THE HABITABILITY MINI-LABORATORY - TESTING THE TOOLS OF SPACE HABITATARCHITECTURE

Living in the closed, confined environment of a space station for a lo ng period and under microgravity conditions, crew members can encounte r problems of a physiological and also a psychological nature. The arc hitecture of their living quarters can greatly influence their well-be ing and their efficiency. Simulation of a proposed architecture and of human movement within that architecture is the most effective way to evaluate the design. Two simulation tools, Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software tools and a mock-up on a smaller scale, were used to 'constr uct' several proposed architectures. Those models were then evaluated to determine the investigation methods that should be used in future a rchitectural development projects.