While many space tourism companies are planning to settle on the moon or Mars, there is a company working on building settlements in orbit. 3-D model of the orbital habitat's important features. (image credit: Texas A&M University)
Many of us dreamed of having a treehouse as a kid; some of us even had one. But, as we grow up, we move to bigger dreams, such as going to Mars or commuting around space. What if we could visit and live in space?
I can see living in orbit being a premier place to be. Off the planet, away from the planet's troubles? It's going to happen.
It is probably the kind of dream the engineers at Texas A&M University are trying to make true when they conceived of their own take on orbital habitat. Now there are 2 ways to live in space: building settlements on a planet/star of our choice or living on spaceships on the orbit of a star/planet. The first option is the most talked about but comes with many limitations, most of which are related to the environment and weather conditions of the planet we chose to settle on. The second option is currently used by astronauts working in space, but the orbital habitat built for them can only accommodate a small group of people. Building an orbital habitat ourselves is more beneficial because it would give us a lot more control over the environment and our living conditions than colonizing a planet would. That is if we can accommodate more people than just a team of astronauts.
The model proposed by the engineers of A&M University could house about 8,000 people. The research team explained that their model would solve the issues related to lack of gravity, exposure to radiation, habitat growth capability, sustainable agriculture, and commercial value that are the main concerns attached to living out in space. Living in a gravity-less environment can wreak havoc on the body (vision impairment, loss of bone density…), so the engineers thought of developing an artificial gravity in their model, which by itself seems to be a feat when we consider that the habitat will be in the shape of a concentric cylinder. To achieve that, the team utilizes centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the cylinder. At the right radius and rotation speed, the rotation of the cylinder creates a uniform sense of gravity no matter where one stands in the habitat. Any discrepancy in those numbers leads to the inhabitants feeling nauseous.
The other concern with living in orbit is exposure to radiation, which could cause cancer and cellular damage. For that, the engineers are planning to surround the habitat with a 5-meter- thick layer of water and regolith rock: 1-meter thick layer of regolith followed by a 2-meter thick layer of water followed by a 2-meter thick layer of regolith. The combination of the shield and rotation features assisted with a radiator will create inside the habitat the right temperature for plant growth. The system can create a temperature of up to 27degrees Celsius. To make the habitat commercially valuable, the engineers thought of creating different zones with different gravity to accommodate not only agriculture but also the transformation of raw materials to allow sustainable living for the thousands of people who will be living on the platform.
It looks like the engineers have a solution for everything that could go wrong during life in orbit. Now, is the project viable? How will they finance it? We know that Jeff Bezos is looking for an engineer to design an orbital habitat for Blue Origin, so could this be the right fit?
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