More and more people are traveling to space, but the International Space Station (ISS) can only accommodate 11 people at a time. The Aurelia Institute, a nonprofit space architecture lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has an approach that could help: a habitat that can be launched in compact stacks of flat tiles and self-assemble into orbit.
Building large space habitats is difficult. Structural components, like walls, need to fit into a rocket. There is usually not enough space to launch everything at once. It takes multiple launches to build larger structures like the ISS, which increases costs. Once all the components have reached space, the habitats must be built by humans, and that is dangerous work.
“If you depend on a human being to help you put something together, they will have to wear an extravehicular suit,” says Aurelia Institute CEO Ariel Ekblaw. “It’s risking their lives. We would love to see this done more safely in the future.”
At a co-working space in Roslindale, MA, in early August, the Aurelia Institute displayed a mock-up of a space habitat called TESSERAE, short for Tessellated Electromagnetic Space Structures for the Exploration of Reconfigurable, Adaptive Environments. the exploration of reconfigurable and adaptable environments). It resembles a futuristic football one story high. The team described how the station tiles would hold together. Each is about 6 feet tall and wide.
The idea is to make the structure as compact as possible for launch. “Right now, everything goes up in a very rigid structure of the payload [fairing], what sits on top of the rocket,” says Stephanie Sjoblom, vice president of Strategy and Business Development at the Aurelia Institute. “With this technology, we are creating tiles that we stack like an IKEA flat-pack box.”
After a successful launch, the tiles would be flung into space on a balloon-like support or net to prevent them from drifting away. The net would keep the tiles, which have strong magnets on the edges, close enough for magnetic attraction. The hope is that they will fit themselves into the correct configuration the first time. A combination of sensors and magnetometers can determine if they have not assembled correctly. In this case, a current passes through the magnets to disengage the incorrectly configured tiles and try again. After assembly, the electrical and plumbing systems can be installed manually.
Modules and inflatables
So far, the team has had success several times in assembling tiles smaller than a hand in space, including during Axiom Space’s Ax-1 mission to the ISS in 2022. They have not yet built a scale model of TESSERAE in space and say that construction will likely require a partnership.
“It’s difficult for us to give an exact number on how long it will take for it to be crewed by humans,” says Ekblaw. “It will probably depend on whether we can partner with [an organization like] NASA or Axiom. But certainly by the 2030s.” Aurelia does not share how much money she raised or spent on this work, but says that it was partially funded by NASA grants, corporate sponsorships and philanthropic donors.
There are many groups working on space stations. Axiom Space is dedicated to its own orbital station, the first module of which should be launched in 2026 and temporarily dock with the ISS. Blue Origin and Sierra Space are working on Orbital Reef, a project to support up to 10 people at once in a “mixed-use business park.” These stations will depend on humans for their construction, and it is likely that launching the parts will require some trips.
There’s another way to make something compact for launch: inflate it in orbit. NASA has already done this – its BEAM experimental habitat, which is connected to the ISS, launched in 2016 and stored cargo. Sierra Space wants to make inflatable habitats as large as a three-story building, although it has not yet tested such designs off-planet.
Ekblaw sees the TESSERAE habitat and inflatables as complementary technologies. TESSERAE’s rigid outer shell should better protect astronauts from space debris such as micrometeoroids. And the TESSERAE habitat is easier to repair than an inflatable, she says, because the tiles are simply replaceable. This is not the case with inflatables, where a tear may require a complicated patch or replacement of the entire habitat. “I’m very pro inflatables,” says Ekblaw. “I think the answer should be both, not one or the other.”
Design Challenges
The Aurelia Institute predicts that, once built, the TESSERAE habitat will be very different from what we usually see on the ISS: not only functional, but also fun, accessible and comfortable.
The design incorporates playful elements, based on dozens of interviews with astronauts. One of them looks like a huge inflatable sea anemone that protrudes from the wall. However, in reality, it is a sofa – lying down in space is not easy, so astronauts could theoretically settle down between the inflatable tentacles and get cozy.
However, it will be difficult to scale this technology. Oliver Jia-Richards, an aerospace engineer at the University of Michigan, isn’t sure whether Aurelia’s combination of magnets and sensors will be enough for larger models to self-assemble. Moving objects in space with precision often requires a propulsion system. “If they can do this, it will be a huge step forward in terms of how we do this,” says Jia-Richards. Ekblaw says he doesn’t rule out the need for propulsion.
Currently, the structures that tiles can create are also not airtight, so they are not ready for human use, notes Ekblaw. Your team can add cleats to the edges of the tiles, which would hold them together better. Another idea is to inflate an airtight balloon in the middle of the space for people to live there. In this case, they would simply become an exoskeleton for a pressurized internal bladder.
The team was just approved by NASA to send more small tiles to the ISS next year. This time, they will send about 32 (instead of just seven) and see if they can build an entire spherical structure on a small scale.
( fonte: MIT Technology Review )
