Category Archives: Living in Space

Living in Space, Space Settlement

Space settlement experimentation in northern Canadian

Speaking of space settlements, there often comes up the question of what are the best earth analogs. Communities on small islands, the early New World settlements, and Antarctic science bases are typical suggestions. A New Scientist article suggests Canadian Arctic mining towns. Such towns can form very quickly in very isolated and difficult environments – and sometimes disappear very quickly as well: New Urbanist: Off-world colonies of the Canadian Arctic – New Scientist.

An example mentioned is Fermont, Quebec, which is known

for the huge self-contained structure containing apartments, stores, schools, bars, a hotel, restaurants, a supermarket and swimming pool which shelters a community of smaller apartment buildings and homes on its leeward side. The structure was designed to be a windscreen to the rest of the town. It permits residents (other than mine workers) to never leave the building during the long winter, which usually lasts about seven months. The town, designed by Maurice Desnoyers and Norbert Schoenauer, was inspired by similar projects in Sweden designed by Ralph Erskine, notably that of Svappavaara, a copper mining town in Sweden. The building measures 1.3 kilometres (4,300 ft) long and stands 50 metres (160 ft) high.[4] [Wikipedia]

The V-shaped structure can be seen in this image:

VilledeFermont-00-large[1]DMA architectes

From the New Scientist article:

The town is also home to an extraordinary architectural feature: a residential megastructure whose explicit purpose is to redirect the local weather. Known as the Mur-écran or “windscreen”, this structure is an astonishing 1.3 kilometres in length, shaped roughly like a horizontal V or chevron. Think of it as a climatological Maginot Line, built to resist the howling, near-constant northern winds.

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However, [Elon Musk] is not talking about building a Martian version of London or Paris. In a sense, we are already experimenting with off-world colonisation – only we are doing it in the windswept villages and extraction sites of the Canadian north.

 

DIY space, Living in Space, Space participation, Space Science

Update on the ‘Garden of ETON’ ISS experiment campaign

I’ve mentioned the Chicks in Space (MaryAnn Bulawa, Adia Bulawa, & Lillith Bulawa) and their campaign to crowd-fund a space experiment a couple of times (see here and here).

We’ve developed a hydroponic garden specifically designed to function under conditions of microgravity – ETON. We’ve been offered the opportunity to launch NanoETON on NASA’s ISS to test our hypothesis that water can be circulated in microgravity using centripetal force. This research may help the development of hydroponic gardens for future space missions.

They are participating in the DreamUP! program that

helps students raise money to fund testing their experiments in space on the U.S. National Laboratory aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Through DreamUp, junior high, high school and undergraduate college students can take advantage of NanoRacks’ three standardized research platforms on the International Space Station. NanoRacks DreamUp program, which aims to stimulate commercial student participation in low-earth orbit projects gives the opportunity to conduct experiments in the unique weightlessness environment of space.

The crowd-funding campaign has now reached 71% of the goal of $15k with 11 days laft: Sending the Garden of ETON to Space – Experiment

Our research is at a standstill until we are able to continue our experiments under actual conditions of microgravity. We have the opportunity to send a payload to the ISS on NanoRacks LLC. We have reconfigured our experiment to a 4×4 inch box but need funding to transport the project to NASA’s International Space Station.

There is now a doubling of any donation:

Here’s what you get with a donation:

We’re also offering backers rewards for joining the community!
$50: Certificate of Participation from NanoRacks, LLC
$100: Have your name written inside the hardware that carries E.T.O.N. to the International Space Station.
$250: Receive an item such as a Space Patch that has flown to the ISS and back (0 out of 2 left)
$1,000+: Decal with your Name or Company Logo placed on the outside of the payload with an accompanying photograph. *Donor must supply a decal of 1 inch by 3 inches or less. (Limited supply, 5 out of 6 left)

Living in Space, Solar Sci-Fi, Space Settlement

Futures: Space architecture + “Twelve Tomorrows” SF anthology + “Exploring and settling the outer solar system”

An article about space architects and their ideas about inflatable habitats and building with lunar dust concrete: Let’s all move to Mars! The space architects shaping our future – The Guardian

“The lunar surface is an open mine of potential building materials,” says Madhu Thangavelu, space architect at the University of Southern California (USC) and co-author of The Moon: Resources, Future Development and Settlement. “It is full of readily accessible minerals and compounds that could be used to produce metals, bricks, glass and paints. The moon is also riddled with ‘lava tubes’, great cavernous volumes under the surface that could be made habitable, offering protection from radiation and solar storms.”

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Location, location … Mars base 10. Illustration: Ondřej Doule

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Check out MIT Technology Review’s third SF anthology issue: Twelve Tomorrows – MIT Technology Review

Inspired by the real-life breakthroughs covered in the pages of MIT Technology Review, renowned writers Pat Cadigan, Cory Doctorow, and Christopher Brown join the hottest emerging authors from around the world to envision the future of the Internet, biotechnology, computing, and more.

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Leonard David reviews the book Living Among Giants: Exploring and Settling the Outer Solar System by Michael Carroll, a noted space artist: Book Review: Living Among Giants – Exploring and Settling the Outer Solar System –

Here is a fascinating and unique look at the outer Solar System, masterfully detailed in words and artwork regarding planned and imagined future human exploration and possible colonization.

Carroll is a prominent prize-winning space artist with a flair for writing and swinging a paintbrush. This book includes numerous illustrations, among them original paintings by the author.

Right from the start, Carroll asks a picture-captioned question: “Mars is the next logical site for human habitation. But what other sites offer promise?”

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