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> a habitat should replicate earth's environment. Then what is the point of having the habitat in space in the first place? Should we block off the windows, t
by LeifCarrotson 11y ago
> a habitat should replicate earth's environment.
Then what is the point of having the habitat in space in the first place? Should we block off the windows, too, and replace them with posters of the side of some terrestrial apartment? Hamstring the solar panels because the atmosphere would block a lot of energy?
Living in space should be different than life on earth. Humans need some things to be similar to survive, so give them those things - possibly including some time in gravity - but we don't need a few more square feet of living space equivalent to a vacant lot.
- freehunter 11y agoI agree that living in space does not need to perfectly replicate the feeling of living on Earth. Humans should be supplied with the things they need to live and gravity might be one of those things, but only when it comes to long term health concerns. On the other hand, the word "habitat" literally means the natural home of an animal or plant, and a gravity-free inflatable balloon in space is about as far from the natural living space of a human. It's going to be a long, long time before anyone can recreate Earth-like conditions in space.
- TheOtherHobbes 11y ago>possibly including some time in gravity Living in zero gravity tends to be very bad for long term health because bone and muscle mass start disappearing. Radiation shielding is a huge problem. Inflatable habs provide almost none, so they're dangerous in LEO and potentially fatal further out. And then there's danger from micro-debris. So inflatables could be good for short trips - space hotels, especially - and for extra storage. But they're really not a solution for long-term occupation.
- jp555 11y agoHow about inflating them with water, and then living inside another air inflated bubble inside? Like a giant cell. Radiation shielding, micrometeorite shielding, plus water is pretty important too. Other gear can float inside the water behind their own membranes like organelles, some use the water to radiate heat away, some use water for other things like making macronutrients (carbs, fibre, protein, & fat), or processing waste.
- jpatokal 11y agoAnd where are you proposing to get the necessary swimming-pool-like volumes of water? Shipped from the Earth at ~$20,000/kg?
- jp555 11y agoThat's only the cost if you use disposable rockets. About the same cost/kg of flying if you're throwing away the 777 after one flight. Reusable rockets are magnitudes cheaper per launch. Or there's robotic in-situ water mining - Ceres has a shallow gravity well and probably has as much water as Earth. Easy? No, but space is always going to be hard.
- zardo 11y ago>How about inflating them with water, and then living inside another air inflated bubble inside? What they actually propose to do is inflate the walls, then store water and supplies on the interior walls.
- gozur88 11y agoI've seen people propose this before, and it's always bothered me, because when they say they're "storing" water it suggests the water will be there until the needed for some other purpose. But if you're using water for radiation shielding and you then dedicate it to some other purpose, you no longer have radiation shielding.