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NASA testing new lunar habitats in the Antarctic |
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Written by Derek Kessler on
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
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 NASA will use the cold, harsh environment of Antarctica to test a conceptual housing system for future manned missions to the moon. The inflatable habitat, meant to be a precursor to a permanent lunar habitat, will be tested for one year to see how well it stands up to the harsh environment.
The habitat underwent a test inflation at manufacturer ILC Dover - a NASA contractor - in Delwarae, before being packed up and shipped down south to McMurdo Station on Ross Island, Antarctica. The National Science Foundation, which manages McMurdo Station, NASA, and ILC Dover will hsare data on the 13 month test, which is scheduled to begin in January 2008.
"Testing the inflatable habitat in one of the harshest, most remote sites on Earth gives us the opportunity to see what it would be like to use for lunar exploration," said Paul Lockhart, director of NASA's Constellation Systems.
The Constellation Program is working to send Humans back to the moon by 2020, utilizing technology that is very similar operationally to the old Apollo-era Saturn V rockets. After some initial exploratory missions, astronauts will set up a permanent lonar outpost capable of supporting long duruation missions. NASA is developing inflatable lunar habitats that will provide protection for the astronauts and at the same time be easy to transport to the surface (unlike the rigid modules used for the construction of orbital outposts like Mir or the ISS).
Lockhart said, "To land one pound of supplies on the lunar surface, it'll require us to launch 125 pounds of hardware and fuel to get it there, so our habitation concepts have to be lightweight as well as durable. This prototype inflatable habitat can be taken down and redeployed multiple times, and it only takes four crew members a few hours to set up, permitting exploration beyond the initial landing area."
The structure appears simlar to the inflatable backyeard bounce houses often used for children's parties, though it is obviously much more sophisticated. Apart from being insulated and heated, the modules will also be powered and pressurized. The current test module will offer 384 square feet of living space and reach up to 8 feet from the floor. While the test will not involve actual habitation of the module, it will be outitted with an array of sensors to allow enginers to monitor its performance.
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