Publication detail

Omicron spacehabitat - research stage II

DOULE, O. ŠÁLENÝ, V. HÉRIN, B. ROUSEK, T.

Original Title

Omicron spacehabitat - research stage II

Type

journal article - other

Language

English

Original Abstract

The design presented in this paper is in response to the revolution in private space activities, the increasing public interest in commercial flights to space and the utilization of structures such as space hotels or private orbital habitats. The baseline for the Omicron design concept is the Russian Salyut derived space station module. Salyut was the first space station to orbit the Earth. Its unique design and technical features were what made the development of space stations Salyut 1–7, MIR and the International Space Station (ISS) Zwezda service module possible. Due to its versatility and the reliable operating launch vehicle Proton, this space module series has the potential to be adapted for space hotel development. This paper proposes a conceptual design of the space habitat called Omicron, with particular focus on interior design for the microgravity environment. The Omicron concepts address the needs of space tourism with a strong emphasis on the safety and comfort of the spaceflight participants. The Omicron habitat supports three inhabitants in nominal conditions (e.g., two passengers and one astronaut). The habitat provides a flexible interior, facilities and spaces dynamically transforming in order to accommodate various types of activities, which will be performed in an organically formed interior supporting spatial orientation and movement in microgravity. The future development potential of Omicron is also considered. The baseline version is composed solely of one rigid module with an inverted cupola for observations. An alternative version offers more space using an inflatable structure. Finally, a combination of multiple Omicron modules enables the creation of a larger orbital habitat. The Omicrons subsystems support a few days visit by trained passengers. The transport to the habitat would be provided e.g., by the Soyuz TMA spacecraft carried by the Soyuz launch vehicle in the early stage of Omicrons development, before a fully reusable spacecraft would be available.

Keywords

Space hotel, Space architecture, Microgravity, Interior design Space, habitat Space station, Orbital habitat, Space tourism, Inflatable structures

Authors

DOULE, O.; ŠÁLENÝ, V.; HÉRIN, B.; ROUSEK, T.

RIV year

2011

Released

20. 10. 2011

Publisher

Elsevier

ISBN

0094-5765

Periodical

ACTA ASTRONAUTICA

Year of study

2011

Number

70

State

United States of America

Pages from

139

Pages to

158

Pages count

20

BibTex

@article{BUT88457,
  author="DOULE, O. and ŠÁLENÝ, V. and HÉRIN, B. and ROUSEK, T.",
  title="Omicron spacehabitat - research stage II",
  journal="ACTA ASTRONAUTICA",
  year="2011",
  volume="2011",
  number="70",
  pages="139--158",
  issn="0094-5765"
}