://images.spaceref.com/news/2007/AIAA.ESMD.SPACE.2007.pdf

: This presentation contains the charts used to present NASA's current
: Lunar Architecture at AIAA's Space 2007 conference last week.

: Contents:

: Introduction to Session - Doug Stanley

: Current exploration strategy and status - Doug Cooke

: - Lunar Architecture update - Geoff Yoder
: - Lunar Science - Laurie Leshin
: - Pressurized Rover and EVA concepts - Mike Gernhardt

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"Now, a Space of Your Own, Literally"
Hindustan Times
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=4271468f-
84dc-40eb-9a5e-179db90d1ac5&ParentID=a6dfdec6-f0b0-45bb-8273-
2875eb0b43cd&&Headline=Now%2c+a+space+of+your+own%2c+literally

: Owning a home in space could be the next big thing, come 2020.

: For space scientists congregating at Hyderabad, it looks like we
: will have a colony up there soon. Space experts are mulling road
: maps on infrastructure comprising a communication network,
: including internet, a greenhouse, fuel production plants, and
: aspects of ethics and governance for human settlements on Moon,
: Mars and beyond.

: A settlement of a dozen people by 2020 and a village of 100 by 2030
: on the Moon is a possibility, says Prof Bernard Foing, executive
: director of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group, and
: the brain behind SMART-I, the first mission of the European Space
: Agency  to the Moon. A similar settlement on Mars is planned for
: 2040.

: "We believe the Moon to be the ideal test bed for evaluating
: technologies and systems that are required for taking life beyond
: Earth," he said.

: Earlier, at a meet on Strategies to establish Lunar and Mars
: colonies, William Marshall of NASA spoke of lunar governance. He is
: for a ban on military bases and deployment of weapons in space and
: advocated against property rights over lunar land.

: ISRO chairperson G Madhavan Nair said the ethical aspects ought to
: include use of resources on Moon and Mars for exploring the
: universe and a code against contamination of the new settlements.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"Space Gas Station Would Blast Huge Payloads to the Moon"
Popular Mechanics
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4224660.html?
series=35

: Boeing has unveiled a radical redesign of NASA's plan to return to
: the lunar surface: save weight (and money) by saving gas for an
: orbital fill-'er-up, then shoot 15 times more material to the moon.
: Can the space agency jive with private space to get the new
: propellant depot off the ground?

: The rocket equation has always had one frustrating yet inevitable
: consequence: For every pound of payload headed for, say, the lunar
: surface, NASA needs hundreds more pounds of hardware and propellant
: during low Earth orbit—and many times that on the launchpad. For
: example, NASA's planned Ares V vehicle (a modern-day replacement
: for the Saturn V that delivered our first visitors to the moon over
: 30 years ago) will weigh more than 3500 tons prior to launch from
: Cape Canaveral, Fla., but land just 18 tons of weight on the
: moon—only two tons of which aren't the lander itself.

: Because each post-shuttle era launch will cost billions of dollars,
: NASA is crunching the numbers on how to get more lunar payload
: "bang" for its transport vehicle "buck." Boeing proposed what might
: be the ultimate problem solver at the AIAA (American Institute of
: Aeronautics and Astronautics) Space 2007 conference here last week:
: a low Earth orbit gas station, or propellant depot, to refill the
: lunar-injection vehicle tanks, fill up NASA's new lander and
: deliver dramatically more efficient payloads to the surface of the
: moon.

: NASA's current mission plan calls for the Ares V to send the new
: lunar lander and its payload into Earth orbit. Once there, Ares V
: would not only have to dock with the Orion crew vehicle (launched
: separately on the Ares I rocket) but also restart and provide the
: initial burn to send the assembled system into a trajectory toward
: the moon.

: Boeing's alternative would combine the Orion rendezvous with a
: pitstop for gas, allowing the Ares V to lift off from Earth with a
: much larger payload—and an empty lander. Boeing says this would
: allow NASA to deliver about three times as much mass to the lunar
: surface, and over fifteen times as much payload. What's more,
: Ares V could then send the lander-Orion package all the way to
: lunar orbit with full tanks, rather than NASA's current plan to use
: extra propellant in slowing down before soft landing.

: Of course, there's no such thing as a free launch. In order for the
: propellant depot to become a reality, it has to reach orbit—and,
: more important, so does the gas.

: Boeing's plan is to build the depot in pieces like a stripped-down
: International Space Station, only in modules based on the upper
: stage of the Delta launch vehicle. Two depots would provide
: redundancy, each one with a total capacity of 175 tons of liquid
: oxygen/liquid hydrogen (25 tons for the lander, 125 for the rocket,
: with margins for boil-off and other contingencies). And while many
: of the necessary parts and operations (i.e., orbital cryogenic
: storage and transfer) still have to be developed and matured,
: they're plausible—and critical for a space-faring civilization
: anyway.

: How the propellant would reach such a pitstop in the sky is really
: the beauty of Boeing's concept. NASA has been seeking ways to
: involve both international partners and the commercial sector
: — Michael Griffin, the agency's administrator, told PM recently
: that such a "private/public synergy" was "crucial for the future"
: — but NASA has been reluctant to put any partner on the critical
: path. The good news? Anyone can make propellant, and anyone can
: deliver it. The orbital reservoir will allow for different
: quantities from tanker vehicles both small and large. The payload
: itself is cheap, so even low-reliability launchers could
: potentially be used.

: If one provider doesn't deliver, another can pick up the slack,
: whether it's based in the U.S. or overseas. It's an ideal means to
: provide a large market for a variety of launch providers, driving
: the competition necessary to reduce launch costs. And the lower the
: propellant costs get, the lower the cost of per-pound lunar payload
: delivery gets—space economics at its finest.

: Down the road, Boeing's gas station could provide even more
: benefits than an improved lunar payload. Communications companies
: could improve their satellite payloads to geostationary orbit and
: beyond. NASA might be able to combine the dual launches in its moon
: program, or make its lunar landing vehicle reusable, with another
: depot using propellants produced on the moon. Because most of the
: mass necessary to get to the moon is propellant (though Boeing
: would never say so), a space gas station might even eliminate the
: need for a heavy-lift launcher altogether, increasing the launch
: rate of smaller, cheaper vehicles, which in turn could cut costs
: for getting to the moon and, eventually, Mars.

Mark Reiff