A kind of big fold-capsule, with two beds, a toilet and air and water recycling system: European scientists presented this week in Strasbourg a space habitat prototype, similar to those that could be installed on Mars or the Moon in the coming years.
SHEE, acronym of “autodéployable habitat for extreme environments”, is somehow a manufactured home to 5.5 tons , able to travel in a relatively small volume on a space launcher and then unfold in minutes, once deposited on the soil of another planet.
It can house, in 17 18 m2 ground and 50 m3, two astronauts in total autonomy for two weeks, explained its designers, who presented their creation at the premises of the International Space University (ISU) in Ostwald, a suburb of Strasbourg.
The project of two million euros, 75% funded by the European Union, is led for three years by a consortium of private companies from several European countries and by the University of Tartu, Estonia
The prototype developed is not intended to actually settle on Mars. the strength of the walls of fiberglass and resin, nor its resistance, do meet the high standards for interplanetary travel. And it is also not equipped with an input / output airlock for spacesuits, equipment that would be obviously essential to Mars, details Jérémi Gancet, robotics expert who worked on this project for society . Belgian Space Applications Services
– The desert before the space –
As a result, “for now, the SHEE is intended to be tested on Earth, in isolated environments and hostile, “says Virginia Taillebot, project engineer at the Comex. Marseille This company, a specialist in underwater technologies, brought to this project its expertise in “life support”, that is to say the water control functions, temperature and atmosphere . Beyond the test, the capsule can even be useful, says Taillebot, for example in areas hit by natural disasters, where it can be transported by helicopter.
But the project designers keep the space in sight. Next spring, the first prototype will be installed several weeks in the desert Rio Tinto in southern Spain, to simulate a first experience of life on Mars. The creators of SHEE also hope that it will be used by the European Space Agency (ESA) for training missions of its astronauts.
The American NASA is also working on his side to research on habitable modules in preparation for missions to the moon or to Mars -. envisaged in 2030. The “complementary, rather than competing” projects, says Gancet
On the red planet, where astronauts should stay for at least several months, you should install several modules SHEE, which would then be connected to each other, forming a sort of small village. And consider ways to deposit with them, sufficient stocks of air, water, food and energy sources.
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