Lunar Architecture Team: Phase 2 Habitat Volume Estimation: ''Caution When Using Analogs''

Abstract

The lunar surface habitat will serve as the astronauts' "home on the moon," providing a pressurized facility for all crew living functions and serving as the primary location for a number of crew work functions. Adequate volume is required for each of these functions in addition to that devoted to housing the habitat systems and crew consumables. The time constraints of the LAT-2 schedule precluded the Habitation Team from conducting a complete "bottoms-up" design of a lunar surface habitation system from which to derive true volumetric requirements. The objective of this analysis was to quickly derive an estimated total pressurized volume and pressurized net habitable volume per crewmember for a lunar surface habitat, using a principled, methodical approach in the absence of a detailed design. Five "heuristic methods" were used: historical spacecraft volumes, human/spacecraft integration standards and design guidance, Earth-based analogs, parametric "sizing" tools, and conceptual point designs. Estimates for total pressurized volume, total habitable volume, and volume per crewmember were derived using these methods. All method were found to provide some basis for volume estimates, but values were highly variable across a wide range, with no obvious convergence of values. Best current assumptions for required crew volume were provided as a range. Results of these analyses and future work are discussed.

An innovative material for space-oriented structures and habitat design

“…Gemini missions provided about 0.57 m 3 available volume per crew member for a short-duration mission while a volume of about 20 m 3 per crew member was extrapolated by Rudsill (2008), Ruess (2006) and NASA (1995) for a duration longer than 5 months to guarantee the optimal performance level. A free volume per crew member of 120 m 3 including living and working areas can be considered as a free space requirement.…”

The MaMBA-concept for an extraterrestrial base and its first module mock-up

“…We estimate the interior space of the MaMBA habitat to be 460 m 3 (6 modules, 9 inflatable corridors, 2 airlocks). This value is likely to change when the design becomes more advanced, nevertheless, it still allows a rough comparison: In the range recommended for a lunar base by Kennedy et al [33] after a review of existing "stationlike" spacecraft, MaMBA is located at the upper end and slightly larger than the ISS (388 m 3 for a crew of usually 6), which is regularly supplied from Earth. If one considers the corridors and airlocks, the total floor area of the full habitat is 173 m 2 and thus slightly less than the 204 m 2 that the Mars500-crew had, which holds the record for the longest spaceflight simulation to date.…”

The Subjective Habitability & Acceptability Questionnaire (SHAQ): Development and Validation

“…Simon & Wilhite, 2013). The connections between habitability and BHP outcomes in operational environments have been elucidated in reviews of the qualitative literature and historical data (Howe et al, 2015;Kearney, 2016a;Rudisill et al, 2008) and systematic collection and analysis of subject matter expert input (Kearney, 2016b), but have not yielded any standard measures for prospective use. The world of architecture has developed quantitative measures of subjective experience, but naturally focus on aesthetics of exterior building features, rarely with any consideration of habitability or function (cf.…”