The Deep Space Habitat (DSH) is a series of concepts explored between 2012 and 2018 by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

for methods to support crewed exploration missions to the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

s, and eventually

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

.Chris Gebhardt
Deep Space Habitat module concepts outlined for BEO exploration.
''NASA Spaceflight''. 30 March 2012. Some of these concepts were eventually used in the

Lunar Gateway The Lunar Gateway, or simply Gateway, is a planned space station which is to be assembled in orbit around the Moon. The Gateway is intended to serve as a communication hub, science laboratory, and habitation module for astronauts as part ...

program.

Overview

Since 2012, numerous iterations of large lunar and Mars transport habitats have been conceived in previous studies to be launched with the

Space Launch System The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American Super heavy-lift launch vehicle, super heavy-lift Expendable launch system, expendable launch vehicle used by NASA. As the primary launch vehicle of the Artemis program, Artemis Moon landing progra ...

(SLS),V. Smitherman, D. H. Needham, R. Lewis
Research Possibilities beyond Deep Space Gateway
Deep Space Gateway Science Workshop 2018 (LPI Contrib. No. 2063). NASA. and are intended to also be compatible with the

Orion Orion may refer to: Common meanings * Orion (constellation), named after the mythical hunter * Orion (mythology), a hunter in Greek mythology Arts and media Fictional entities Characters and species * Orion (character), a DC Comics c ...

capsule. Variations of the designs would be used for the

and the

Deep Space Transport The Deep Space Transport (DST), also called Mars Transit Vehicle, is a crewed interplanetary spacecraft concept by NASA to support science exploration missions to Mars of up to 1,000 days.Eric BergerFinally, some details about how NASA actually pl ...

. Early preliminary concepts considered 60-day and 500-day mission configurations, composed of

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

-derived hardware, the

Orion crew capsule Orion (Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV) is a Reusable spacecraft, partially reusable crewed spacecraft used in NASA's Artemis program. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) space capsule designed by Lockheed Martin that ...

and various support craft. The habitat would be equipped with at least one

International Docking System Standard The International Docking System Standard (IDSS) is an international standard for spacecraft docking adapters. It was created by the International Space Station Multilateral Coordination Board, on behalf of the International Space Station partner ...

(IDSS) docking system. Developing a deep space habitat would allow a crew to live and work safely in space for about one year on missions to explore cislunar space,

, and some

near-Earth asteroid A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body orbiting the Sun whose closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 times the Earth–Sun distance (astronomical unit, AU). This definition applies to the object's orbit aro ...

s. In 2015, NASA funded studies for several types of deep space habitat concepts under the

Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) is a NASA program using a public-private partnership model that seeks commercial development of deep space exploration capabilities to support more extensive human space flight missi ...

(NextSTEP).

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

, the main contractor of the Orion capsule, also produced in 2018 a Deep Space Habitat concept. These concept studies were intended to help NASA decide on a final design for the habitat element for the

.Jason Davis
Some snark (and details!) about NASA's proposed lunar space station
''The Planetary Society''. February 26, 2018.

Configurations

HAB/MPLM

MPLM stands for

Multi-Purpose Logistics Module A Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) is a large pressurized container that was used on Space Shuttle missions to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Two MPLMs made a dozen trips in the Shuttle cargo bay and initi ...

* 60 Day Mission – The basic 60-day mission variant would consist of a Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (CPS), ISS Destiny-derived lab module, and an airlock/tunnel. In addition, a mission-specific support craft, such as the FlexCraft or the Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV) would be docked to the airlock/tunnel. The Destiny-derived lab houses both the crew quarters and the

ECLSS A life-support system is the combination of equipment that allows survival in an environment or situation that would not support that life in its absence. It is generally applied to systems supporting human life in situations where the outside ...

components. * 500 Day Mission – The 500 Day mission variant would consist of the same 60-day crew habitat and crew size. Mass increases would result from the addition of a

(MPLM) to provide additional supply storage for the extended mission duration. It would be 8 m long and 4.5 m in diameter.

MPLM/Node 1

* 60 Day Mission – The basic vehicle elements for this configuration would include a CPS, a MPLM, Utility tunnel/airlock, Node 4 Structural Test Article. The Node element would allow for the attachment of more than one FlexCraft or Space Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV). The Habitat would be crew serviceable at the front of the Node element opposite the tunnel. *500 Day Mission – This 500-day mission variant would have a second MPLM attached to the front on the vehicle as well as add a Cupola to the Node section.

Suggested support craft

Space Exploration Vehicle in-space concept

, is being developed by NASA,

, and

Airbus Defence and Space Airbus Defence and Space is a division of Airbus SE. Formed in 2014 in the restructuring of European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS), Airbus SE comprises the former Airbus Military, Astrium, and divisions. Contributing 21% of Airbus reven ...

for crewed deep space travel. It is capable of carrying 4 crew, and able to withstand re-entry speeds from lunar or Martian trajectories. * MMSEV – a NASA-designed servicing craft. Capable of supporting a crew of two for up to 2 weeks and having

suitport A suitport or suitlock is an alternative technology to an airlock, designed for use in hazardous environments including in human spaceflight, especially planetary surface exploration. Suitports present advantages over traditional airlocks in term ...

s for extravehicular activity (EVA). * DSH FlexCraft – a single crew vehicle, attached to the DSH similar to a visiting craft to the

. FlexCraft would be used by an individual

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

for EVA or tele-operated activities. The hardware would connect directly to the DSH airlock and would share a common atmosphere as the parent ship to provide immediate access to space without pre-breathing by DSH crew. With a pressurized volume of 0.62 m³, the FlexCraft is meant for only one person with an "excursion time" of less than 8 hours. Its propellant would be gaseous

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

, and it would have a Delta-V of 21 m/s with a total gross mass projected at 452 kg. An already-identified limitation is that it cannot be used during

solar particle event In solar physics, a solar particle event (SPE), also known as a solar energetic particle event or solar radiation storm, is a solar phenomenon which occurs when particles emitted by the Sun, mostly protons, become accelerated either in the Sun's ...

s. The FlexCraft concept was first presented in a 2012 conference paper by Brand N. Griffin.

References

External links

Single Person Spacecraft
{{Space stations Cancelled space stations Lunar Gateway