<p>Establishing permanent and sustainable human settlements outside Earth presents numerous challenges. The Resilient Extra-Terrestrial Habitat Institute (RETHi) has been established to advance the fundamental knowledge needed to enable and design resilient habitats in deep space, that will adapt, absorb, and rapidly recover from expected and unexpected disruptions without fundamental changes in function or sacrifices in safety.</p> <p>Future extra-terrestrial habitats will rely on several subsystems working synergistically to ensure adequate power supply, life support to crew members, manage extreme environmental conditions, and monitor the health status of the equipment. To study extra-terrestrial habitats, a combination of modeling approaches and experimental validations is necessary, but deep-space conditions cannot be entirely reproduced in a laboratory setting (e.g., micro-gravity effects). To this end, real-time multi-physics cyber-physical testing is a novel approach of simulating and evaluating complex system-of-systems (SoS) that has been applied to investigate the behavior of extra-terrestrial habitats under different scenarios (e.g., meteorite strikes). One of the most critical components which determines the success of the cyber-physical testbed is the transfer system serving as an interface between the physical and cyber substructures.</p> <p>Through this work, a dedicated thermal transfer system has been designed and constructed to provide realistic thermal boundary conditions to the physical habitat according to the real-time simulation results from cyber substructure of the habitat. The extreme temperatures to be found at the interface between the external protective layer of the habitat (cyber) and the interior structural elements (physical) are emulated by means of a cryogenic chiller and an array of cooled panels that cover a dome-style structure. Moreover, the overall architecture of the cyber-physical testbed, the partitioning of the virtual and physical environments, and interface schemes were also established. The experimental results obtained from the thermal transfer system prototype setup were analyzed and interpreted to generate meaningful recommendations for future development and application of the full-sized testbed.</p>

<p>Although decades of experience in human spaceflight have produced and refined a wealth of operational knowledge, the unique challenges posed to long-term extraterrestrial surface habitats will require new approaches to mission design. The key objectives of this thesis are to develop an understanding of 1) how to use simulation to study these habitats and 2) how to make contingency plans for these habitats under complex, changing conditions. In order to accurately represent the challenges posed, we identify the common qualities of mission architectures that are likely to be present in near-future habitats. These qualities are used to formulate sample crew schedules that contribute to developing realistic models for meaningful research. We discuss the development of such models and demonstrate the suitability of simulation to enable the design and study of resilient space habitats. Simulation can be used as a tool to understand the challenges and consequences associated with decision making, as well as the importance of resilient design choices in a hazard-prone environment. We then identify aspects of vulnerability in space habitat mission operations, the subfactors that influence changes in habitat vulnerability, and the effects of each identified category of vulnerability. These ‘vulnerability factors’ are subsystem availability, environmental conditions, safety control options, and recent events. Each vulnerability factor has several subfactors that influence its change during a mission.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The set of vulnerability factors is significant because each captures some category of behavior in surface habitats that changes over time and impacts the likelihood or consequences of risks to the habitat. We use these vulnerability factors to formulate six research questions which can be addressed via simulation-based research. A simulation set plan is developed to highlight the significant concepts at play in each research question. Finally, we conduct trials and analyses of these questions via simulation by injecting faults into a modular coupled virtual testbed for space habitats. The results of the simulations are used to develop lists of key implications for each vulnerability factor in practice. In addition, the lessons learned over the course of simulation set design and the usage of the simulation tool are discussed to support future simulation-based research efforts. We conclude by summarizing the major findings and potential for future work in the area.</p>

<p>  </p> <p>In the wake of the first Artemis launch, humanity is more focused on space exploration and travel than it has been in the half a century since the Space Race. This time, it’s not enough just to touch down on the Moon; we want to build sustainable homes on the Moon and on Mars. The goal of long-term extra-terrestrial habitation begs the question: how do we design habitats that can protect human life so far from Earth?</p> <p><br></p> <p>The Resilient Extra-Terrestrial Habitat Institute (RETHi) has been operating for four years now building a foundation of ideologies and tools to help answer that question. The institute has developed a control-theoretic approach to habitat resilience based on a state-trigger analysis, a database of potential hazards to a habitat, metrics for resilience quantification, and simulation platforms for design verification.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The combination of these developments allows for the proposition of a resilience-oriented habitat design process. The process takes the shape of a typical systems vee and is tailored to the needs of an extra-terrestrial habitat and the tools available through RETHi. The process proposes a way to build resilience into the requirements development and design verification of extra-terrestrial habitats at three system levels. The result of this study is a discussion on how we design, evaluate, and select safety mechanisms for extra-terrestrial habitats.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Safety mechanisms are selected by simulating the habitat’s response to a disruption when equipped with one safety mechanism at a time and quantifying the habitat’s resilience. Then, the resilience of the habitats with different mechanisms are compared, illuminating the best option. Simulations for each mechanism are performed under a variety of circumstances, changing the time of day and intensity of the disruption as well as the type of repair agent carrying out the mechanism to capture the habitat’s behavior as totally as possible.</p> <p><br></p> <p>This analysis shows how different safety mechanisms performances compare and provides a basis for making design decisions.</p>

Exploring the Solar System is an ongoing process of humanity that cannot be stopped. It requires large amounts of resources to explore space, which need to be acquired from somewhere. Resources mined on Earth cannot be diverted from vital productions on Earth as those required for energy systems transition and developing a sustainable society. With an ever-increasing demand of resources on Earth, resource extraction needs to be increased and diverted to avoid resource depletion. One such diversion is resource extraction from terrestrial bodies other than Earth, such as asteroids, meteorites, and the Moon. This thesis looks at the resources present on the Moon by compiling a chemical database which is then fed to mathematical models aimed to compare historical trends of Earth mining operations and prospected trends from lunar resources. Such approach is expected to establish if lunar mining is viable. The results are discussed in a larger context of how lunar resources can be used for in-situ resource utilization for solar system exploration, as well as questions regarding space law and possible colonialization.