Speaker
Description
Extending human presence into deep space for sustainable long-term exploration and utilization requires designing infrastructure and habitat systems with a strategic vision of open architecture, repurposing the paradigm of global cooperation among multiple nations and multiple partners combining their various expertise, already experimented for the ISS. Addressing the challenges posed by the conditions of a hostile environment, such as the lunar environment, requires working on issues such as security, materials, optimization of resources, in-situ resource utilization, as well as on concepts of transportability, modularity, expandability, and multifunction of habitable space infrastructures.
This systematic literature review aims to shed light on the current state of knowledge of space architectures and infrastructures as key drivers to guide further research. The questions orienting the research are: (i) what are the existing best practices of habitable spaces for human permanence in terrestrial hostile environments; (ii) what are the main housing options for nomadic peoples that could contribute to broadening the researchers’ horizons; (iii) what are the emerging ISRU technologies, materials and manufacturing processes, to be adopted for the development of innovative habitable spaces; and (iv) what are the determinants, and the main challenges emerging from the design solutions of architectures for long-term human survival in deep space that have been developed internationally so far.
The paper introduces (i) the research leverages, background, research questions, and objectives orienting the research team toward the adoption of the PRISMA method, to conduct and report the review; (ii) how the research team conducted the systematic literature review; (iii) which databases, websites and organizations were consulted; (iv) the syntheses of the state of knowledge in the field of space architecture and infrastructures design strategies; and (v) the results obtained, feeding the debate on which are the future research priorities and how to achieve the space research challenges.
In conclusion, through the systematic literature review, the research team identifies design constraints, user needs, and research directions to inform further and forthcoming speculative design research explorations and scenario-building processes on habitable crew stations, habitation means, and logistics modules.