How to Build a Space Station Colony

Life in a space colony would be different from life on Earth.

Gravity might be a thing of the past, everyone could drink distilled urine, and a whole generation of Earthlings may grow up without ever having set foot on the surface of the planet. At the moment, those ideas are still firmly set in the realm of science fiction, but in the next 1,000 years, new technologies could be developed that would enable humanity to colonize space.

While a self-sustaining space station colony might be a long way off, scientists are still working to design and perhaps even build a space station that goes beyond low-Earth orbit. 

"It extends the capability of humans to be out in space away from Earth," Paul Bookout, project manager of the concept demonstrator for Deep Space Habitat at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., said of building a space station in deep space. "For example if you could go to a near-Earth asteroid and you had a habitat out there, you could stay extended periods of time … and do research on the asteroid, bring samples back in, continuing work out there instead of trying to bring small samples back to Earth." 

incredible amount with [the International Space Station] and we demonstrated that we have the technology to assemble large structures in space. What we need are rockets that can get material out of the Earth's gravity well and deliver it to whatever location the future space station is assembled."  

The supplies needed to create the space station don't necessarily have to come from Earth, Uhran said. Asteroids and other planetary bodies like the moon could provide elements needed to build the station. However, moving the heavy supplies to their proper place in orbit from any cosmic hub would still be a challenge for current propulsion systems.

One deep-space travel issue that scientists probably wouldn't need to worry about is isolation, experts say. By building a colony that could support more than just a small crew, astronauts will probably have enough social activity to prevent isolation-related issues in space.That doesn't mean that the space station shouldn't at least be somewhat comfortable. Scientists working with NASA's Deep Space Habitat program are developing ways to create a comfortable living space for astronauts aboard a space station in deep space.

"On one end, you have crew quarters and then it has a little hallway that opens up into a larger living area," Bookout toldSPACE.com. "We're trying to change up the versatility; instead of living in a box, it's something like your house."

One station design the scientists at Marshall are looking into is somewhat like Skylab, the first American space station that was inhabited for 171 days between 1973 and 1974. The station could be ideal for deep space living because it provides a somewhat comfortable living situation through design.

A deep space station could be built using NASA's Space Launch System — a heavy launch rocket in development that could deliver astronauts to deep-space destinations including Mars. The station would be made from a tank used on the rocket that would be about the size of a two-story house, much larger than the rooms in the International Space Station.

"[One] configuration that we've looked at is a 500-day configuration that would go to a near-Earth asteroid or Mars," Bookout said. "It consisted of a space station lab-size module and they would have a multipurpose logistics module and that would make up your core elements for the mission."