Dec 28, 2020 01:10 AM
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/...elter.html
INTRO: Two Danish architects have completed a two-month stay in their own collapsible shelter in a remote part of Greenland to stimulate harsh conditions on the Moon. Sebastian Aristotelis and Karl-Johan Sørensen, who are part of a design firm called SAGA Space Architects, camped out in the ‘Lunark’ shelter amid -28°F (-16°C) conditions on the island's north without any access to smartphones or the internet.
Lunark is a futuristic-looking habitat that folds down to a manageable size for easy transportation before being expanded in its final location. It is designed for taking up minimal space on rockets to the Moon. The 1,700kg origami-inspired foldable home, which can expand from an impressive 102 cubic foot to 607 cubic foot, can withstand temperatures as low as -49°F and wind speeds of 55 miles an hour.
While living on protein shakes and thawed Greenland ice for water, the two-man team acted as 'guinea pigs' for other people's research experiments, including virtual reality (VR) and sleep studies. During the physically and mentally challenging Big Brother-style isolation experiment, the team were equipped with chunky satellite phones and rifles in case of any dangerous encounters with wildlife.
But the main purpose of the trip was to establish whether people with no specialist astronautics or military training - such as themselves - could survive in such a habitat, in anticipation of a new era of 'space tourism'. The two space architects spent 100 days up in Greenland - one month to set up camp (although it only took one day to inflate the habitat) and 60 days inside Lunark
'The absolute biggest conclusion is that it’s possible to do an unfolding origami structure,' Aristotelis told MailOnline from his Copenhagen home, shortly after the journey back from Greenland. 'We unfolded the structure in a day - two people without large machinery - in an extreme environment. The structure itself performed really well - we could sustain a comfortable indoor climate even to the very end of the expedition, which got quite a bit colder and more windy than we had anticipated. We are civilians and if we are looking at a future with more civilians in space, that’s one of the most important things for us as architects to figure out.'
SAGA Space Architects is one of several firms hoping to build shelters for future space tourists and Moon-based astronauts. NASA and private firms like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic all want to tap into the lucrative the space tourism industry - commercial, recreational space travel - to name but a few. The SAGA team’s ultimate mission is to develop and sell homes for people in space, and help inform other Moon habitat designs... (MORE)
LUNARK - A Journey to the Moon (7 months ago)
INTRO: Two Danish architects have completed a two-month stay in their own collapsible shelter in a remote part of Greenland to stimulate harsh conditions on the Moon. Sebastian Aristotelis and Karl-Johan Sørensen, who are part of a design firm called SAGA Space Architects, camped out in the ‘Lunark’ shelter amid -28°F (-16°C) conditions on the island's north without any access to smartphones or the internet.
Lunark is a futuristic-looking habitat that folds down to a manageable size for easy transportation before being expanded in its final location. It is designed for taking up minimal space on rockets to the Moon. The 1,700kg origami-inspired foldable home, which can expand from an impressive 102 cubic foot to 607 cubic foot, can withstand temperatures as low as -49°F and wind speeds of 55 miles an hour.
While living on protein shakes and thawed Greenland ice for water, the two-man team acted as 'guinea pigs' for other people's research experiments, including virtual reality (VR) and sleep studies. During the physically and mentally challenging Big Brother-style isolation experiment, the team were equipped with chunky satellite phones and rifles in case of any dangerous encounters with wildlife.
But the main purpose of the trip was to establish whether people with no specialist astronautics or military training - such as themselves - could survive in such a habitat, in anticipation of a new era of 'space tourism'. The two space architects spent 100 days up in Greenland - one month to set up camp (although it only took one day to inflate the habitat) and 60 days inside Lunark
'The absolute biggest conclusion is that it’s possible to do an unfolding origami structure,' Aristotelis told MailOnline from his Copenhagen home, shortly after the journey back from Greenland. 'We unfolded the structure in a day - two people without large machinery - in an extreme environment. The structure itself performed really well - we could sustain a comfortable indoor climate even to the very end of the expedition, which got quite a bit colder and more windy than we had anticipated. We are civilians and if we are looking at a future with more civilians in space, that’s one of the most important things for us as architects to figure out.'
SAGA Space Architects is one of several firms hoping to build shelters for future space tourists and Moon-based astronauts. NASA and private firms like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic all want to tap into the lucrative the space tourism industry - commercial, recreational space travel - to name but a few. The SAGA team’s ultimate mission is to develop and sell homes for people in space, and help inform other Moon habitat designs... (MORE)
LUNARK - A Journey to the Moon (7 months ago)