NASA’s plans for future long-duration journeys to and from distant planetary surfaces. This requires crews live and work for a period of up to two and a half years in an isolated and confined environment. Given the unprecedented distance and duration of such missions, creating a comfortable environment for crew members becomes essential.
"Nasa plans on sending astronauts to Mars in 2030 but there seems not a lot of care about living environment where the crews will going to spend their 2~3 years."
Mars in 2030
Nasa plans on sending astronauts to Mars in 2030. The mission can last anywhere from 2 to 3 years. In one of the mission concepts, the transit habitat would be first launched to orbit around the moon and then Orion with a crew of 4-6 people would be launched.
Current Sleeping Environment
Sleep Deprivation
73% of the astronauts relied on sleeping aid pills like Ambient or Zolpidem in at least half of the days of their mission. Noisy equipment, excessive light, sudden temperature changes disrupt the sleeping environment of astronauts.
"Astronauts suffer from sleep deprivation in space due to numerous factors in the spaceship environment. It keeps them from performing their task efficiently."
Problem
Current living facilities in space are very confined, uncomfortable and have little private space for crew members.
How could we improve the living conditions in space? Here, we decided to focus on sleeping and taking rest.
Ideation
We tried to come up with the idea that can technically be done while it meets our users' needs. The major constraints we have considered were gravity, small space, and non-flammable materials.
Generated idea together
Industrial designers built mock for a test
Solution
Redesign the whole transit habitat that gives crew members a better experience of sleeping and resting. Each room has a workstation screen for the day and a bed screen for the night.
- interior look
- Workstation screen
- bed screen
Workstation Screen
01
Main Screen
Emphasized on the nature to give a feeling of Earth
Main Screen (Day)
Main Screen (Night)
02
Navigation
Touch five fingers to the screen and have it all
03
Reserve Shower Capsule
The assumption here was that there would be three shower capsules in the node. As they live in a communal setting, making a reservation for shower capsule would save crew members’ time
Bed Screen
01
Main Screen
Astronauts can see what they need before they go to sleep
02
Room Settings
Control every room settings on screen
03
Send Message
Contact Earth people or co-workers
