Image credit: Blue Origin“Mankind was born on Earth. It was never meant to die here.” ~Interstellar the motion picture
In the future, when men realizes that the Earth is limited in keeping life safe, humanity will slowly but steadily venture beyond the gravitational pull of our planet and ultimately our solar system. With this in mind, the question arises if it is technically possible to preserve human life and our way of living in Outer Space for a long period of time? By assuming that it is possible to preserve life inside a structure until it reaches a potential exoplanet that can sustain human life, it becomes interesting to think about the design of such a structure.
In order to answer the research question – “How would a habitat that preserves human life in Outer Space look like and how would it function spatially?” - and the two sub-questions – “a. What are the conditions of Outer Space that have a significant influence on the habitat and its inhabitants, and what are the requirements needed to preserve human life?”; “b. Which human factors (psychological, physiological and cultural) can affect the inhabitant in Outer Space and how can architecture influence and support the inhabitant?” an exploratory research has been concluded on various topics.
The main research is realized through an extensive study of different fields connected with Space Architecture and Space Travel. Knowledge that is gained from documentaries, literature and other sources on topics like architecture, astronomy, society, psychology, physiology, physics, politics, technology and more is used to create different design principles which are used as a guideline for the design of an interstellar habitat.
The personal design uses these principles to establish a plausible and feasible habitat for people to live in. The habitat will be divided into different design regions in order to target the most important and impactful design principles.
The research done in this thesis provides new insights to the continuously expanding knowledge on interstellar space colonization, with notable regard to the architectural design of future Space habitats. This research will link various disciplines together in order to create a plausible interstellar habitat. At the same time, it will contribute new information to the existing knowledge of these disciplines. Additionally, it will create new design principles to successfully adjust Earth’s one dimensional architecture to a new, multidimensional architecture in which walls and floors serve multiple purposes. This has the potential to influence current space architecture.
This research might also broaden public interest in Space colonization, as it provides the reader complicated, yet understandable information about current and future space possibilities. It provides new ideas which can be further build upon and might ultimately lead to the realization of such a habitat.
This research might also broaden public interest in Space colonization, as it provides the reader complicated, yet understandable information about current and future space possibilities. It provides new ideas which can be further build upon and might ultimately lead to the realization of such a habitat.
Credit: Sebastiaan van Alebeek
Read research paper: https://www.academia.edu/10390634/Interstellar_Habitat