Space architecture
Space architecture is the theory and practice of designing and building inhabited environments in outer space. This mission statement for space architecture was developed in 2002 by participants in the 1st Space Architecture Symposium, organized at the World Space Congress in Houston, by the Aerospace Architecture Subcommittee, Design Engineering Technical Committee, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
The subcommittee rose to the status of an independent Space Architecture Technical Committee of the AIAA in 2008. The SATC routinely organizes technical sessions at several conferences, including AIAA , the International Conference on Environmental Systems, the International Astronautical Congress, and the American Society of Civil Engineers Earth & Space conference.
is an outgrowth of the SATC that invites wider participation. Its membership is essentially a superset of the SATC's, and is independent of the AIAA.
The practice of involving architects in the space program grew out of the Space Race, although its origins can be seen much earlier. The need for their involvement stemmed from the push to extend space mission durations and address the needs of astronauts beyond minimum survival needs.
Much space architecture work has focused on design concepts for [|orbital] space stations and [|lunar] and [|Martian] exploration ships and surface bases for the world's space agencies, including NASA, ESA, JAXA, CSA, Roscosmos, and CNSA.
Despite the historical pattern of large government-led space projects and university-level conceptual design, the advent of space tourism is shifting the outlook for space architecture work.
The architectural approach to spacecraft design addresses the total built environment. It combines the fields of architecture and engineering, and also involves diverse disciplines such as industrial design, physiology, psychology, and sociology.
Like architecture on Earth, the attempt is to go beyond the component elements and systems and gain a broad understanding of the issues that affect design success. Space architecture borrows from multiple forms of niche architecture to accomplish the task of ensuring human beings can live and work in space. These include the kinds of design elements one finds in “tiny housing, small living apartments / houses, vehicle design, capsule hotels, and more.”
Specialized space-architecture education is currently offered in several institutions. The Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture is an academic unit within the University of Houston that offers a Master of Science in Space Architecture. SICSA also works design contracts with corporations and space agencies. In Europe, The Vienna University of Technology and the International Space University are involved in space architecture research. The TU Wien offers an .
Etymology
The word space in space architecture is referring to the outer space definition, which is from English outer and space. Outer can be defined as "situated on or toward the outside; external; exterior" and originated around 1350–1400 in Middle English. Space is "an area, extent, expanse, lapse of time," the aphetic of Old French espace dating to 1300. Espace is from Latin spatium, "room, area, distance, stretch of time," and is of uncertain origin. In space architecture, speaking of outer space usually means the region of the universe outside Earth's atmosphere, as opposed to outside the atmospheres of all terrestrial bodies. This allows the term to include such domains as the lunar and Martian surfaces.Architecture, the concatenation of architect and -ure, dates to 1563, coming from Middle French architecte. This term is of Latin origin, formerly architectus, which came from Greek arkhitekton. Arkitekton means "master builder" and is from the combination of arkhi- "chief" and tekton "builder". The human experience is central to architecture – the primary difference between space architecture and spacecraft engineering.
There is some debate over the terminology of space architecture. Some consider the field to be a specialty within architecture that applies architectural principles to space applications. Others such as Theodore W. Hall of the University of Michigan see space architects as generalists, with what is traditionally considered architecture being a subset of a broader space architecture. Any structures that fly in space will likely remain for some time highly dependent on Earth-based infrastructure and personnel for financing, development, construction, launch, and operation. Therefore, it is a matter of discussion how much of these earthly assets are to be considered part of space architecture. The technicalities of the term space architecture are open to some level of interpretation.
Origins
Ideas of people traveling to space were first published in science fiction stories, like Jules Verne's 1865 From the Earth to the Moon. In this story several details of the mission bear striking similarity to the Apollo Moon landings that took place more than 100 years later. Verne's aluminum capsule had shelves stocked with equipment needed for the journey such as a collapsing telescope, pickaxes and shovels, firearms, oxygen generators, and even trees to plant. A curved sofa was built into the floor and walls and windows near the tip of the spacecraft were accessible by ladder. The projectile was shaped like a bullet because it was gun-launched from the ground, a method infeasible for transporting man to space due to the high acceleration forces produced. It would take rocketry to get humans to the cosmos.The first serious theoretical work published on space travel by means of rocket power was by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1903. Besides being the father of astronautics he conceived such ideas as the space elevator, a rotating space station that created artificial gravity along the outer circumference, airlocks, space suits for extra-vehicular activity, closed ecosystems to provide food and oxygen, and solar power in space. Tsiolkovsky believed human occupation of space was the inevitable path for our species. In 1952 Wernher von Braun published his own inhabited space station concept in a series of magazine articles. His design was an upgrade of earlier concepts, but he took the unique step in going directly to the public with it. The spinning space station would have three decks and was to function as a navigational aid, meteorological station, Earth observatory, military platform, and way point for further exploration missions to outer space. It is said that the space station depicted in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey traces its design heritage to Von Braun's work. Wernher von Braun went on to devise mission schemes to the Moon and Mars, each time publishing his grand plans in Collier's Weekly.
The flight of Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961, was humanity's maiden spaceflight. While the mission was a necessary first step, Gagarin was more or less confined to a chair with a small view port from which to observe the cosmos – a far cry from the possibilities of life in space. Following space missions gradually improved living conditions and quality of life in low Earth orbit. Expanding room for movement, physical exercise regimens, sanitation facilities, improved food quality, and recreational activities all accompanied longer mission durations. Architectural involvement in space was realized in 1968 when a group of architects and industrial designers led by Raymond Loewy, over objections from engineers, prevailed in convincing NASA to include an observation window in the Skylab orbital laboratory. This milestone represents the introduction of the human psychological dimension to spacecraft design. Space architecture was born.
Theory
The subject of architectural theory has much application in space architecture. Some considerations, though, will be unique to the space context.Ideology of building
In the first century BC, the Roman architect Vitruvius said all buildings should have three things: strength, utility, and beauty. Vitruvius's work De Architectura, the only surviving work on the subject from classical antiquity, would have profound influence on architectural theory for thousands of years to come. Even in space architecture these are some of the first things we consider. However, the tremendous challenge of living in space has led to habitat design based largely on functional necessity with little or no applied ornament. In this sense space architecture as we know it shares the form follows function principle with modern architecture.Some theorists link different elements of the Vitruvian triad. Walter Gropius writes:
As space architecture continues to mature as a discipline, dialogue on architectural design values will open up just as it has for Earth.
Analogs
A starting point for space architecture theory is the search for extreme environments in terrestrial settings where humans have lived, and the formation of analogs between these environments and space. For example, humans have lived in submarines deep in the ocean, in bunkers beneath the Earth's surface, and on Antarctica, and have safely entered burning buildings, radioactively contaminated zones, and the stratosphere with the help of technology. Aerial refueling enables Air Force One to stay airborne virtually indefinitely. Nuclear powered submarines generate oxygen using electrolysis and can stay submerged for months at a time. Many of these analogs can be very useful design references for space systems. In fact space station life support systems and astronaut survival gear for emergency landings bear striking similarity to submarine life support systems and military pilot survival kits, respectively.Space missions, especially human ones, require extensive preparation. In addition to terrestrial analogs providing design insight, the analogous environments can serve as testbeds to further develop technologies for space applications and train astronaut crews. The Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station is a simulated Mars base, maintained by the Mars Society, on Canada's remote Devon Island. The project aims to create conditions as similar as possible to a real Mars mission and attempts to establish ideal crew size, test equipment "in the field", and determine the best extra-vehicular activity suits and procedures. To train for EVAs in microgravity, space agencies make broad use of underwater and simulator training. The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, NASA's underwater training facility, contains full-scale mockups of the Space Shuttle cargo bay and International Space Station modules. Technology development and astronaut training in space-analogous environments are essential to making living in space possible.