Defining best design practices for safety and comfort in Moon and Mars habitats

摘要

Safety requirements are critical in designing habitats. However, satisfying only safety requirements will not guarantee mission success. Crew performance can be improved by means of comfort and functional design considerations that accommodate their physical and psychological needs. Currently, the common habitat design approach is based on linear processes, satisfying technical requirements of the mission and providing necessary life support for the crew. Nevertheless, to ensure their well-being and productivity, aesthetic and ergonomic aspects have to be given equal attention throughout the whole design process. Safety and comfort considerations taking into account the hardware's structural and technical requirements must not be neglected. Such habitats need to satisfy exceptional requirements for construction, environmental protection, food production, living conditions and maintenance; they have to ensure safety and emergency response protocols, support the crew's physical health, morale, and productivity. Such strategies fundamentally change the approach to designing habitats and equipment. This paper presents results from bibliographical research, which defines best design practices and recommendations derived from experiences on medium-duration orbiting facilities and extreme environment missions on Earth. The investigated case studies include Skylab, Spacelab, Salyut 7, Mir, and the International Space Station; orbital spacecraft system Shuttle; polar research stations in the Antarctic and Arctic; as well as Earth-based human space mission simulators (e.g., Mars Desert Research Station (MDSR), Mars-500/Sirius-19, Aquarius/NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO). The research aims to define the optimal balance between the necessary levels of comfort and safety for the crew and associated implications to the spacecraft or habitat design. The paper summarizes current major problems in the habitat design and discusses a new architectural strategy for