#spacestation

#spacestation

Inflatable Houses on the MoonIf we are to build a space station on the lunar surface, how would it be designed? How would we ship it, or the materials to build it? There has been talk for years about building living quarters on the moon with rock mined from the moon itself, but that would take heavy equipment and lots of time. The first buildings on the moon might just be inflatable buildings. They would be lightweight and easier to ship than prefab buildings. The company Pneumocell, which makes inflatables, conducted a study on the feasibility and benefits of inflatable moon buildings. They propose a series of donut-shaped inflatable structures, partially buried in the lunar soil. The buildings would be covered with a substantial layer of lunar regolith (the dust and gravel that cover the lunar surface) to help shield the structures from radiation and extreme temperatures. Parts of these structures would be greenhouses that gather sunlight directed onto them by an array of mirrors to provide heat, energy, and for growing food. Read more about this possible design for lunar living at Universe Today. -via Damn Interesting(Image credit: ESA/Herzig et al.) #moon #lunarmission #spacestation #inflatable

This is How Russian Cosmonauts Opened the Hatch That Connects the Lab Module to the International Space StationLast week, Russian space agency Roscosmos' lab module docked with the International Space Station with a bit of drama: due to a software glitch, the module fired its thrusters which caused the space station to spin and tilt.After the situation was stabilized, the cosmonauts inside the Russian module, nicknamed 'Nauka' (Russian for 'science') were able to open the hatch that connect it to the space station and moved inside.The two cosmonauts, Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, took a video clip of their opening of the hatch. It's an interesting sight to see: Novitsky used a special key then he and Dubrov pushed the hatch directly outwards then swung it away before the cosmonaut went through it.At the end of the clip, there's a brief tour of the Nauka lab module.#InternationalSpaceStation #ISS #spacestation #NaukaModule #cosmonaut #Roscosmos #hatch