Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Designing a tiny home to orbit the Moon”.
If you wan na, live in space for months at a time, you’re gon na need a good house and it’s not going to be glamorous living either.. Imagine living in a one room tin can with three to four other people and that tin can is keeping you alive. ( upbeat, synth, music, ), [, Loren ] NASA wants to send humans back into deep space, but the last time people went beyond low earth orbit. They stayed for less than two weeks per trip. This time around NASA wants to send astronauts to live in deep space, orbiting the moon and then possibly onto Mars for months at a time like they do on the International Space Station..
But what does a deep space habitat look like NASA has partnered with six different private companies as part of their nextSTEP program, to figure that out. Each company is researching and building deep space habitats, all with unique designs to see which modules will work best. And these Habitats could be used as part of a new space station that NASA wants to build near the moon called Gateway.. I went to one of these companies Lockheed Martin to check out a mock-up of the deep space habitat that they’re working on..
So here we are in the prototype habitat that you guys are building for the nextSTEP program.. So tell me about it. What informs its shape and size and all that stuff. We put together this prototype to get a better feel for what it would be like to live and work in a space station at the moon..
So it’s round because the launch vehicles are round right, [ Loren, ] Right., So we need to fit inside the payload fairing for launch., But we’ve also thought about what it would be like to live here. So you need all the standard things: food, water shelter.. You would have all your personal items, your clothes, your toothbrush, …, all those normal things., [, Loren, ], NASA hopes.
This will serve as a new outpost for astronauts, allowing them to conduct studies in the deep space environment around the moon and to travel to and from the lunar surface.. But one challenge of sending things to deep space is space.. Getting the habitat of this size.
Far away from earth in one piece requires a lot of fuel. And the larger the habitat, the more fuel it will require.. That’S why Lockheed is trying to do more with less.
Standing in here right now. It’S not that big of a space, but you envision people living and doing work here. So how would they utilize all of this limited space? If you will ( laughs ) Right, can you imagine four people in this space? I have a problem with my tiny apartment and my dog, so I don’t know., (, laughs, ), That’s exactly what this is.! It’S one room, but it’s four bedroom one bathroom. ( laughing in unison, ), But yeah we’ll have a science workstation where the crew can do their science experiments get information from the vehicle look at health and status.. We have a treadmill and exercise equipment, …
Right on the ceiling ( laughing ), But in space there is no ceiling. Right. Exactly.. Whatever way you are, is the right way: up.
(, Loren, laughs ). So we can use all four walls we need to to get very effective use of this limited space., [, Loren ]. Of course it’s tough to get the full experience of living in this habitat here on earth.. This habitat is just a mock-up.
Lockheed is currently building its first working nextSTEP prototype in Florida., So the company is using virtual and augmented reality to give engineers a better understanding of how the finished product will look and feel.. So you go ahead and put that on.. Alright, I’m ready. I’m ready to go to space. ( upbeat synth, music, ), Alright., ( yells in alarm, ), (, laughs, ). I hope I didn’t break anything.
No. Now. You can go ahead and grab the walls and pull yourself through. [ Loren ]. Here I am home, sweet home. And if you find your way into the airlock, you can go ahead and go outside. [ Loren ]. Oh let’s do that.
How am I gon na get over there? ( whooshing sound ) ( yelling in excitement? )? Oh! No! It’S clear that I’m just a mess in zero gravity. (, dark, synth, music ), So we’ve been using a lot of VR and AR technology to play around with the nextSTEP habitat.. What is so great about these different types of technology that helps you with design and new modifications and whatnot? Well, there’s a few things: that’s really great about it.. The first is affordability.
It lets you perform a lot of reconfigurations while keeping things cheap.. You saw with the AR goggles that you had on. You were able to see the different components that are gon na, be in the space craft in a habitat., So it allows us to move them around and reconfigure and see the spacing of everything. ,’Cause, you don’t wan na put your treadmill right next to your workstation and have someone running and sweating right above you so …, And if you go ahead and build it without knowing those problems, you kind of have a big cost problem on your hands.
( laughs. ) Right or if you actually do build out those big size, components it’s expensive and heavy, and you have to actually move’em around so AR really helps a lot with that. And VR really helps a lot with training too ,’cause you saw with the simulation you kinda Got a little bit of a sense of what it’s like to be in the spacecraft and so on the ground. We can train astronauts or the crew just how to move.
Around. Maneuvering in space isn’t as easy as people might think.. You turn your hand a certain way and it doesn’t … your whole body even moves with you.
(, laughs, ), Yeah, Newton’s, third law. It’S pretty crazy. (, energetic, synth, music, ), [, Loren ] Right now. This program is just for engineers not for astronauts.. However, astronauts going to the ISS actually do lots of VR training to prepare for space. This one. You got it There, we go. Grab the block.
Wait. I did Yep. If this station does go to the moon.
Vr trainings will be important before heading there too.. What are the things that you think of when you go out to design a habitat? What are the essentials that you need? Well, we think about what is a day in the life of an astronaut gon na look like They’re gon na wake up, they’re gon na eat breakfast they’re going to perform science.. We wan na know what it takes to keep them alive, as well as what work they’re gon na do, and science they’re gon na perform while they’re there..
So we need to accommodate all those aspects. Keeping them healthy and keeping them productive.. Now you mentioned a one bathroom.: Where is the bathroom gon na be ( laughs, ), It’s actually on Orion right through this hatch is where the crew would come to the habitat in Orion and the bathroom is there.. At least you have some privacy. ( laughing ) [ Loren ] Orion is much more than just a bathroom.. It’S a crew capsule that Lockheed Martin is also working on to transport people from earth to deep space. And once Orion reaches this habitat. It’Ll have to dock..
Explain this setup for me. Sure we’re sitting in the Orion crew simulator, so this is cockpit. This is where the pilot and the commander would sit as they fly Orion to dock to the gateway., So we’ve been traveling for months and months and months and now we’re. Finally, here and ready to dock.
I’ve been waiting for this day. My whole astronaut life, basically., (, Kerry, laughs ). So if you pull out on that, that’ll slow, you down. Or you can push in and fire the thruster to speed us up., [, Loren, ] Docking turned out to be pretty tense.. Just one small movement can send the capsule veering off in the wrong direction..
Okay, so I’m veering off to the right, so I think I wan na go to the left. Almost there almost there So close. Oh, oh here we go. You’re coming in right on the target.
( Loren yells ), Perfect docking. Oh my gosh., That is beautiful! Okay, just a little bit off, but man nailed, it., (, laughs, ), Successful., [, Loren ]. Of course it could be awhile before this happens. Lockheed and the other nextSTEP finalists will need to finish building and testing out their habitats. Before this deep space outpost becomes a reality., So it might not be the most spacious but like all real estate, it’s about location., If you’re interested in more science videos from The Verge check out our new Verge Science, YouTube channel and subscribe. .