However, Skylab ended up being a one-piece design, making modular design a feature for future stations (Kitmacher, 2002). These were both important considerations taken into account during the design of the International Space Station. Astronauts described preferring to spend time in their more closed living quarters, where they did not need to worry as much about their items escaping from them and being difficult to retrieve in a large room. Another interesting consideration revealed from their experience was the idea of open spaces versus closed spaces. Within this local directionality, astronauts floating in zero gravity found themselves more often moving from side to side rather than up and down, similar to how they would move on the earth. Their insights revealed that it is necessary to have a local architectural directionality of up and down within the space. The experience of astronauts aboard Skylab proved invaluable, as they later advised on the design of the ISS as well. The first space station to follow this idea was the US’s Skylab, which was a modified section of the existing Saturn V rocket. Image 3_Skylab and Saturn V Diagram_NASA_© 1535px-Skylab components in launch configuration.jpg Beyond reducing launch costs by moulding to existing technology, this allowed individual components of a station to be both manufactured and rigorously tested on earth before being launched into space (Kitmacher, 2002). Accordingly, space station design became modular. However, it also quickly became apparent that their total size and weight would be beyond the payload of any existing single rocket launch. Indeed, space stations needed to be large enough to accommodate living facilities and research labs while retaining space for essential electronics and navigational controls. He mentions early in his paper that the primary consideration for early space station design was “orbiting the maximum habitable volume for the lowest cumulative launch costs”. Kitmacher provides a brief history of the design of space stations. In his paper “Design of the Space Station Habitable Models”, Gary H. The evolution of Space Station Architecture over time Keep reading this article to learn the answers to these questions and more about the architecture of space stations. What are the limitations that constrain the construction of a space station? What precautions are undertaken during construction to ensure the safety of later astronauts who use the facility? How does the architecture of the handful of space stations currently in orbit vary? While the research conducted aboard the ISS is incredible, it is also interesting to consider the design of the ISS and other space stations like it. It orbits the earth and serves as a base for crews of astronauts and cosmonauts in space. The ISS is a collaborative effort between the USA, Canada, Japan, Russia and the European Union. If you’ve ever been interested in outer space, you’ve probably heard of the International Space Station (ISS).
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