THE UNIVERSITY OF NICOSIA VISIONS OF SPACE HABITATION: FROM FICTION TO REALITY A THESIS SUBMITED TO THE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE FOR THE PROFESSIONAL DIPLOMA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE SUPERVISORS PROFESSOR SOLON XENOPOULOS PROFESSOR NIKOLAS PATSAVOS BY FARHAD PAKAN NICOSIA JANUARY 2012 Contents Acknowledgment 3 Abstract 4 Exhibits 5 Abbreviations and acronyms 7 1 Introduction 8 2 Visions of Space Exploration in the Films of Tarkovski and Kubrick 11 3 Life at the Extremes 23 3.1 Habitability and Life on Earth 23 3.1.1 The Halley VI Antarctic Research Centre 25 3.1.2 The Aquarius Underwater Laboratory 27 3.2 Offworld Human Settlements 31 3.2.1 The International Space Station (ISS) 33 3.2.2 The City as a Spaceship (CAAS) 38 4 Formation of a new Settlement 44 4.1 Toward the Earth’s Eight Continent 45 4.1.1 Early Attempts 46 1 4.1.2 HABOT BASE Architecture 52 4.2 Lunar Site Design 58 4.2.1 Perception of Lunar Urbanity 67 4.2.2 Learning from the Romans 70 5 Conclusion 75 References 78 2 Acknowledgments I wish to thank Prof. Xenopoulos, Prof. Patsavos and Prof. Menikou for helping me to outline and structure this paper and for their assistance with grammar and proper citation. 3 Abstract The purpose of this paper is to provide an analytic observation through the visions of space habitation. It will study how the adventurous way of thinking and imagination of the curious human about the future of its life within the extraterrestrial environment, became a stepping stone for studying and challenging of these extreme environments and the initiation of a brave new era in the history of humanity. An era which rose up from the courageous imagination of man and it is moving forward to the habitation of the outer planets and the whole universe. This is the story of a spacefaring civilization. 4 Exhibits 1 Dawn of the space age 8 2 ‘Huntsville Times’ newspapers cover in April 12, 1961, reporting Yuri Gagarin journey through space 9 3 Kris Kelvin’s “Island of Memory” home 13 4 Encounters with a mysterious Black monolith shape human history 14 5 The match‐cut spanning four million years 15 6 The Star‐Child into which Dr. Bowman is transformed, looking at Earth 16 7 The match‐cuts of first section of Solaris (Life on Earth) 18 8 The match‐cuts of first section of 2001: a space odyssey (Life on Earth) 19 9 The match‐cuts of second section of Solaris (life in outer space) 20 10 The match‐cuts of second section of 2001: a space odyssey (life in outer space) 20 11 The match‐cuts of final section of Solaris (Dream) 21 12 The match‐cuts of final section of 2001: a space odyssey (Eternity) 22 13 Central Module is the heart of Halley VI 25 14 The planned layout of the modules and some of the external buildings 26 15 NEEMO aquanaut performing extra‐vehicular activity 27 16 An aquanaut anchors to a simulated asteroid outside the Aquarius lab 28 17 Moon Landing 1969 31 18 International Space Station orbiting high above the blue sea and white clouds 33 19 European space laboratory Columbus 35 20 International Space Station Flight Controllers 36 21 My Chawl 39 22 Three STS‐107 crewmembers 40 5 23 Lunar Base – 1971 47 24 Influence of color and light on human health in limited space conditions 48 25 Lunar Habitation Timeline 49 26 Future steps on the Moon 51 27 Habot mobile lunar base concept 52 28 Mankin’s original configuration concepts for the Habot base cluster 53 29 Module variations 55 30 Habot base configuration analysis matrix 57 31 Scaled plan‐area catalog of all major base elements 62 32 Element proximity diagram 63 33 Completed lunar‐base site plan 65 34 Diorama of complete base design 66 35 a forum complex in ancient Rome 70 36 Hyatt Regency in San Francisco 71 37 Once touched, lunar wilderness bears this mark forever 74 Tables 1 Catalog of lunar‐base site elements 61 6 Abbreviations and acronyms AI Artificial Intelligence AIAA American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics BAS British Antarctic Survey CAAS the City as a Spaceship ESA European Space Agency EVA Extravehicular Activity HAL Heuristically Programmed Algorithmic Computer ISS the International Space Station LCROSS Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite LEM Lunar Excursion Module LLOX Lunar‐derived Liquid Oxygen MCC Mission Control Center NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NEEMO NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NURP National Undersea Research Program PAN AM Pan American World Airways UNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization US United States of America USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics VSE Vision of Space Exploration 7 1 Introduction “For the 10 millennia of its history, architecture has operated within a familiar, fixed range of conditions governed by the cradle of Earth.”1 However, the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 burst man’s ancient design boundaries, and introduced a new set of freedoms and restrictions, which were the initiator of the Space Age and the beginning of a new era in the thought, the history, and the future of humanity (see Exhibit 1). The Space Age is characterized by the rapid development of its political, scientific, and technological achievements. But, it offers something beyond these points. It offers the questions about the common position and the vague future of man. Limitless thoughts Exhibit 1. Dawn of the space age (Artistic Render). Source: Todd, Gregory R. Dawn of the Space Age. Digital image. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 14 Feb. 2009. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dawn_of_the_Space_Age.jpg>. about the hazy future of man, detonates the power of fantasy and imagination of curious 1 Howe, A. Scott., and Brent Sherwood. "Lunar Architecture and Urbanism." Out of This World: the New Field of Space Architecture. Reston, VA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2009. 317‐330. Print. 8 writers, artists, scientists, and designers. For many years, being in space became a recurrent theme in man’s mythology, philosophy, poets, and novels. Such dreaming, desires and curiosities were the initiators of the visions of the space‐age fantasies. They pervaded man’s childhood and growth within every single cell of its exploring mind and make it fantasize and think about its future position within the extraterrestrial environment. Eventually, in 1961 the crazy‐wise man succeeds to orbit its home planet (see Exhibit 2). Exhibit 2. ‘Huntsville Times’ newspaper cover in April 12, 1961, reporting Yuri Gagarin journey through space. Source: Winter, Othon. The Huntsville Times Cover. Digital image. Instituto Ciência Hoje. Instituto Ciência Hoje, 05 May 2011. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. <http://cienciahoje.uol.com.br/revista‐ch/2011/280/a‐terra‐e‐azul/?searchterm=yuri%20gagarin>. As Carl Sagan argued “Migrating off this planet opens our mind to new discoveries and knowledge, challenging us to formulate new visions of humanity’s future. The nature of our species is to explore the unknown, to pursue the far horizon, to forge new frontiers. Driven by destiny to extend human civilization beyond our own Solar System, the bold journey 9 through space satisfies our spirit to know, increases our coping skills, and enriches human culture.”2 Most of the early dreamers of space travel such as Italy’s inventive artists, Michelangelo and Da Vinci; France’s science fiction writer, Jules Verne; and Romania’s mathematician, Hermann Oberth came from Europe; the drawings and writings of these visionaries inspired generations of future space scientists, engineers, and designers worldwide; Furthermore, man’s biggest jump for the visions of space habitation, happened during the American and Russian space programs. In parallel, American and Russian cinema played an extremely important role towards the creation of this ethos of space enterprise and offworld habitation. Chapter 2 is an analysis of two of important films of 20th century, Solaris by Russian director Andrei Tarkovski, and 2001: A Space Odyssey by American director Stanley Kubrick, which played an important role in the thoughts, and ideologies of the time. Chapter 3 is dedicated to case studies of analogues within the extreme environments of both planet earth and offworld environment. It will analyze how these spin‐offs of space activity could affect the quality of man’s living environments on earth and at the same time its further procedure of extraterrestrial habitation. Chapter 4 analyses through the design attempts of architects and designers of 20th and 21st century. Designer’s efforts took place due to prescribe an integrated policy and methodology for the habitation of extraterrestrial environments. 2 Sagan, Carl Edward. "Are We Ready to Go Exploring Again?" Parade Magazine 17 July 1994: 16. Print. 10 2 Visions of Space Exploration in the Films of Tarkovski3 and 4 Kubrick “Through the power of imagination, we can conceive and often execute grand plans. This conceptual ability influences our behavior, whether in terms of individuals or institutions, nations, or humanity. It results in the setting of goals which energize people to impressive achievements. And so it is with outer space and human expansion into the universe.” 5 One of the most important characteristics of human brain is the ability to think and question its overall situation. This way of analyzing the condition and clustering the information and ideas, made man capable of programming and projecting its next performances. Indeed, nineteenth and twentieth century were two of the most important eras in the history of man’s exploration. Because of its courageous thinking about the future, and especially for the living conditions of humanity in extreme environments.