Papers by Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger
Today we look back at a series of realized space habitats-as well as the presently orbiting Inter... more Today we look back at a series of realized space habitats-as well as the presently orbiting International Space Station. These highly technological habitats have been providing living and working space in a hostile and socially isolated environment for various users over long periods of time and are especially subject to careful planning, building and design. In this context Habitability becomes an important design issue. This paper presents the results of a recently completed study on the interface between people, space and objects in an extra-terrestrial environment.
46th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Jul 10, 2016
Extended Abstracts of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2021
Space travel and becoming an interplanetary species have always been part of human's greatest ima... more Space travel and becoming an interplanetary species have always been part of human's greatest imagination. Research in space exploration helps us advance our knowledge in fundamental sciences, and challenges us to design new technology and create new industries for space. However, keeping a human healthy, happy and productive in space is one of the most challenging aspects of current space programs. Our biological body, which evolved in the earth
Reflections on early lunar base design – From sketch to the first moon landing, 2023
This paper traces the early ideas of lunar architecture developed by the US and Soviet space prog... more This paper traces the early ideas of lunar architecture developed by the US and Soviet space programs. Starting with a historical overview of those achievements, highlighting specific engineering, architectural, and design elements; illustrated with images and drawings. Some of them will be described in more detail, showing the design and decision-making process from the first sketch to its implementation.
One example of the great engineering and management capabilities is the development and inclusion of the deployable lunar roving vehicle (LRV). Other examples include the project DLB Zvezda by Barmin's Design Bureau of General Engineering that was under development between 1962 and 1974, and a US project Horizon – a study to set up a Lunar Military outpost conducted in 1959. The paper includes personal statements from astronauts and cosmonauts, as well as people involved along design and implementation processes.
Based on a historical overview of achievements, this paper highlights particular architectural and design unique approaches that defined design strategies for creating space systems, spacecraft and habitats for decades to follow.
Die Alpenkonvention, ein internationales Abkommen für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung und den Schutz... more Die Alpenkonvention, ein internationales Abkommen für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung und den Schutz der Alpen, forciert den Erhalt von bestehenden Hütten, Notunterkünften und Wanderwegen. Neubauten im hochalpinen Raum sind rar und meist auf Sanierungen und den Erhalt bestehender Schutzhütten beschränkt. Das Interesse am Alpinsport und die wachsenden Zahlen an Alpenvereinsmitgliedern machen jedoch deutlich, dass künftig potentiell mehr Tourismus im alpinen Raum vorherrschen wird. Eine Überreizung einzelner alpiner Regionen tritt bereits aktuell auf. Diese Entwicklungen waren ausschlaggebend für diese Arbeit. Der erste Abschnitt der Arbeit behandelt rückblickend die Entstehung und Gegebenheiten der alpinen Architektur und geht auf die unterschiedlichen Arten von Unterkünften im alpinen Raum ein. Darauffolgend wird eine aktuell vorhandene Notunterkunft im Hochschwab-Gebiet analysiert und ein Konzept für einen Ersatzbau entwickelt. Im weiteren Verlauf dieser Arbeit soll als Ziel ein Entwu...
Mit dem 50. Jubiläum der Mondlandung im Juli 2019 erlebt der Mond einen neuen Aufschwung. Raumfah... more Mit dem 50. Jubiläum der Mondlandung im Juli 2019 erlebt der Mond einen neuen Aufschwung. Raumfahrtbehörden, internationale Organisationen und sogar der privatwirtschaftlicheSektor zeigen verstärktes Interesse an der Planung von Mondmissionen.Dieses Mal jedoch ist das Ziel nicht nur die Landung eines Menschens auf dem nächsten Nachbar der Erde, sondern die Etablierung einer langfristigen Forschungsstation. Während sich erste Missionen auf kurze sogenannte Sorties beschränken werden, durchgeführt wie schon zu Apollo Zeiten direkt von den Mondlandefahrzeugen aus, benötigen die angestrebten Langzeitmissionen permanentere Stützpunkte mit einem höheren Anspruch an Habitabilität.HAVEN Lunar Port and Base ist ein Entwurf für einen Stützpunkt am Südpol des Mondes, basierend auf der nachhaltigen Wiederverwendung von ausrangierten Teilen von Mondlandefähren.Das HAVEN Areal besteht aus mehreren Komponenten,unter anderem aus einem Lande- und Startplatz zur Koordinierung der ankommenden Missione...
Space agencies around the world have been planning manned space missions to Moon, Mars, and aster... more Space agencies around the world have been planning manned space missions to Moon, Mars, and asteroids for decades. There have been ups and downs on that road but real dreamers of space exploration never gave up the idea and once in a while return to the plans of humans becoming multi-planetary species. One of the major roadblocks for making such plans a reality is the fact that long-term surface missions cannot be realized without convincing the public and governments in their feasibility. Avenues for private and public to space exploration so that they can see themselves being equal partners of space endeavors need to be created. How design research and design itself can help to accomplish this task? Or generally speaking, can design help? This paper investigates those questions through reviews and illustrations drawn from exploratory design projects conducted by master students in the USA, Europe and Russia. The overview includes objectives and design strategies, design stages and...
Architecture for Astronauts, 2011
The human activity category’ sleep’ includes the sub-activities rest; preparation for sleep, rela... more The human activity category’ sleep’ includes the sub-activities rest; preparation for sleep, relaxation, sleep as well as associated translation paths and stowage areas. Sleep concepts applied within the selected habitats range from sleeping bags, to hammocks and boxes to private crew quarters.
Moon, 2012
Plans to return to the Moon and develop a sustainable human presence there continue to arise and ... more Plans to return to the Moon and develop a sustainable human presence there continue to arise and change. In addition to the efforts of space agencies and governments, commercial spaceflight initiatives are taking part in future lunar exploration scenarios (cf. Lunar X-Prize).
We report on the MARS2013 mission, a 4-week Mars analog field test in the northern Sahara. Ninete... more We report on the MARS2013 mission, a 4-week Mars analog field test in the northern Sahara. Nineteen experiments were conducted by a field crew in Morocco under simulated martian surface exploration conditions, supervised by a Mission Support Center in Innsbruck, Austria. A Remote Science Support team analyzed field data in near real time, providing planning input for the management of a complex system of field assets; two advanced space suit simulators, four robotic vehicles, an emergency shelter, and a stationary sensor platform in a realistic work flow were coordinated by a Flight Control Team. A dedicated flight planning group, external control centers for rover tele-operations, and a biomedical monitoring team supported the field operations. A 10 min satellite communication delay and other limitations pertinent to human planetary surface activities were introduced. The fields of research for the experiments were geology, human factors, astrobiology, robotics, tele-science, exploration, and operations research. This paper provides an overview of the geological context and environmental conditions of the test site and the mission architecture, in particular the communication infrastructure emulating the signal travel time between Earth and Mars. We report on the operational work flows and the experiments conducted, including a deployable shelter prototype for multiple-day extravehicular activities and contingency situations.
Seit dem Start von Sputnik 1 im Jahr 1957 ist die Anzahl menschlich gefertigter Objekte im All dr... more Seit dem Start von Sputnik 1 im Jahr 1957 ist die Anzahl menschlich gefertigter Objekte im All drastisch gestiegen. Derzeit gibt es über 2000 aktive Satelliten, dennoch bilden diese nur 10% der künstlichen Objekte, die in der Nähe unseres Planeten beobachtet werden. Die restlichen 90 % werden als Weltraummüll bezeichnet. Darüber hinaus existieren, Schätzungen zufolge, mehr als 100 Millionen kleinere, nicht registrierbare, Trümmerstücke. Trümmer jeder Größe stellen ein unmittelbares Risiko für alle gegenwärtigen und zukünftigen Weltraummissionen dar und könnten sogar zur Bildung eines undurchdringlichen Trümmergürtels um die Erde führen. Die überwiegende Mehrheit der bereits erdachten Konzepte und Technologien zur Beseitigung von Weltraumtrümmern basiert auf der Idee des Auffangens und dem Entfernen der Trümmer aus ihrer Umlaufbahn, durch das Verglühen beim Wiedereintritt in die Atmosphäre. Das Hochbringen von Material jeglicher Art in die Umlaufbahn ist immens teuer. Weltraumtrümmer...
Space Habitats and Habitability, 2021
Space Habitats and Habitability, 2021
This chapter describes an Integrated Habitability Model of psychological, physiological, sociocul... more This chapter describes an Integrated Habitability Model of psychological, physiological, sociocultural and spatial habitability considerations. The meaning of the term ‘habitability’ is fraught with differences in usage, focus, application and definition. Historically, it has evolved from ‘habitability as location’ (In astronomy and astrobiology the ‘habitable zone’ is a range of orbits around a star (e.g., our sun) within which a planetary surface can support liquid water given sufficient pressure.) to ‘habitability as living space’. In application, it is used by different professions with a variety of underlying foci. Thus, a multiplicity of concepts exists. As such, it provides challenges to systematic study as well as constructive dialogue. This chapter gives a systematic overview of the common features and differences of those concepts and argues for a robust inclusive model centered around inhabitant experience of space as a central core.
This chapter and Chap. 5 introduce and outline important milestones of the journey that lead to i... more This chapter and Chap. 5 introduce and outline important milestones of the journey that lead to increasing the fidelity of habitability studies intended to eventually allow us to design the best-fit extraterrestrial habitats. Beginning with the utilization of mockups and simulated environments in this chapter and in-situ environments in Chap. 5, an overview of exemplar habitats and their associated research that have contributed to studies of extraterrestrial habitability and human factors is presented. For each exemplar habitat, the physical and social settings, as well as mission relevant details, are summarized. Images and schematic plans illustrate the facility layout. For readability and comparability reasons plans have been color coded according to primary human activities. Both short and long duration contributions to knowledge are briefly discussed to emphasize how habitability has slowly emerged as a central focus in the research on human adaptation and wellbeing in extrate...
Co-authors Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger (architect and habitability researcher Vienna), Carrie Pater... more Co-authors Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger (architect and habitability researcher Vienna), Carrie Paterson (artist-researcher, Los Angeles), and Daniel Schubert (DLR-German Space Agency) consider the role of plants in long-term space missions historically since 1971 (Salyut 1) and propose design requirements for greenhouses and constructed environments given a range of plant-human relationships. Greenhouses in space will require advanced technical systems of automatic watering, soil-less cultivation, artificial lighting, and computerized observation of plants. In addition, functions discussed for plants in space habitats include physical/health requirements and human psychology, social cohesion, as well as the complex sensorial benefits of plants for humans. The authors cite recent research conducted by the German Space Agency (DLR) into the use of greenhouses in extreme environments to reveal the relative importance among of greenhouses for people living in isolated locations, and where ...
Acta Astronautica, 2014
This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the a... more This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/authorsrights
Extra-terrestrial living and working environments are characterized by significant challenges in ... more Extra-terrestrial living and working environments are characterized by significant challenges in logistics, environmental demands, engineering, social and psychological issues, to name a few. Everything is limited: physical volume, air, water, power, and medicine … everything, even people, and therefore all is treated as valuable resource. This situation is complicated by the end product being the result of balancing many competing interests. The relationship between humans, space, and technology is forced, as well as a dynamic process. Although mathematical models for complex systems exist, long-term effects are hard to predict, and even more so to calculate. Even if we had technological solutions for all hazards and threats, there would still be the question of how these subsystems work together, how they are perceived, and if they are accepted by the inhabitants. Habitability design is vital to the success of future space exploration. Research into the dynamic system of 'livi...
Social History, 2017
Where Portmann makes a stronger case is in his investigation of lesbians who offered comfort and ... more Where Portmann makes a stronger case is in his investigation of lesbians who offered comfort and care to gay men suffering from the AIDS virus. With reliance on individual accounts, supplemented by discussion of Boston’s Gay Community News, Portmann more effectively grounds his argument in primary source evidence. In arguing that the response to the AIDS crisis ‘highlighted many of the social inequalities’ faced – and opposed by – members of the gay and lesbian community, the basis of the friendship between men and women stands on a firmer ground (73). The second section of the book discusses ‘Categories’ of relationships from friendship to gay husband to pregnancy surrogate. Especially in considering the notion of gay husband as a kind of ‘friend’, deeper engagement with the historical scholarship on marriage would have benefited Portmann’s efforts. He gives a nod to the vast historiography, but provides only limited discussion of the relatively modern emergence of marriage as rooted in compatibility and friendship. This seems a natural place to complicate notions of love, marriage, friendship, and intimacy more broadly, which seems to be a central goal of this text. Portmann relies on memoirs and autobiographies of unions between straight women and (sometimes alleged) gay men, but much of what he writes about these kinds of unions in the past feels speculative. Again, consideration of archival sources, or the collecting of oral histories, might have advanced Portmann’s discussion of the topic. Absent from the text is sustained discussion of cultural representations of these friendships. Throughout the book, Portmann makes reference to the popular sitcom Will & Grace (KoMut Entertainment/Sister Entertainment/3 Sisters Entertainment/ NBC Studios, 1998–2006), but never once does he explain the show – its characters, its setting, the circumstances of the relationship between Will and Grace, the nature of their friendship and how it evolved over the course of their lifespan. Perhaps Portmann assumes that readers know the programme and its particulars. To analyse the show would require a kind of cultural analysis, but given that he provides an appendix of theatre, film, television, comic strips, and social media sources, it appears he believes these sources to be of considerable value, in shaping and/or mirroring American culture. Portmann writes that his book ‘seeks to deepen and fill out the insights of previous thinkers who have pondered friendships between straight women and gay men’ (75). While the text relies too much on speculation and too little on historical evidence, it succeeds in suggesting this is a topic of great potential for helping reconsider understandings of friendship, love, and intimacy, both in the past and moving forward.
Uploads
Papers by Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger
One example of the great engineering and management capabilities is the development and inclusion of the deployable lunar roving vehicle (LRV). Other examples include the project DLB Zvezda by Barmin's Design Bureau of General Engineering that was under development between 1962 and 1974, and a US project Horizon – a study to set up a Lunar Military outpost conducted in 1959. The paper includes personal statements from astronauts and cosmonauts, as well as people involved along design and implementation processes.
Based on a historical overview of achievements, this paper highlights particular architectural and design unique approaches that defined design strategies for creating space systems, spacecraft and habitats for decades to follow.
One example of the great engineering and management capabilities is the development and inclusion of the deployable lunar roving vehicle (LRV). Other examples include the project DLB Zvezda by Barmin's Design Bureau of General Engineering that was under development between 1962 and 1974, and a US project Horizon – a study to set up a Lunar Military outpost conducted in 1959. The paper includes personal statements from astronauts and cosmonauts, as well as people involved along design and implementation processes.
Based on a historical overview of achievements, this paper highlights particular architectural and design unique approaches that defined design strategies for creating space systems, spacecraft and habitats for decades to follow.