Architecture studio Hassell has designed the conceptual Lunar Habitat Master Plan, a scalable system of inflatable pods that could be partly constructed from moon materials and 3D-printed on site.

Designed for the European Space Agency's Discovery program, the settlement would be designed to house 144 people and comprise residential spaces as well as sports arenas, restaurants and large greenhouses.

Hassell described the Lunar Habitat Master Plan as "the next step in the creation of the first permanent human settlement on the moon".

"Access to space is getting cheaper every year, so over the next two decades space travel will evolve hugely," Hassell's global head of design Xavier de Kestelier said.

"The moon is an extremely hostile place to live. With no atmosphere, humans need novel infrastructure to access water and oxygen whilst being subjected to high degrees of radiation," he added.

"We need to start planning for how larger communities can not just survive, but also thrive and live on the moon."

Hassell's moon base would be built from modular components that would include inflatable pods covered in 3D-printed lunar soil to shield their inhabitants from lethal levels of radiation.

"Shipping anything to the moon will always be costly, so we therefore decided to create the habitats out of inflatable modules which would be light and compact," De Kestelier said.

"Inflatable habitats on the moon might sound like science fiction, but these types of inflatable membranes are already being tested on the International Space Station."

It would be constructed using hexagon-shaped interlocking building blocks, a design that was informed by tetrapods, which are used in wave-dissipating structures to enforce seawalls and prevent erosion.

Satellite panels would be brought from Earth and installed at even intervals.

Hassell added that the fact that the moon base masterplan is scalable means it's also more sustainable.

"Hassell's scalable habitat system considers innovative interlocking mechanisms that allow for greater flexibility when building, so that the embodied energy contained in the hexapods can be reconfigured to reflect the size of future settlements – providing a flexible and sustainable solution," the studio said.

The lunar base was designed to be built near the edge of the Shackleton Crater at the South Lunar Pole, as the crater has the potential to hold frozen water.

The Lunar Habitat Master Plan could be used by national agencies such as NASA, ESA and Jaxa, as well as by commercial space companies, and was unveiled on stage today at the ESA's Space Research and Technology Centre in the Netherlands.

It follows another concept for inflatable moon buildings, the Moon Village by architect studio SOM. Danish studio BIG has also planned to create 3D-printed moon buildings for its Project Olympus with 3D-printed building company ICON.

Images are courtesy of Imigo unless otherwise stated.

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Architect Jordan William Hughes has created a conceptual design for a space elevator that would travel between an ocean-based spaceport and a multi-use space station.

Hughes developed the design for the space elevator – which he believes would offer a more efficient alternative to traditional space travel – based on existing research by physicists and engineers.

The proposed elevator would function by using a captured asteroid in geostationary orbit, which would act as the counterweight for an ocean-based spaceport. The two would then be connected by a robust tether that would be lowered to Earth from the asteroid.

This connection would allow for small drones to ascend and descend by climbing the tether, transporting both people and cargo between the sea-level spaceport and a space station situated more than 26,000 kilometres above Earth.

The spaceport, operating as an Earth-based anchor, was designed to sit on a moveable vessel to avoid hazardous weather conditions on Earth.

"My project aims to build upon all previous concepts to showcase the reality of what may be possible; a lightweight, movable space elevator that connects the ocean to the stars," Hughes told Dezeen.

"I wanted to design a project I myself would love to visit, something that can be efficient and sustainable, but also luxurious and extravagant".

Visualisations of the space station depict futuristic interiors with views overlooking Earth.

According to Hughes, a space elevator would offer a much cheaper and more efficient mode of transport to space in comparison to rockets which are both expensive and require lots of fuel.

"The ability for mankind to have a series of continuous vertical portals into space would radically change the space industry, making it vastly more affordable and realistic to transport cargo and space-tourist alike," Hughes said.

"There are several huge challenges that would have to be overcome before any proposal like this could become reality, the most difficult is to develop a suitable material for the elevator tether itself," Hughes said.

"Despite these challenges; the concept, the physics and the reasoning all point to a future of space elevators."

Hughes, who is currently working as a concept artist at British architecture studio Foster + Partners, developed the concept in his spare time. The space elevator recently won a prize in the Jacques Rougerie International Competition held in Paris, France, for the Architecture and Innovation for Space category.

Other design stories relating to space include lunar spacesuits designed by Prada for a NASA moon mission and a 3D printing technology developed by ICON to build roads, launchpads and homes on the moon.

The images are courtesy of Jordan William Hughes.

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Fashion house Prada has teamed up with commercial space company Axiom Space to create lunar spacesuits for NASA's Artemis III mission, which will be the first crewed moon landing since 1972.

Called Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU), the suits will be designed to give astronauts "advanced capabilities for space exploration," Prada said.

They are an evolution of NASA's Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) spacesuit design and will use "innovative technologies and design" to be more flexible and provide more protection against the harsh lunar environment, according to the brand.

Prada will work together with Axiom Space's systems team to create the lunar spacesuits, which will be used for Artemis III, the first crewed lunar landing since December 1972.

Artemis III will also be the first mission to place a woman on the moon.

The lunar spacesuits will feature specialised tools for exploration and scientific work and give NASA commercially developed systems to let people work and live on the moon.

"The constantly forward-thinking ethos of Prada for humanity has broadened to his desire of adventure and to brave new horizons: space," Prada Group marketing director Lorenzo Bertelli said.

"We are honored to be a part of this historic mission with Axiom Space," he added. "Our decades of experimentation, cutting-edge technology and design know-how – which started back in the 1990s with Luna Rossa challenging for the America's cup – will now be applied to the design of a spacesuit for the Artemis era."

The collaboration marks "the first groundbreaking partnership between an Italian luxury fashion house and a commercial space company, Axiom Space," Prada said.

"We are thrilled to partner with Prada on the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit," said Michael Suffredini, CEO of Axiom Space.

"Prada's technical expertise with raw materials, manufacturing techniques, and innovative design concepts will bring advanced technologies instrumental in ensuring not only the comfort of astronauts on the lunar surface, but also the much-needed human factors considerations absent from legacy spacesuits."

NASA is currently working with a number of companies on its space missions. American entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX has won a NASA contract to design a moon lander, while tyre-maker Goodyear is creating airless tyres for a future lunar vehicle.

The space agency has also tapped Bjarke Ingels' studio BIG and construction technology company ICON to create Mars Dune Alpha, a 3D-printed structure designed to simulate living on Mars.

The photography is courtesy of Axiom Space.

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Chinese studio Open Architecture has revealed its design for a space museum and experience centre in Yantai, China, which will appear like a mysterious black object in an oceanfront park.

Named Space Crystals, the building will have a glossy black exterior and a faceted stone-like shape that rises at one end to point towards the ocean.

Open Architecture describes the design as "an extraterrestrial-looking object landed mysteriously in the clearing of a seaside park".

Back-painted glass will cover half of the external facade, while photovoltaic glass will cover the south-facing facade to generate enough solar to power the building's lighting.

"The manufacturer has calculated that the total output power by the photovoltaic glass, around 2,520 square metres, is 77 kilowatts," Open Architecture founding partner Huang Wenjing told Dezeen.

"Under sunny conditions, this capacity is about enough for the general lighting requirement of the whole building."

Visitors will enter the building on the south side underneath the rising cantilever, arriving at a 20-metre-high atrium with faceted walls that mirror the appearance of the exterior.

The atrium will be used as an exhibition space displaying hanging objects and digital projections "dedicated to deciphering the mysteries of the universe".

"Light bounces around on the polygonal surfaces, rendering the otherwise monolithic white planes into countless shades of varying grey which subtly changes with the passing time and changing weather," said Open Architecture

A side entrance will provide access to a theatre and cafe when the museum is closed.

The studio designed a ramp encircling the atrium space that will lead to exhibition spaces above, intending to give visitors a sense of gradually exploring the building. The top of the spiral ramp will open onto an outdoor terrace with views of the nearby ocean.

Two polyhedral steel pipe shells will form the external and internal structures, which will be connected by the floor slabs.

With Space Crystals' unique shape, Open Architecture aimed to create a distinctive museum that invites the public inside to learn more about space and the universe.

"The main goal for the Space Crystals design was to create an attractive building – a semi-hidden surprise in the seaside park that arouses the public's interest and draws people in to explore the wonders of the universe through immersive exhibitions," said Huang.

"The city of Yantai is the hometown of the first female Chinese spacewalker – a fact that the locals are very proud of," she added.

"People, especially the older generations, have hoped that the younger generation will be inspired and encouraged to understand and explore the unknowns of the universe."

Planned to be completed in 2026, Space Crystals is part of Open Architecture's larger master plan for the seaside park. A second building set to be built on the site is Sea Square, a square-shaped library and community building on a dock.

"The two buildings form a dialogue in space and time, one pointing to the sky and the other to the sea, connecting current, past, and future," the studio said.

Other projects by Open Architecture include a 50-metre-tall viewing tower in Yantai that is nearing the end of construction and a rock-like open-air concert hall near the Great Wall of China.

The images are by Open Architecture.

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British technology company SatVu has launched a satellite into orbit that will map the energy efficiency of buildings from space, with the goal of identifying structures for retrofitting.

Named Hotsat-1 and dubbed a "thermometer in the sky" by SatVu, the satellite launched earlier this month with a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

It is equipped with thermal imaging technology that can capture the heat radiating from structures and send the data back to Earth in near real time.

Compared with previous thermography from orbit, which is typically low-resolution, SatVu's imaging is high enough in resolution to provide specific temperature data for any structure on the planet. Its mid-wave infrared imager has a resolution of 3.5 metres per pixel.

SatVu expects to use the Hotsat-1 to assess heat loss in buildings, measure energy effiency and spot faults in solar farms.

It will sell its data commercially to governments and organisations for the purpose of strategic planning, saying it will help them to meet their goals for net zero carbon emissions.

The data can be used to, for assistance, identify buildings for retrofitting or counteract the effects of urban heat islands by planting trees.

"Hotsat-1 represents a paradigm shift in commercial thermal imaging technology," said SatVu co-founder and CEO Anthony Baker.

"By harnessing the unique power of infrared technology, SatVu provides an innovative, practical solution that will revolutionise global analysis, enabling governments and commercial organisations to detect changes and anomalies across buildings and essential infrastructure, and take proactive steps to mitigate environmental impact."

SatVu expects to receive the first images from Hotsat-1 in July and to start commercial operations in October. The satellite is just the first of eight it plans to launch into orbit to carry out these operations.

In addition to measuring energy effiency, the satellite has the potential to provide insights into industrial activity, because the changing heat signature of a factory over time can give clues as to its output.

Hotsat-1 was designed and manufactured in partnership with another British company, Surrey Satellite Technologies, and partly funded by the UK Space Agency.

According to the World Green Building Council, buildings are currently responsible for 39 per cent of global energy-related carbon emissions, 28 per cent from operational emissions such as heating and cooling and the remaining 11 per cent from materials and construction.

Residential retrofitting is a hot topic in the UK, which has the oldest and most poorly insulated housing stock in Europe.

Effectively retrofitting UK housing will require a compromise between performance and heritage, a number of architects have recently told Dezeen.

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The European Space Agency is investigating the possibility of setting up solar arrays in space in the hope that access to 24-hour sunlight will help to overcome issues of energy intermittency on Earth.

As part of the Solaris programme, the European Space Agency (ESA) is looking into whether space-based solar power (SBSP) could meet Europe's clean energy needs as early as the 2030s to help the continent reach its net-zero targets.

It joins the space agencies of several nations including the US, China and Japan in exploring SBSP, which mostly relies on technologies that have already been proven to work here on Earth, according to the ESA.

"This is not science fiction," the space agency said. "The fundamental technologies are understood and are already being demonstrated on Earth and in space today."

Solar farms would beam down power from space

SBSP would work by capturing solar radiation in space, where the intensity of sunlight is much higher than on the Earth's surface and available 24 hours a day, with no disruptions from nightfall or cloud cover.

The ESA envisions there being massive Earth-orbiting solar farms, which could be launched on low-cost, reusable launchers such as the Starship currently being tested by SpaceX before being assembled in space by robots.

These huge solar arrays would collect sunlight for transmission to a receiver station on Earth in the form of either microwaves or laser beams.

The earthbound receiver stations would then use either photovoltaic cells or an antenna to capture this energy and convert it into electricity that can be delivered to the grid.

The idea for SBSP has been around since the beginning of the space race, when it was actively investigated by NASA and found to be promising.

The ESA's Solaris programme is currently in a preparatory stage, having been funded in November 2022 by the ESA Council to lay the groundwork for potentially launching a full development programme in 2025.

Energy transition "extremely difficult" without additional renewable source

The ESA says that if SBSP were to be successful, it would solve some of the key problems standing in the way of a full transition away from fossil fuels.

"Transitioning to clean energy is an urgent imperative and Europe has commmited to achieving net zero emissions by the year 2050," the ESA said in a video.

"But this will be extremely difficult if we rely only on existing renewable and low-carbon energy solutions, as intermittency of supply, pressures on land use, scalability and toxic waste limit how quickly and effectively existing energy sources can be rolled out."

The ESA is exploring SBSP as part of its Solaris programme

According to the ESA, space-based solar power provides a "continuously available, inexhaustible, sustainable and scalable source of energy" that could not only help to fight climate change but also build up energy security.

"However, there are still many engineering and policy challenges that would need to be overcome to make this ultimate energy source a reality as early as the next decade," the agency said.

Agency investigating possible risks

The ESA's Solaris investigation was greenlit after two independent cost-benefit studies – one from UK company Frazer-Nash and one from Germany's Roland Berger – which found that SBSP could provide competitively priced electricity as well as other environmental, economic and strategic benefits such as energy security.

The agency is now partnering with European industry to further assess the technical feasibility and consider other benefits and risks.

At an industry day in October 2022, ESA identified some of the key technical challenges to be solved, including how to deliver high-efficiency photovoltaic and power conversion, how to ensure accuracy in beam formation and how to deploy, assemble and maintain large-scale structures in space.

The agency is also asking organisations to assess potential risks to the health of humans, animals or plants in the vicinity of receiver stations, as well as how the beams will interact with the ionosphere, the atmosphere and the environment.

The embodied carbon of deployment and potential impacts of beam interference on aviation and ground infrastructure are further areas for investigation.

Kim Borgen, founder of space technology company Alvior, was among those present at Solaris's industry day. He told Dezeen that SBSP signalled "a paradigm shift in space".

"The reason we still burn fossil fuels for the majority of our electricity is that it is very predictable, reliable, stable and flexible," he said.

"Realistically, if we want to replace fossil fuels, we need alternative power sources with these characteristics, characteristics we only get from hydro, nuclear and fossil fuels," Borgen added. "SBSP delivers all of these characteristics."

"The science is sound, the engineering is feasible, and the economic feasibility is soon demonstrated by the upcoming Starship from SpaceX," he continued.

"Starship may make electricity from SBSP competitively priced to fossil fuels, but I assume that other novel transportation methods, such as space planes, electronic accelerators or in-orbit tethers might make the electricity cheaper than even terrestrial solar and wind."

ESA joins other agencies in new global space race

The US has been investigating SBSP on and off since 1978. In 2020, its Naval Research Laboratory tested a power-beaming satellite in space, and its air force is planning to launch a further test satellite dubbed Arachne in 2024.

Meanwhile, China has an SBSP ground station and test facilities in development and is planning to launch a demonstrator satellite in 2028 that will test out beaming on various targets and will have a 10-kilowatt power output.

Japan is also developing SBSP through its space agency JAXA and tested power beaming from a satellite to a ground receiver in 2015. The country is set to test roll-out solar panels on the International Space Station this year.

All images are courtesy of the ESA.

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Space agency NASA has started making use of artificial intelligence to develop its mission hardware, creating components that it says are significantly stronger than their human-designed counterparts while saving two-thirds of the weight.

The Evolved Structures process, developed by research engineer Ryan McClelland, takes a fraction of the time needed by NASA's expert designers and relies on a generative algorithm to create metal brackets and mounts for different space exploration missions.

"Humans, maybe they do an iteration every week or two between them, if things are going well," McClelland explained on NASA's Small Steps, Giant Leaps podcast.

"The AI will do something on the order of an iteration a minute. So, you get a lot more iteration cycles, and because of the more iteration cycles, you just get more optimal designs much, much faster."

So far, the system has been used to design everything from a scaffold for NASA's balloon-borne EXCITE telescope to an optical bench for an ultraviolet imaging spectrometer to hold its optical components.

"Of the current applications, the optical bench is probably the most impressive," McClelland told Dezeen.

"It is a radical departure from typical optical benches and has far better structural performance. It also consolidated what would have been around 10 parts into a single part that can still be CNC machined."

Much like the ChatGPT chatbot or image generator DALL-E, the system still relies on human input in the form of a precise brief, detailing the requirements for the part including the load it has to carry and what forces it will be exposed to.

This data is fed into the generative design software, which is able to produce 30 to 40 iterations in a few hours, each improving on the last to evolve an optimal structure.

"The AI comes up with the design, and then tests the design by finite element analysis to make sure it works, to verify the requirements and then it also does a fabrication simulation to make sure it can be fabricated," McClelland explained on the podcast.

That means the final design can be fed straight into a digital manufacturing process and machined by a standard CNC mill based on the CAD model.

From design to production, this process can take as little as one week. McClelland estimates that's around ten times faster than NASA's normal process, which involves the design being passed around between a designer, a stress analyst who checks its performance and a machinist who tests if it can be manufactured.

"What the Evolved Structures process does is take that back and forth that goes on between a few different people – and can take months or years depending on the project and how devoted the people are and whether they're working on other things – and it collapses that down to something that's all done by the computer," he said.

The resulting components feature "almost bone-like" organic shapes that are able to tolerate higher structural loads than parts produced by humans.

In fact, McClelland found that the AI-designed components have up to 10 times lower stress concentrations while saving up to two-thirds of the weight.

"The structures tend to perform much better," he said. "They're somewhere on the order of three times better in performance."

Given that NASA manufactures thousands of bespoke parts for its various different missions every year, McClelland predicts that the design process will become common practice when designing structural parts, electronics and other subsystems within NASA's instruments and spacecraft.

This, in turn, would help to reduce both the time and cost associated with space exploration.

"The space station holds six or seven people but it's $100 billion," he explained. "I really think AI has the potential to drastically lower the cost of developing these complex systems because it's really great at these sort of things."

Previously, German software company Hyperganic used AI to develop a rocket engine prototype that was 3D-printed in one piece.

The photography is by Henry Dennis.

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Space agency NASA has awarded construction company ICON a $57 million contract to develop 3D-printing technology to build roads, launchpads and homes on the moon's surface.

The contract, worth $57.2 million (£47 million), was awarded to develop the 3D-printing construction technology that will be needed to build elements necessary for living on the moon, such as roads, launchpads and homes as part of a lunar base.

Above: NASA has chosen ICON for phase III of Project Olympus. Top image: A 3D printer will be placed on the moon. Courtesy of ICON/BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

"In order to explore other worlds, we need innovative new technologies adapted to those environments and our exploration needs," director of technology maturation at NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate Niki Werkheiser said.

"Pushing this development forward with our commercial partners will create the capabilities we need for future missions."

Austin-based ICON is aiming to develop a large 3D printer that could be transported to the moon, where it will use lunar materials to construct the lunar base.

"ICON's Olympus system is intended to be a multi-purpose construction system primarily using local lunar and martian resources as building materials to further the efforts of NASA as well as commercial organizations to establish a sustained lunar presence," ICON explained.

Project Olympus falls under NASA's Artemis program, which plans for long-term human exploration of the moon, and the infrastructure is designed to allow for human habitation on the moon in the future.

"To change the space exploration paradigm from 'there and back again' to 'there to stay', we're going to need robust, resilient, and broadly capable systems that can use the local resources of the moon and other planetary bodies," said ICON co-founder Jason Ballard.

"We're pleased that our research and engineering to-date has demonstrated that such systems are indeed possible, and we look forward to now making that possibility a reality," Ballard continued.

"The final deliverable of this contract will be humanity's first construction on another world, and that is going to be a pretty special achievement."

The contract, which was awarded under the third phase of NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, builds upon the funding that ICON and architecture studio BIG were awarded in 2020 to develop a way to create 3D-printed buildings for living on the moon.

ICON is currently also collaborating with NASA and BIG on Mars Dune Alpha, a 3D-printed structure designed to simulate living on Mars.

A number of other architecture studios are also exploring building on the moon. Architecture studio SOM and the European Space Agency designed a settlement for living on the Moon that is made up of inflatable modules and aptly named Moon Village.

Meanwhile, British architecture studio Foster + Partners unveiled a proposal to 3D print buildings on the lunar body.

Renderings courtesy of ICON unless otherwise stated.

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The sun will power a key part of NASA's upcoming Artemis 1 mission via a solar sail developed by Alabama company NeXolve to fly a craft into deep space without needing fuel.

Solar sails use the momentum from light to push a spacecraft along without propellant, similar to how the wind propels a sailboat on the high seas.

NeXolve's solar sail will be attached to NASA's shoebox-sized Near-Earth Asteroid Scout (NEAS), a type of small spacecraft known as a CubeSat that will be jettisoned from Artemis 1's rocket and sent to explore a small asteroid near Earth.

Technology could aid Mars mission

The mission will demonstrate the potential of solar-sail technology, which NASA has never deployed at this scale and which could one day be used to assist a mission to Mars.

"Solar sails are capable of achieving very high velocity and thus reducing trip times for missions to destinations far away from the Earth," Nexolve president Jim Moore told Dezeen.

Solar sails work because light particles, or photons, radiating from the sun have momentum and exert force on objects they touch. In space, without the protection of the Earth's atmosphere, sunlight is so abundant that this solar radiation pressure can be harnessed for travel.

To work the sail needs to be very thin — 40-to-100 times slighter than a piece of writing paper, according to NASA — and reflective so as to generate the most amount of thrust possible as the photons bounce off.

They also need to be big to capture enough photons to have an effect. The solar sail that will unfurl from the tiny NEAS will measure 86 square metres, equivalent to roughly one side of a volleyball court.

It is made of a material originally developed by NASA and licensed by NeXolve called Colorless Polyimide 1 (CP1) that Moore says retains its strength and flexibility in the hostile space environment, covered with a reflective coating.

NeXolve has developed manufacturing techniques that allow it to manufacture film from this material at a thickness of only 2.5 microns (0.0025 millimetres), so it weighs approximately half as much as other polyimide films.

Use of "free" energy reduces need for fuel

The thrust from the solar sail can push a craft through space but it can also allow it to hover at a fixed point or rotate – moves that would typically require a significant amount of fuel. Without as much need for fuel, craft can be smaller and lighter and can reach deep-space destinations faster.

"Solar sails harness and reflect the sun's energy to produce a low but continuous acceleration in space," said NeXolve aerospace products director Jim Pearson. "Over the long term, the continuous acceleration results in high velocity that enables deep-space science missions."

"Solar sail missions can also be coupled with innovative sun swing-by trajectories to benefit from even more 'free' energy."

According to Moore, the sails are particularly attractive for applications like space weather monitoring that require a spacecraft to fly in an unstable orbit position for which they need continuous thrust to hold their trajectory, making it easier to predict solar storms that can cause problems with power grids, satellites and communications equipment.

"A solar sail would allow the space weather monitoring satellites to fly closer to the sun and significantly improve warning time for Solar storm events," said Moore. "This additional time would allow better safeing precautions to be put into effect to prepare systems for the upcoming solar flare disruptions."

The technology may also have an application in geoengineering for use as a space sunshield to help mitigate global warming.

"Looking even further into the future, very large solar-sail-like structures may be built in Earth orbit to block some of the sun's energy from reaching the Earth," said Moore.

Solar power "even more abundant" in space

Solar sails are not the only solar space technology that NeXolve is working on. The company began working in this field in the 1980s with Solar Thermal Propulsion (STP) technology, which involves focusing sunlight via a reflector to heat rocket propellant.

Moore calls the sun "the most abundant and renewable source of energy available to humans" and says that its abundance in space opens up opportunities that aren't available on Earth.

"On Earth, solar power is a growing form of renewable energy currently accounting for about four per cent of the electrical energy production in the United States and this percentage grows every year," said Moore. "In space, solar energy is even more abundant for applications in Earth orbit and on the moon."

"There have been many design concepts developed that would use huge solar arrays in earth orbit to collect energy and beam it down to Earth to feed the power grid," he continued. "NASA's future activities on the moon will rely heavily on solar energy for electrical power and other applications such as heating lunar regolith to mine water and oxygen, creating building materials, and environmental control of facilities."

Artemis 1 mission set for October following delays

Artemis 1 is the first flight in NASA's Artemis programme, which aims to return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972 and eventually facilitate a human mission to Mars.

The uncrewed moon-orbiting mission will be a test for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket as well as carrying 10 CubeSat satellites, including the NEAS, that will disperse for their own scientific missions.

The Artemis 1 launch was scheduled for 29 August 2022 but has been postponed several times, initially due to technical issues and most recently because of Hurricane Ian. The next launch attempt is now likely to take place in mid-October at the earliest.

NASA is working with other space agencies as well as commercial partners for Artemis, so the programme includes a SpaceX-developed moon lander named Starship as well as a potential lunar vehicle by Lockheed Martin, General Motors and Goodyear.

The images are courtesy of NeXolve.

Solar Revolution

This article is part of Dezeen's Solar Revolution series, which explores the varied and exciting possible uses of solar energy and how humans can fully harness the incredible power of the sun.

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Designer Octave de Gaulle has wrapped a glass bottle in an aeronautical-grade aluminium shell for French champagne house Maison Mumm, to allow champagne to be drunk in space.

Maison Mumm created the Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar champagne, which will be served on privately-owned space exploration company Axiom Space's flights, to be "the first champagne bottle and tasting experience designed for space travel and human spaceflight".

It will be contained in a bottle designed by De Gaulle, who is the founder of an agency that specialises in designs for space named SPADE, with technical support from the French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the Comat design office.

The "high-tech" bottle was designed to face space-specific issues including how champagne behaves in the absence of gravity, while still adhering to the regulations set by Champagne AOC – the drink's regulatory commission.

The regulations state that champagne has to be stored and transported in glass and corked with a traditional "mushroom" cork.

In response, the Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar is contained in a 375-millilitre glass bottle that is secured by a stainless-steel opening and closing device. It sits inside a shell made from aeronautical-grade aluminium, which was designed to protect the bottle.

"The safety being paramount in manned space flights, the design has to integrate redundancies to be compliant with the applicable rules," De Gaulle told Dezeen.

"Those rules state that for a pressurized liquid container (such as a champagne bottle), a second protective layer is to be provided in the design in case of failure of the first one. This is typical of all space material," he added.

"A failure of the glass bottle, even if not probable, could result in glass shattering in the habitat, which is not acceptable."

The bottle's upper part consists of a long neck, topped with a ring that retains the cork and locks the bottle's stainless-steel mechanism. This prevents the cork from popping and allows the bottle to be safely uncorked.

In addition, the shape will also help serve the champagne in space.

"After uncorking, when pressing the button located at the bottom of the bottle, the champagne exits through the neck and gathers in the ring that once held the cork in place," de Gaulle explained.

"When a sufficient amount of champagne has exited, a small movement of the wrist separates a sphere of Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar champagne from the ring that is then gathered by our specially designed glass and ultimately tasted by the astronauts."

Despite its futuristic look, the bottle aims to let users recreate the usual champagne-tasting experience.

"The design and shape are similar to a traditional champagne bottle and reproduce as faithfully as possible the ritual of champagne tasting," de Gaulle said.

"For example, while pouring is not possible anymore in zero-G conditions, the button that is used to serve (e.g. to force champagne out of the bottle) is located in the bottom of the bottle of Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar," he added.

"Thus it reproduces a typical gesture of champagne service: with the thumb at the bottom of the bottle."

As well as adapting the bottle design to suit the extraterrestrial surroundings, Maison Mumm chose a blend for the champagne itself that would be suitable to drink in space.

In space, the bubbles of the champagne don't rise to the surface, which means they don't release their aroma molecules, the brand said.

To create a drink that would work well on space travels, the brand chose "a blend of Mumm Cordon Rouge made with grapes from the 2016 harvest, which includes a majority of Pinot Noir and is supplemented with reserve wines from the past five years".

It says this blend will keep the champagne's signature characteristics even in tasting conditions where the senses are altered.

The Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar will be onboard Axiom's upcoming missions to the Axiom Station – which was designed by Philippe Starck and is currently under construction – and has been given full compliance with space requirements set by the CNES.

"Axiom's collaboration with Mumm and the Mumm Cordon Rouge Stellar recognizes that to bring humanity to space we can't just bring humans, we need to bring human traditions," said Michael Suffredini, Axiom Space's president and CEO.

"This philosophy of celebrating humankind empowers our goal for Axiom Station, a next-generation destination that will serve as a thriving home in space to enable a diverse space economy, further exploration and enable more of humanity to access space."

In the past few years, there have been numerous designs created for space tourism as the focus on the phenomenon has grown. Dezeen has recently rounded up ten space-tourism-related designs, including a space suitcase, and looked at the design of the "world's first" space lounge.

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Tyre-maker Goodyear has announced it will join aerospace company Lockheed Martin and car manufacturer General Motors to develop a vehicle for NASA's next lunar landing, set for 2025.

Goodyear will develop an advanced version of its airless tyres for the lunar mobility vehicle, which will need to withstand extended use in extreme conditions.

The vehicle is intended for use in NASA's Artemis programme, which aims to land astronauts on the moon for the first time since 1972, including the first woman and first person of colour. The US space agency launched a request for ideas for lunar rovers in 2020.

New lunar tyre to be built to last for years

According to Goodyear, whereas previous lunar rovers were built for just a few days of use, always within five miles of their landing sites, the new vehicle will need to traverse much longer distances and potentially have "years of durability".

It will also need to be able to handle the rugged terrain and withstand temperatures that drop as low as -150 degrees Celsius at night and reach as high as 120 degrees Celsius by day. The vehicle will either be driven by astronauts or operated autonomously without crew.

To develop the lunar tyres, Goodyear will draw on the airless tyres — also known as non-pneumatic tyres — it has used on Earth and tested in vehicles such as delivery robots and autonomous shuttles.

These tyres have a rubber or plastic internal connecting structure that handles well on rougher terrains and doesn't go flat, reducing the need for maintenance and making the product long-lasting.

Goodyear says it has already started testing new tyre concepts in lunar soil test beds, and that the innovations it makes will filter through to its terrestrial products.

"Everything we learn from making tyres for the Moon's extremely difficult operating environment will help us make better airless tyres on Earth," said Goodyear senior vice president, global operations and chief technology officer Chris Helsel.

Group aims to bring commercial product to market

The project also aims to commercialise the lunar vehicle, which will be available for other companies and space agencies to buy.

"NASA's Artemis program to live and work on the Moon has a clear need for lunar surface transportation that we intend to meet with vehicles driven by astronauts or operated autonomously without crew," said Lockheed Martin vice president of lunar exploration campaigns Kirk Shireman.

"We're developing this new generation of lunar mobility vehicle to be available to NASA and for commercial companies and even other space agencies to support science and human exploration," he continued.

"This approach exemplifies NASA's desire for industry to take the lead with commercial efforts that enable the agency to be one of many customers."

Airless tyres have history on the moon

Goodyear has a long history of working with NASA, having previously developed products for the Apollo programme, including the tyres of Apollo 14's hand-pulled Modular Equipment Transporter (MET), which had nitrogen-filled rubber tires.

The first lunar roving vehicle, or "moon buggy", developed by General Motors, went out with the Apollo 15 mission and had airless tires made from wire mesh.

NASA's Artemis programme will also include a moon lander designed by SpaceX, which won the contract to develop the craft last year. In the long term, the programme's goal is to land the first humans on Mars.

Airless tyres have also been developed by Goodyear rival Michelin, which previously partnered with General Motors to bring the products to road vehicles by 2024.

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Researchers from space agency NASA are building a swarm of mobile phone-sized robots to swim through oceans on moons in space in search of extraterrestrial life.

Devised by robotics mechanical engineer Ethan Schaler at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the project called Sensing With Independent Micro-Swimmers (SWIM) could form part of the organisation's 2024 mission to explore Jupiter's moon Europa.

The 12-centimetre-long robots, which would be equipped with a propulsion system, ultrasound communications system and specially developed chemical sensors to detect signs of life, would "flock" together to swim through oceans on the moon.

"Where can we take miniaturized robotics and apply them in interesting new ways for exploring our solar system?," Schaler said.

"The SWIM robots could flock together in a behavior inspired by fish or birds, thereby reducing errors in data through their overlapping measurements," NASA explained.

Robots could "explore a much larger volume of ocean"

NASA believes that SWIM will increase the likelihood of detecting evidence of life as the swarm of robots can cover larger water areas than a singular probe.

"With a swarm of small swimming robots, we are able to explore a much larger volume of ocean water and improve our measurements by having multiple robots collecting data in the same area," Schaler explained.

SWIM robots would tunnel through icy moon shells on a nuclear probe

The SWIM robots will be carried on one of NASA's nuclear-powered probes, which would be deployed from a space lander located on the frozen surface of the moon. The lander would act as the point of contact with mission controllers on Earth.

The probe will pierce through the miles-thick icy shell of the moon and then travel downwards through the frozen icy crust to the water.

Each probe will have space for around 48 SWIM robots, leaving room for other static instruments to investigate the oceans.

"A key innovation is that the mini-swimmers would be much smaller than other concepts for planetary ocean exploration robots, allowing many to be loaded compactly into an ice probe," explained NASA.

"That would leave plenty of room for more powerful but less mobile science instruments that could gather data during the long journey through the ice and provide stationary measurements in the ocean."

Project aims to "gain further knowledge about alien life"

NASA believes that the data gathered by SWIM robots on temperature, salinity, acidity and pressure could be used to gain further knowledge about alien life and determine whether any moons would be suitable for human habitation.

"Group data could also show gradients: temperature or salinity, for example, increasing across the swarm's collective sensors and pointing toward the source of the signal they're detecting," the organisation said.

The project forms part of NASA's commitment to exploring life on different planets which includes Super Ball Bot robots, which will be made from a tensegrity structure that can roll around the surface of planets and moons.

Renderings are courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech.

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Welsh startup Space Forge has developed the ForgeStar-0 satellite, which will make electronic components and materials that are "impossible to manufacture on Earth" in space.

Set to be launched into orbit later this year from the UK's first domestic spaceport, the Forgestar-0 prototype satellite was designed to act as a space factory that can return to earth.

"We are building the world's first fully returnable and re-launchable satellite platform, the ForgeStar to create materials in space, which are impossible to manufacture on Earth," explained Space Forge co-founder Joshua Western.

"The ForgeStar platform that we are building is a flexible modular satellite consisting of an orbital module and an interchangeable microgravity capsule," he told Dezeen.

The inaugural Forgestar-0 mission, which is due to take off later this year, will test the prototype satellite's return capabilities.

It will head into space along with several other satellites on a rocket called LauncherOne which was developed by Californian-based launch company Virgin Orbit – a subdivision of the Richard Branson-owned company Virgin.

Satellite "will leverage the benefits of the space environment"

On subsequent missions, the satellite is designed to autonomously manufacture semiconductors, metal alloys and pharmaceuticals in its cleanroom.

After several months in orbit, it would return to Earth where the products will be transported to customers. The satellite will then be refurbished ready to be reused and sent back into space.

According to Western, creating materials in space has three major advantages in comparison to earth: colder temperatures, no oxygen and zero gravity.

"We are taking the same industrial processes we use on Earth but leveraging the benefits of the space environment," Western said.

"Space Forge will leverage the benefits of the space environment, namely: microgravity, vacuum, and temperature," he continued.

"Gravity prevents the perfect mixing of metals and extreme temperatures required for manufacturing are difficult to obtain and maintain."

"Scientists are looking to space for solutions"

Space Forge said that the satellite will be able to create far lighter alloys than the ones currently being made on Earth, where gravity often causes the metals to separate into two layers, with the densest metal at the bottom.

"The microgravity found in space prevents buoyancy, allowing for larger, perfect crystal formation and uniform alloy mixing," Western said.

"Gravity causes buoyancy which prevents perfect alloying in metals of different densities."

"In areas such as biomanufacturing, where tissues and organs are produced, gravity-induced- density makes it difficult for cells to grow, which is why scientists are looking to space for solutions," he added.

Space "offers an opportunity to dramatically improve" material production

The company believes that the zero-gravity conditions in space are also more suitable for the production of semiconductors.

Semiconductors are routinely found in a number of electronic devices, including diodes, transistors, and integrated circuits – which underpin many everyday devices including bank ATMs, trains, the internet and refrigerators.

"The microchips that underpin modern electronics are crystal lattices made from molten silicon," said Western.

"On Earth, the process to make these can create gravity-induced defects and these defects in the crystal structures affect performance, becoming magnified as electronics shrink ever smaller," he continued.

"The space environment offers an opportunity to dramatically improve the quality of silicon crystals, allowing for longer lifetimes thus requiring less maintenance."

The startup also believes that the cleaner environment in space will pave the way for the creation of new, purer alloys because there is no air contamination in space, as the pressure is around ten trillion times lower than on Earth.

"The vacuum of space removes the need for multi-stage pumps and eliminates contamination," explained Western.

Colder temperatures beneficial for semiconductor production

According to the company, the third advantage of creating materials in space is the colder temperatures, which are beneficial for the production of semiconductors.

"From cryogenic refrigerators to furnaces, temperature extremes are difficult to create and maintain," explained Western.

"Radiators facing cold space can freely produce temperatures close to absolute zero for superconductor and quantum devices, making for ultra-fast curing" he added.

Space Forge isn't the first company to develop a factory for outer space. US space agency NASA is developing an orbiting factory that will use 3D printing and robots to fabricate giant structures.

Last year, Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos announced plans to create a space station that could serve as a mixed-use business park in space.

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This week on Dezeen, MIT researchers revealed a proposal to fight climate change by creating a floating shield the size of Brazil using "space bubbles" that could reflect the sun's rays.

The Space Bubbles research project suggests that a "raft" of frozen bubbles could be positioned between the Earth and the sun to block some of its radiation and thereby reduce the effects of man-made global warming.

In Copenhagen, the 3 Days of Design festival saw Danish architecture studio Henning Larsen built a translucent pavilion for Fritz Hansen to celebrate the brand's 150th anniversary.

"By working with such a translucent building, the intensity of the light is not so much about sunlight or where the shades are cast, but more about how the building is almost breathing," Henning Larsen partner Eva Ravnborg told Dezeen.

We also continued to report on last week's Milan design week, which designers and brands told Dezeen had an energy level that "exceeded the pre-pandemic level".

Installations at the event included a playful showcase of rare and unseen Alessi products to mark the brand's centenary, a voluptuous seating collection by Lara Bohinc (pictured) and a display made from packing crates by Studio Swine.

The fallout from a damning report into the toxic teaching culture at London's Bartlett School of Architecture continued this week as whistleblower Eleni Kyriacou, who initially exposed allegations of racism and sexism at the school, told Dezeen that she "felt vindicated" by the report.

Simon Allford, the president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, responded to the investigation by saying that the RIBA is considering introducing a code of conduct for academic institutions.

Following the unveiling of this year's Serpentine Pavilion we spoke to its designer Theaster Gates, who was the first solo artist to be given the commission in its 22-year history.

In an exclusive interview, Gates told Dezeen that being an artist meant there was no pressure on him to create an elaborate structure.

"This is a moment where an architect can be ambitious with their architecture," he said. "But in a way, I didn't feel the burden of ambitious architecture."

This week we also spoke to Stefan Al, author of the book Supertall, who selected 11 of the most significant supertall skyscrapers that have been erected since 2010.

Among his selections was SOM's Burj Khalifa in Dubai (pictured), which at 830 metres is the tallest building in the world.

Popular projects this week included a compact timber-clad cabin with panoramic windows, a solar-powered robot chicken coop and a hotel in Paris designed by French-Brazilian studio Triptyque and designer Philippe Starck.

Our lookbooks this week focused on pottery-filled homes and dining areas brightened by statement pendant lights.

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Researchers at MIT Media Lab have tested modular tiles that autonomously assemble to create habitats in space on the latest mission to the International Space Station.

Called Tesserae, the project aims to create future space habitats from reconfigurable tiles that assemble while in orbit around the moon or Earth.

MIT suggested the tiles can be used to form designs from "geodesic dome habitats, to microgravity concert halls, to space cathedrals."

The tiles are released from a spaceship and assemble in orbit. Rendering courtesy of TU Dortmund Fraunhofer Institute

Each 3D-printed tile is made of a rigid plastic outer shell with either five or six sides, with two indented holes for electromagnets.

These magnets allow the tiles to autonomously "snap" or bond together to form tesselated structures – polyhedral, enclosed shapes that resemble a honeycomb.

The bonding is designed to be both watertight and weathertight, making the structures suitable for future human habitation, and each tile also has a system for power harvesting and management.

"I hope to apply the Tesserae technology to build an entirely novel type of space architecture – large scale structures that can inspire awe and delight their occupants," said Ariel Ekblaw, director and founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) space exploration initiative.

"We're about to enter a renaissance moment for space architecture where in-space structures can both protect humans and bring joy," she told Dezeen.

Ekblaw, who began developing the Tesserae technology during her PhD at MIT Media Lab, named the project Tesserae after the small, coloured tiles used in ancient Roman mosaics.

It is also an acronym for Tessellated Electromagnetic Space Structures for the Exploration of Reconfigurable, Adaptive Environments.

"We use bio-inspired processes like self-assembly and swarm robotics to explore a new paradigm for space architecture – building grand scale space structures in orbit," Ekblaw said.

"Our tessellated shell structure approach proposes multifunctional tiles that assemble autonomously via magnetically-mediated bonding along regular, geometric edges."

While the biggest prototype tiles are only a few inches in diameter, the at-scale Tesserae tiles will have a five-foot-long edge so that when combined, they will be able to house people.

Unlike many current outer space structures, which are often rigid and made on Earth before being transported, the Tesserae tiles can be applied to many shapes and come flat-packed before being deployed in space.

They can also disassemble autonomously.

"The team behind Tesserae believes that their modular, self-assembly method can lower payload weight and reduce construction complexity, while also broadening the possibilities of what future space architecture may look like," explained Ekblaw.

"As habitation and operation needs evolve around new commercial space stations in low earth orbit and exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, space architecture must adapt to address new use-case and deployment contexts."

On 8 April 2022, Tesserae was one of 25 experiments on Axiom's private ten-day research mission to NASA's astronomical and research centre, the International Space Station (ISS). While here, astronauts released seven tiles into space and observed how they bonded together.

It was the first-ever private ISS mission and was flown in partnership with SpaceX, the spacecraft manufacturer founded by Elon Musk.

According to the mission's findings, the tiles successfully fused together and will be trialled next in 2023.

"We're delighted to report that we demonstrated successful good bonds, correct error detection and magnet pulse-off correction and a stable dome configuration," said Ekblaw.

"We expect to deploy our next, iterative spaceflight test in 2023 and will continue to work with collaborators towards our long term vision for human habitability," explained Ekblaw.

Founded in 1985 and based at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, USA, MIT Media Lab researches topics including astrophysics, robotic technology and sustainable cities.

Last year, former NASA deputy administrator Dava Newman was appointed director of MIT Media Lab. Past projects include Neri Oxman's 3D-printed death masks which are designed to contain the wearer's last breath.

Images courtesy of Aurelia Institute / Igor Neminov unless otherwise stated.

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Space tourism company Space Perspective has revealed the interior design for its lounge-style travel capsule, which will be hauled into the stratosphere by a giant balloon.

Created in-house for the company's Spaceship Neptune, the cabin has room for up to eight passengers.

Space Perspective has dubbed it "the world's first space lounge" and said it wanted the interior to be distinct from typical spacecraft, with elements such as reclining and reconfigurable seats, plants and sustainable materials and a small cocktail bar.

It will form the interior of a pressurised capsule attached to a high-performance balloon and was designed to give the maximum view of its surroundings.

"Our mission is to inspire Space Explorers to connect more closely with our planet and each other, and the environment in which they travel with us is central to this," said Space Perspective co-founder, co-CEO and chief experience officer Jane Poynter.

"Our Space Lounge is a world away from the white, utilitarian environments you find in other spacecraft."

The Neptune space lounge is wrapped in 1.5-metre-high panoramic windows that Space Perspective says are the largest windows ever flown to space, and which it claims will provide a view that appears seamless to the human eye.

The main purpose of the interior design is to support the enjoyment of this view. The seats can be reconfigured to host activities such as an intimate dinner for two or a small party, while the centre of the capsule is kept open to accommodate group photography.

A separate bar area with multiple windows and a different look and feel gives guests a destination to explore beyond their seats.

The design team physically trialled hundreds of layouts within a mockup before landing on the final configuration.

"The biggest challenge of designing the interior was to create a multipurpose space that gives users the flexibility to not only sit and enjoy the view but celebrate and share with others," Space Perspective co-founder, co-CEO and CTO Taber MacCallum, who oversees the in-house design team, told Dezeen.

"We worked hard within the footprint to make the space feel as large and generous as possible, and this is accentuated by the domed ceiling that makes the space feel airy and luxurious," he continued.

"We've also added a multitude of activities for explorers during the flight, including a telescope, podcasts from astronauts, cameras on the inside and outside, small molecular gastronomy meals and inventive space cocktails."

To reduce reflections in the windows and visual glare from the intensity of the light at full altitude – 100,000 feet up – there is a dark, muted, blue-based colour palette, enhanced by RGB lighting.

"Our colour palette is a reflection of the view outside, with astronauts reporting having seen extremely vivid blues and purples at this altitude," MacCallum said.

"We wanted to create a space that feels both feels warm and homely, but still adventurous and out of this world," he added.

While some of the decor is tech-focused, such as an overhead "doughnut" screen displaying information, there are also domestic touches such as floor lamps, plants and herbs including lavender, basil and rosemary, which will be used in the food and drinks.

The materials chosen are soft and tactile, with a focus on sustainability that mirrors Space Perspective's mission to limit environmental impact, as its hydrogen balloon technology avoids the high greenhouse gas emissions typically associated with space travel.

The bar top is made from proprietary materials recycled from the company's SpaceBalloon, while the interior is lined with soft, padded, insulating recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) microcloth, and the lounge seats are upholstered in all-natural wool.

Copper details are intended to bring warmth and were also chosen for their resistance to bacteria. They echo the copper tone on Neptune's exterior windows, which helps to reduce light intensity.

Space Perspective has also announced the appointment of David Grutman, who created The Goodtime Hotel with musician Pharrell Williams, as its"experience curator".

He will advise on the overall experience design, as well as customisation possibilities for occasions such as birthdays and corporate getaways.

Space Perspective's six-hour space flights will lift off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with tickets prices set at $125,000 per person. The company expects to commence commercial flights in late 2024 and places are already sold out for the first year.

The exterior of the two-part spacecraft was designed by PriestmanGoode and revealed in 2020.

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Space tourism is a growing trend, with more and more companies offering brief trips beyond Earth. We have rounded up 10 designs for visiting space.

On this day in 1961, now known as the International Day of Human Spaceflight, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to journey into outer space.

Sixty-one years on, travelling to space as a tourist is becoming a reality, with architects and designers increasingly commissioned to help develop unforgettable experiences for wealthy customers.

Various studios are working on creating the infrastructure specifically to allow people to visit and stay outside of Earth's atmosphere, including high-altitude balloons and orbital space hotels.

Here are 10 projects designed for space tourism:

Axiom Station by Phillipe Starck

Privately-owned space exploration company Axiom Space commissioned designer Phillipe Starck to create the interiors for Axiom Station, which claims to be the "world's first" commercial space station.

Axiom Station will be connected to the International Space Station and will include crew quarters, a dining area and a galley habitation module designed with interiors by Starck. He envisioned the module as "a comfortable egg that is inviting with soft walls and a design perfectly in harmony with the values and movements of the human body in zero gravity".

The company plans to offer private individuals 10-day expeditions to the space station at a cost of £41 million per ticket.

Gold-capped, rounded windows frame views of the earth below, while clusters of nano lights change colour depending on the time and where Axiom Station is travelling in relation to our planet.

Find out more about this space station ›

Voyager Station by Orbital Assembly Corporation 

Planned to open in 2027, Voyager Station was designed as the first hotel in space and will have a rotating structure with rooms for up to 440 guests.

A total of 24 habitation models will house both luxury villas and individual bedroom units, as well as restaurants, bars and gyms, with additional crew accommodation and scientific research pods also included in the ring-like architecture.

Find out more about Voyager Station ›

Neptune by PriestmanGoode for Space Perspective

Transport design studio PriestmanGoode created Neptune for space tourism startup Space Perspective to take tourists on a cruise-like journey to the stratosphere.

Set to offer trips by the end of 2024, Neptune will take the form of a spinning top-shaped pressurised pod lifted by a giant, high-altitude balloon filled with hydrogen.

"Our core mission is to take people to space to have this mind-blowing experience of seeing Earth in space and connecting deeply with our planet, and then, hopefully, some of them coming back and doing something amazing with that energy," said Space Perspective co-founder Jane Poynter in a recent exclusive interview with Dezeen.

Space Perspective has also revealed the design for the interior of its capsule, dubbed the Space Lounge.

Find out more about Neptune ›

The Explorer Capsule by PriestmanGoode for World View

Space exploration company World View recently unveiled a concept for a tourist-bearing vessel that will be floated to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere attached to a giant balloon.

As with Space Perspective's model, listed above, it is also set to begin commercial spaceflights in 2024 and was also designed with the help of PriestmanGoode. However, it will use helium as a lift gas as opposed to hydrogen.

The Explorer is planned to lift off from spaceports at major global landmarks like the Great Barrier Reef for celestial day trips, with passengers sat in comfy seats accompanied by screens and even a cup holder.

Find out more about The Explorer Capsule ›

Orbital Reef by Blue Origin

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin spaceflight company is one of the most high-profile players in the increasingly competitive race to commercialise space.

The Orbital Reef space station is targeted more directly at firms than tourists, intended to be a "mixed-use business park" providing the infrastructure needed to open new markets in space.

It will be built as a place to live for an extended period of time and do research – all while remaining in an orbit close to Earth that provides views of our planet from the station's windows.

Find out more about Orbital Reef ›

Moon Village by SOM for the European Space Agency

Architecture office SOM and the European Space Agency devised plans for a collection of inflatable habitats for conducting scientific research on the moon.

Named Moon Village, the four-level units would be located in the moon's south polar region in order to harvest sunlight for energy. They were designed to be inflatable so that they could be transported in a compressed format.

According to SOM, Moon Village could grow from a centre for research into a thriving settlement, including offering opportunities for space tourism.

Find out more about Moon Village ›

SpaceshipTwo by Seymourpowell for Virgin Galactic

Richard Branson's American spaceflight company Virgin Galactic created the interior design for its SpaceshipTwo craft in collaboration with London studio Seymourpowell.

White, silver and teal accents colour the cabin – a palette intended to be reflective of the earthly views that can be seen from the porthole-style windows framing individual seats.

A large mirror was placed at the back of the structure to enhance the feeling of zero-gravity that passengers experience by watching themselves float around the cabin.

Find out more about SpaceshipTwo ›

Gateway to Space by Foster + Partners and Viewport Studio for Virgin Galactic

As well as spacecraft like SpaceshipTwo, space tourism companies are also piling resources into the design of their launch bases.

One example is Virgin Galactic's Gateway to Space in New Mexico, USA, part of Spaceport America – the "world's first" commercial spaceport.

The Gateway to Space building was designed by UK architecture firm Foster + Partners and completed in 2011, with full-height glazing wrapping around one aspect.

London-based Viewport Studio completed the interior fit-out in 2018, using natural tones intended to complement its desert surroundings and "deliberately avoid the clichés of the space age".

Find out more about Gateway to Space ›

Horizn One suitcase by Horizn Studios and Alyssa Carson

Designs for new paraphernalia associated with space tourism are also beginning to emerge. In 2019, Berlin-based luggage brand Horizn Studios collaborated with the world's youngest astronaut, Alyssa Carson, to develop what it claims is the world's first luggage for space travel.

The Horizn One suitcase concept has a shell made from graphene-reinforced carbon fibre, to make it extra strong and flexible as well as ultra-lightweight.

It would also have an electromagnetic base to be able to attach to spacecraft walls in zero gravity and an in-built smart screen to connect travellers with their friends and family back on Earth.

Find out more about Horizn One ›

Aurora Station by Orion Span

Converting the vision of space tourism projects into reality can still pose a challenge, as demonstrated by Texas start-up Orion Span.

The firm made headlines in 2018 with its £70 million plans for Aurora Station, the first space hotel, initially expected to open in 2022.

Deposit-paying guests willing to meet the full £6.7 million ticket price were promised 12 days of orbiting the Earth experiencing zero gravity and participating in scientific research

Find out more about Aurora Station ›

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Space tourism company World View has unveiled designs by PriestmanGoode for a capsule-shaped spacecraft that will fly passengers to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere under a giant balloon in two years' time.

World View is already taking bookings and deposit payments for its commercial spaceflights, which are scheduled to begin in 2024.

The spaceflight capsules are designed to be lifted by a zero-pressure stratospheric balloon, rising 30,000 metres above the ground so that passengers can see the Earth's curvature, the thin blue line of the atmosphere and the darkness of outer space.

Seating for eight passengers and two crew members is contained within the hexagon-shaped pods in a climate-controlled, pressurised environment.

Flights are scheduled to lift off from "spaceports" at a series of major landmarks including the Great Barrier Reef, the Giza Pyramids and the Great Wall of China, launching before dawn and lasting six to 12 hours.

"Participants will fully experience and immerse themselves in the beauty, fragility, history and importance of the areas surrounding each location and of the Earth itself," said World View.

Tickets will cost $50,000 per seat, while World View is also marketing its trips to businesses for corporate bonding exercises, product launches and executive retreats. Its first manned test flights are due to begin in 2023.

"Unveiling our space capsule prototype is a pivotal moment for the company as we continue to prepare for our first launch from the Grand Canyon in just two short years," said Ryan Hartman, president and CEO of World View.

World View becomes a direct competitor of space tourism company Space Perspective, which unveiled a similar concept in 2020 and is led by two of World View's original founders.

The designs are very similar and were both produced by PriestmanGoode, though World View's balloon uses helium as a lift gas while Space Perspective uses hydrogen.

A full-scale model of the World View spaceflight capsule prototype, named The Explorer Capsule, was recently debuted at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas.

The capsule is faceted hexagon-shaped with a pearlescent white finish intended to aid thermal management and highlight the geometric detailing.

Two-metre-high elliptical windows will provide a view of Earth, with a sky window giving passengers sight of the giant balloon lifting them to the edge of space as well as constellations of stars.

Mood wash lighting will change throughout the flight for "optimal viewing" out of the windows, World View said, with a telescope also onboard.

The interior of the capsule is designed to maximise available space so that passengers can move about, with the turbulence of an aeroplane flight replaced by gentle swaying.

A soft colour palette, materials and finishes are intended to create a calm atmosphere, while functional elements such as the toilet and galley entrances have been concealed to keep the focus on the views outside.

Seating will be similar in level of luxury to business class on a standard commercial flight and will be accompanied by a cocktail table, a screen providing educational materials and activities, a central console, personal storage and a beverage holder.

London-based transportation and aviation design studio PriestmanGoode is working on the project with unmanned aircraft specialist DZYNE Technologies.

"We don't want it to feel like you're getting into something more like an astronaut would get into," Daniel MacInnes, design director at PriestmanGoode who is leading the project for the studio, told Dezeen.

"We were asked to look at the customer experience – how do you make this really accessible for multiple passengers, and how do you make it kind of feel like it's a product that people want to kind of experience?"

"We're taking the knowledge that we've got from commercial aviation and using it for this as a starting point... what we're really trying to do is just make a timeless interior, something which works very well for any passengers coming on board," he added.

The onboard crew will include one pilot and one concierge, who will act as guides and be trained in flight operations, hospitality and medical support.

Flyers will be offered a gourmet meal as well as drinks and will be able to stream and use their mobile phones from the capsule.

World View said it is taking "great care" to source materials from sustainable vendors where possible and is exploring options for reuse and recycling.

"We're starting to look at sustainable materials that can be used inside the capsule that sit with the branding of understanding the Earth and how it can be better and having a better impact on it," MacInnes said.

PriestmanGoode is still finalising the design and working with its engineering team to make the concept unveiled in Austin a reality.

World View, which describes itself as "the leading stratospheric exploration company on a mission to inspire the global community to rediscover Earth", announced a move into the increasingly competitive space tourism industry in October.

Although the company unveiled a similar concept in 2013 it has focused on space exploration in the years since. PriestmanGoode worked with World View on its initial space capsule in 2012 and was asked a year ago to refine the concept.

Other ventures aimed at developing sapce tourism include the Gateway Foundation, which intends to open the first hotel in space in 2027 and Virgin Galactic, which recently  revealed the interior cabin of its SpaceshipTwo craft.

The images are courtesy of World View Enterprises.

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In this week's comments update, readers are questioning the design of a vulva-shaped spaceship concept and discussing other top stories.

German feminist art group Wer Braucht Feminismus? has created a vulva-shaped spaceship to challenge the convention of phallic spacecraft design.

The group hopes that the European Space Agency will realise the concept and "restore gender equality to the cosmos".

"This is just clitbait"

In total the story has attracted over 100 comments so far. "Look," said Steelblue8. "I am absolutely 100 per cent for destroying gender roles, but if you look at the peak of human achievement and think 'haha penis' that's on you."

"Given a choice between a rocket designed to address engineering issues and a rocket designed to address ideological issues, I'll go with the former," replied Kevin Van Horn.

"Aerodynamics as social convention... okay," added Marc Sicard.

That Designer Thingy had a question: "What happens when it collides with phallic-shaped rockets? Procreation? Big bang?"

"This is just clitbait," concluded C. Labia.

Are commenters missing the point? Join the discussion ›

Reader calls supertall New York skyscrapers "a danger to plebians"

Commenters are discussing reports that ice falling from supertall skyscrapers in New York over the weekend, including 11 West 57th Street on Billionaires' Row, injured motorists and closed roads.

"Great," said Rustbeltbrett. "If the buildings weren't already empty useless investment instruments, now they're a danger to us plebians on the streets."

"You reap what you sow," continued AlfredHitchcock. "Of course extremely tall buildings in cold climates will attract ice at the top and that ice will inevitably fall off."

"What goes up must come down," concluded Ken Steffes.

Are supertall skyscrapers dangerous? Join the discussion ›

Commenter says BIG's virtual office for Vice Media Group "isn't architecture"

Readers aren't sold on BIG's design for its first building in the metaverse, a virtual office for employees at media company Vice Media Group.

"This is not architecture," said Ken Steffes. "This is computer imaging."

"Looks like a fairly conventional building," added Rustbeltbrett. "Why not take advantage of there being no gravity in terms of both circulation and form?"

Chris agreed: "Architects that want to address digital space need to start questioning what architecture actually means in a digital realm, where the restrictions and possibilities have very little parallel to building in the real world."

Do you agree? Join the discussion ›

Reader dubs building designed to look like a block of stone "post-mortem architecture"

Commenters disagree that the new Kaan Architecten-designed Geo and Environmental Centre in Tübingen, Germany, resembles a block of stone.

"More like butcher-block-inspired brutalism," said Romeo Reyes.

Johnk continued: "Post-mortem architecture".

"Some interesting moments (i.e. the corners and the columns)," concluded JZ. "But awfully subtle. Like an early Herzog & de Meuron without any of the phenomenological swagger."

Are readers being harsh? Join the discussion ›

Comments update

Dezeen is the world's most commented architecture and design magazine, receiving thousands of comments each month from readers. Keep up to date on the latest discussions on our comments page.

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A German feminist art group has revealed a vulva-shaped spaceship concept, which it is encouraging the European Space Agency to help realise in order to better represent humanity in space and "restore gender equality to the cosmos."

The group Wer Braucht Feminismus? (WBF?), which translates to "Who Needs Feminism?", created the Vulva Spaceship concept to challenge the convention of phallic spacecraft design.

The yonic craft was designed to signal inclusivity and the group has started a petition on change.org calling on the European Space Agency to consider the project.

"The project adds another dimension to the representation of humanity in space and is communicating to the world that anyone has a place in the universe, regardless of their genitalia," said the organisation.

WBF? argues that as well as being symbolically inclusive, the ship would be "surprisingly aerodynamic" because the V-shape creates little drag as the craft leaves Earth's atmosphere – proving that there is room for non-phallic shapes in space.

"We want to restore gender equality to the cosmos," said the group.

"We dare to change the status quo in space travel: new shapes in space will revolutionize our thinking, our actions and everything we have thought to be true."

Recent tweets from WBF? include a quote from the Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, reading "A bird cannot fly with one wing only. Human space flight cannot develop any further without the active participation of women."

The group has also been sharing historical facts about women in space travel with the hashtag #spaceisforeveryone and adopted the tagline "It's time for new symbols in space".

"Space is for everyone!" said WBF? founder Jasmin Mittag. "With our mission, we prove to the world that gender equality even has a place in space. We are not only inspiring space travel, but we're also rewriting the gender narrative."

Mittag, an artist and activist, started WBF? in 2012 to draw attention to feminist issues and inspire people to build gender equality.

The group's main project to date has been the travelling exhibition What Is Feminism Today?, which featured photographs of people holding statements reflecting on what feminism means to them.

Although most spacecraft have an elongated shape, another recent alternative is space tourism company Space Perspective's Spaceship Neptune, which uses a bulbous, onion-shaped balloon.

Images courtesy of Wer Braucht Feminismus?

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Taking tourists on day trips to look down on Earth will lead to people "connecting deeply with our planet", says Space Perspective co-founder Jane Poynter in this exclusive interview.

Tourism firm Space Perspective is promising to offer comfortable, environmentally conscious trips to the brink of the atmosphere by the end of 2024.

Co-founder, CEO and chief experience officer Poynter claims its approach "will have a huge positive impact on our society".

Space Perspective is one of numerous enterprises racing to make the sci-fi notion of space tourism a reality, alongside Elon Musk's SpaceX, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic – although the Florida-based company is doing things differently.

Unlike traditional space vehicles which use rocket power to blast their way into the sky, Space Perspective plans to lift tourists gently through the atmosphere in ships tethered to hydrogen balloons.

The ride will be so gentle that passengers will be able to enjoy drinks at the bar, though alcohol servings will be limited due to mass constraints.

"Our core mission is to take people to space to have this mind-blowing experience of seeing Earth in space and connecting deeply with our planet, and then, hopefully, some of them coming back and doing something amazing with that energy," explained the 59 year-old when she sat down with Dezeen in central London.

"And so now if you can image tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and eventually millions of people, having that experience, it will completely change how humanity thinks about itself."

An Amercanised Brit, Poynter co-founded Space Perspective with her husband in 2019 after a career in space tech stretching back to the early 1990s.

The company's Spaceship Neptune vessel is made up of a small, pressurised capsule with capacity for eight passengers plus a pilot, connected by a tendrilous "reserve descent system" (a pre-deployed parachute) to a gigantic hydrogen-filled balloon. In total, the vehicle is around 210 metres tall.

Using the buoyancy of the hydrogen, the spaceship will off from the ground at dawn and ascend 30 kilometres to beyond 99 per cent of the atmosphere – high enough, in Poynter's words, that "you get that complete blackness of sky, where you really see the curvature of the Earth".

This method is "essentially zero-emission" she adds. Space Perspective says it will take the hydrogen from renewable sources and is still in the process of selecting a supplier. At the end of a flight, the capsule will be reused while the balloon will be recycled.

It also purchases carbon offsets against the rest of its operations, having previously used offsetting provider The Good Traveler.

"You get into a capsule that's incredibly comfortable," Poynter said. "And the design of it is such that as you lift off from the ground, it's completely smooth. So the seats that you're sitting in are super comfy and afford you this insane view of the planet."

The whole thing takes six hours; two to go up, two spent looking down on the rest of humankind and two to come back down again.

"We've really reimagined spaceflight completely"

All essential amenities will be provided in the capsule, including a loo and, of course, a bar, where the pilot will be mixing the drinks.

"We like to joke that every self-respecting spaceship should have a bar," quipped Poynter. "And we talk about that because you really can't do that on a rocket-based flight. It just is emblematic of how gentle it is that you can actually have a bar where people will be able to stand at and have a drink, and cheers."

It will be, she adds, "a real bar", not just "a little shelf", while food will also be served on the flight. There will, however, be a limit to how much alcohol the vessel can carry.

Other details have also been designed into the Neptune to correspond with this "human-centric" approach.

The windows are very tall and wide, with only vertical divides between them so as not to minimise the impact on the view. The bottom of the capsule is cone-shaped to attenuate splashdown, for the gentlest landing possible.

"When you think about space travel you think of discomfort; of uncomfortable camping," said Poynter. "So we put the human experience at the centre of it. You know, when you think about it, we've really reimagined spaceflight completely."

Space Perspective is now beginning to work with an interior designer ahead of its first crewed test flight, scheduled for 2023. The first commercial flight is slated for 2024, with tickets set at £115,000 each.

In the long-term, the aim is to bring that price down closer to £40,000. Part of this will involve increasing capacity, both in terms of the capsule size and number of flights, with the company planning to branch out from Florida to new locations, including in Europe.

Space Perspective says it is eager to work with scientists and artists to make the most of its trips out to the cosmos, by designing research-gathering instruments to fit onto the vehicle, for example.

For its Neptune One uncrewed test flight in June 2021, the company collaborated with art collective Beyond Earth to produce Living Light, transforming the huge balloon into a giant installation.

Space Perspective founded in Biosphere Two

Poynter is clearly personally infatuated with the heady notion of space travel. As a child growing up on the Isle of Wight off the English coast, she was fascinated by Star Trek and the writings of Isaac Asimov.

For decades, she says, she has been convinced that humans are "a multiplanetary species".

Her career in space properly began in 1991, when she was one of eight people selected to enter Biosphere Two, the world's first attempt at an entirely man-made environment – the first biosphere being Earth itself.

This sealed three-acre glass-and-steel science Big Brother house in the Arizonan mountains was essentially a prototype space base, with inhabitants instructed to recycle their air and water and grow their food.

It was later the basis for Bio-Dome, a 1996 stoner comedy despised by critics, and was the subject of the 2020 documentary Spaceship Earth.

The experiment was scientifically controversial and mired in difficulties, but for Poynter personally, it bore significant fruit.

While inside the sphere, she co-founded a company called Paragon Space Development Corporation with a fellow inhabitant Taber MacCallum, who is now her husband and co-founder and co-CEO of Space Perspective.

And she traces the company's philosophy back to her experience in Biosphere Two.

"I knew moment-to-moment that the plants around me were providing me with my oxygen, that I would breathe out the CO2 that would grow the food," she explained.

"We were completely interdependent. So it gave me this profound connection to this life system, which is extensible to Planet Earth – we all live in this planetary biosphere," she continued.

"Well, it turns out that when astronauts see Earth from space, they have this tremendous connection with Planet Earth, and with the singular human family that inhabit it."

This phenomenon is where the company gets its name – Space Perspective.

Poynter dismisses the suggestion that there may be rather different societal implications between astronauts going to space and those wealthy enough to spend a six-figure sum on a day trip.

"I completely disagree 150 per cent," she shot back instantly. "Like, 1,000 per cent. Because I've seen what happens when people go."

"It's about humanity going further than Earth"

Space travel, particularly when fronted by billionaires, remains a controversial topic. A recent survey by reputation management consultancy Transmission Private found that more than three-quarters of the UK public believe the wealthy should instead "focus their resources on problems facing Earth, like climate change".

Space Perspective positions itself very differently to the macho world of unfathomably rich men with a penchant for tight shirts penetrating the atmosphere in phallus-shaped vessels.

But Poynter is not critical of Musk, Bezos and Branson.

"We're all pushing hard to get up out of the gravity well and go further and farther, so I feel, yeah, they're billionaires, yes they choose to spend their money in this way, but for me it's about humanity going further than Earth," she said.

"We're at the very beginning of this industry. When airplanes were first flown we had a very limited view of what they were going to be used for. They were for wealthy people to fly across the country.

"I think the same is true with space flight. We cannot imagine now how human space flight is going be used in the future, how business is going to use it, and how it is going to impact society, our lives, into the future."

Images are courtesy of Space Perspective unless otherwise stated.

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Ukrainian architecture practice Makhno Studio has designed a 3D-printed settlement for Mars named Plan C that would encircle the edge of a crater.

The concept was developed during coronavirus lockdown when the studio was questioning how underground living could be comfortable if life on Earth's ground level became difficult.

In response to this, Makhno Studio developed a proposal for an underground bunker that made headlines internationally. This  later led to Plan C, a concept for a Martian settlement.

The proposal sees a bagel-shaped settlement located on the inside of a crater, which would protect the development from Mars' environmental conditions – including frequent sandstorms, meteor showers and solar radiation.

The outer walls of Plan C would be constructed using large scale 3D-printers as the planet's oxygen levels would make it impossible for humans to build without spacesuits, oxygen devices and life support machines.

Its walls would protect the interior from the harsh atmospheric and weather conditions while also housing public halls, dining, research and technical areas as well as sleeping areas.

According to Makhno Studio, the interiors were informed by both Earth and Mars, with natural and earthy hues and rock-like surfaces and furnishings.

"The ambience of the interiors combines two worlds – the unknown Mars and the near-and-dear Earth," said Makhno Studio.

"Sandstorms were responsible for the colour scheme, plants — for the ability to breathe deeply, and the science of the future — for the ability to live on a dead planet."

A large plant-filled public hall stretches the entirety of the ring-shaped structure and will connect to all of the settlement's different amenities.

Phyto-lighting, ultraviolet and infrared lighting that stimulates plant growth, will be fitted throughout the halls and will aid the plants in converting carbon dioxide and water into oxygen supplies.

The plant-filled public hall aims to replicate the conditions and feeling of Earth's green, open spaces, providing residents with fresh and clean air.

Vital spaces that aid the function of the settlement are located throughout the structure.

These spaces include medical care zones, research centres that monitor planetary and atmospheric conditions, chemical and biological laboratories and administrative blocks.

Spherical greenhouses fitted with Phyto-lamps were designed to resemble small planets and will be used for agricultural purposes, growing and supplying the settlement with fruits and vegetables.

Sleeping spaces are equipped with only the essential furnishings and are designed to host up to two people. A large screen covers the ceiling and can be used to watch films, cloudy landscapes and space imagery.

"Neon lighting allows one to tune in some discussion or turn on the mood of a Martian party – no one cancelled leisure time in space," explained the studio.

A gym and fitness facility will be built at the site in order to prevent residents from developing issues like muscle atrophy due to the low gravity conditions.

Exercise bikes and length pools will be organised along narrow stretches to help those adjust to the low-gravity conditions.

In a nearby room, floating capsules used for recovery and relaxation will provide residents with soothing and calming escapes.

"The capsule will help the new inhabitants of Mars to free their thoughts from sandstorms, reduce the cosmic impact on the body and mind, and finally adapt to the new conditions, a new home," said the studio.

Plan C is one of many designs that propose livable conditions for Mars, in 2017 Bjarke Ingels unveiled a concept for the Mars Science City near Dubai which would operate as a space simulation campus.

Architecture Abiboo envisioned a cliff-face city that would become the future capital of Mars and could eventually house 250,000 people.

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Blue Origin, the spaceflight company founded by Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos, has unveiled plans for a space station called Orbital Reef.

The space station would be built to give anyone "the opportunity to establish their own address on orbit" by providing services such as planning, payload development, training, transportation, data analysis and security.

Blue Origin describes the station as a "mixed-use business park" that will provide the infrastructure that companies need to open new markets in space.

This includes reusable space transportation and an open-system architecture that allows users to scale up their use of the station as needed, with features such as module berths, vehicle ports, utilities and amenities set to grow with the market.

Blue Origin is developing the station with commercial space company Sierra Space. It will be built in low Earth orbit – an orbit relatively close to the Earth's surface – and will be commercially owned, developed and operated.

"For over sixty years, NASA and other space agencies have developed orbital space flight and space habitation, setting us up for commercial business to take off in this decade," said Brent Sherwood, senior vice president of advanced development programs for Blue Origin.

"We will expand access, lower the cost, and provide all the services and amenities needed to normalize space flight. A vibrant business ecosystem will grow in low Earth orbit, generating new discoveries, new products, new entertainments, and global awareness."

The Orbital Reef project aims to introduce "a new kind of space architecture", the company said, with modules featuring large Earth-facing windows and distinct quarters for living and working.

Recreation opportunities and medical care will also be provided with the aim of supporting visits of any length.

As well as living quarters, the station will also have "out-of-this-world" research facilities and services will include robotic servicing.

Orbital Reef's targeted users include "space agencies, high-tech consortia, sovereign nations without space programs, media and travel companies, funded entrepreneurs and sponsored inventors, and future-minded investors," Blue Origin said.

The station, which Blue Origin aims to start operating in the second half of this decade, will use Sierra Space's Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) module and node module. The company’s runway-landing Dream Chaser spaceplane will be used for crew and cargo transportation.

It is also backed by Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions, and Arizona State University.

Boeing will work on the station's science module, station operations, maintenance engineering and a crew spacecraft called Starliner.

"This is exciting for us because this project does not duplicate the immensely successful and enduring ISS, but rather goes a step further to fulfill a unique position in low Earth orbit where it can serve a diverse array of companies and host non-specialist crews," said John Mulholland, Boeing VP and program manager for the International Space Station (ISS).

When launching the company's Blue Moon lander in 2019, Bezos suggested that future human beings will live on a series of manufactured worlds in space.

Blue Origin was one of three companies chosen by NASA to create landers for a 2024 mission that will land the first woman on the moon, but lost out on the contract to Elon Musk's SpaceX.

The images are courtesy of Blue Origin.

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Bjarke Ingels' studio BIG is collaborating with construction technology company ICON and NASA to create Mars Dune Alpha, a 3D-printed structure designed to simulate living on Mars.

Under construction at the Johnson Space Center in Texas, USA, the 158-square-metre "habitat" has been developed by BIG and ICON to help prepare humans to live on the Red Planet.

The Mars Dune Alpha will be occupied by four people for extended periods of time and, by simulating the expected experience of living on Mars, will help NASA understand the physical and mental challenges that may impact crew on a long-duration space mission.

"Together with NASA and ICON, BIG is investigating what humanity's home on another planet will entail from the human experience which will potentially lay the foundation for a new Martian vernacular," wrote BIG's Kai-Uwe Bergmann in an Instagram post.

Mars Dune Alpha is being constructed using 3D printers as this is the preferred technology for constructing extraterrestrial habitats, due to the lack of building materials required.

The specific technology that will be used is Vulcan, ICON's 3D-printing system that uses the company's own Portland Cement-based mix called Lavacrete.

Once built, the structure will comprise four private crew quarters on one side, accessed by shared living spaces found at its centre. On the other side will be work, medical and food-growing stations.

According to ICON, the ceiling heights will be varied throughout to ensure each room is visually unique to "avoid spatial monotony and crew member fatigue".

Each room will also feature customisable lighting, temperature and sound control, alongside a mix of fixed and movable furniture to allow users to reorganise and personalise the interiors.

"This is the highest-fidelity simulated habitat ever constructed by humans," said ICON co-founder Jason Ballard.

"Mars Dune Alpha is intended to serve a very specific purpose, to prepare humans to live on another planet. We wanted to develop the most faithful analog possible to aid in humanity's dream to expand into the stars."

"3D printing the habitat has further illustrated to us that construction-scale 3D printing is an essential part of humanity's toolkit on earth and to go to the moon and Mars to stay," Ballard added.

"Together with NASA and ICON, we are investigating what humanity’s home on another planet will entail from the human experience," BIG founder Bjarke Ingels said.

"The data gained from this habitat research will directly inform NASA’s standards for long-duration exploration missions, and as such will potentially lay the foundation for a new Martian vernacular. Mars Dune Alpha will take us one step closer to becoming a multiplanetary species."

Mars Dune Alpha is being built in support of the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), which forms part of The Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA).

CHAPEA is a series of three one-year Mars surface mission simulations at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston to provide insights into future space missions.

NASA is now recruiting crew for the long-duration Mars mission study inside the 3D-printed Mars Dune Alpha, which will start in Autumn 2022. The mission will mimic the challenges of a mission to Mars, such as equipment failure, communication delays and simulated spacewalks.

BIG and ICON are currently also collaborating with NASA on Project Olympus, which explores ways to create 3D-printed infrastructure on the moon using materials found on its surface.

BIG is not the first architecture studio to develop buildings to support living in space. In 2015, Foster + Partners proposed a settlement for four astronauts on Mars that could be 3D printed from soil and rocks on the planet by semi-autonomous robots.

More recently, architecture studio SOM and the European Space Agency designed a settlement for living on the Moon, aptly named Moon Village. The proposal comprises inflatable modules to provide hubs for scientific research.

Photography and video are by ICON.

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Architecture studio SOM and the European Space Agency have created more visuals for Moon Village, a concept for a settlement on the moon made up of inflatable modules.

SOM presented a detailed scale model of Moon Village, which it first announced in 2019, as part of its exhibition Life Beyond Earth at this year's Venice Architecture Biennale.

The proposal is for a collection of individual four-level units located in the moon's south polar region that would provide hubs for scientific research.

SOM said that Moon Village could grow over time, evolving from a settlement for research into thriving communities offering wider opportunities such as tourism.

"For SOM, designing a Moon Village meant creating an environment in which humans will be able to thrive over the long term," senior designer Daniel Inocente told Dezeen.

"This is human-centric design."

The modules are designed to be inflatable so that they could be compressed and transported to the moon by rocket, where they would be expanded to full size.

Each of the units would be built around a hybrid structural design that would include a rigid titanium alloy perimeter frame and a soft structural shell.

This shell would feature a layer to protect from micrometeorites and a layer made of open-foam polyurethane and double-aluminised Mylar for insulation.

"Unlike other inflatable designs, which place structural mechanical systems at their centre, this solution creates an open interior that allows for optimised environmental conditions, air distribution and recycling, as well as visibility, efficiency and mobility," said SOM associate director Georgi Petrov.

The habitats would be located in the south polar region because it gets a lot of daylight throughout the lunar year, which would allow the units to harness sunlight for energy.

"Its location was also chosen in part to enable access to undisturbed material from the early history of the Solar System," SOM design partner Colin Koop told Dezeen.

"Material that will help scientists better understand the formation of our world."

Life Beyond Earth includes a scale model for an individual inflatable unit, as well as a site model showing a collection of units that would make up the village.

The installation addresses the biennale's theme for this year that looks towards the future and asks, "How will we live together?"

The project was informed by European Space Agency director-general Jan Wörner's concept of a Moon Village, an international community he defines as one whose members could live and work alongside each other in space.

As a lunar settlement, Moon Village is intended to encourage collaboration between countries and communities rather than competition.

Koop explained that while there is no definitive timeline for the project, it is designed to be realised with existing technologies and those emerging in the near future.

"Just as innovation from the mid-century space race brought us beneficial technology that we otherwise would not have, the Moon Village will enable the research and innovation that will help solve pressing problems here on Earth."

As well as providing a liveable habitat in space, Koop suggested that the project would offer insight into how we might build more adaptable settlements on Earth in the future.

"Designing a self-sustaining settlement on the moon in such a hostile environment will teach us invaluable lessons about sustainable and resilient design," said Koop.

"It will help us prepare for a changing climate and pioneer new methods of building for a variety of environments."

SOM, or Skidmore, Owings & Merill, is a global architecture, engineering and urban planning firm founded in 1963.

Formed in 1975, The European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to space exploration.

Other recent designs for the moon include a similarly expandable and self-sustainable lunar habitat by a startup called Instarz and a human lander designed by Elon Musk for a 2024 mission scheduled to carry the first woman to the moon.

Renderings are courtesy of SOM | Slashcube GmbH. Images are courtesy of Laurian Ghinitoiu.

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Research studio Lithuanian Space Agency has imagined a fictional world in outer space that would be created from people 3D-scanned at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale.

Titled Planet of People, the Lithuanian pavilion is located in the renaissance Santa Maria dei Derelitti church and centred around a 3D scanner that scans visitors to send them into space as digital simulations.

As more people visit and take part in the exhibition the scanned visitors and simulations will form a new planet that is made up entirely of the scanned people.

"It is important to consider the project as an interactive architectural fiction, in which a visitor becomes a co-architect of the planet made out of human bodies," said Lithuanian Space Agency founder, Julijonas Urbonas.

"This project is a crossover between speculative design and architecture," he told Dezeen.

"Here, architecture is not physically tangible but imagined instead," he continued. "By considering architecture on a planetary scale, for instance, terraforming, we're able to view earthly architecture differently."

Curated by Dutch educator Jan Boelen, the exhibition proposes a fictional outer space that combines "gravitational aesthetics" and "cosmic imagination".

Through research, case studies, technology and prototypes the pavilion looks to define a new space age, that allows visitors, combined with their imagination, to virtually leave Earth to form a new, fictional planet.

Through its suspending visitors through space and its creation of a fictional planet, the exhibition aims to interrogate issues of space colonialism and sustainability.

"Instead of imagining colonising and trashing other planets without asking them, let's make our own planet from ourselves, so we would be more sensitive to how we care about such environment," said Urbonas.

"On an aesthetic level, the questions of cosmic culture and imagination are being raised," Urbonas continued.

"Meanwhile, on the ethical level, we are preoccupied with space colonialism and astrobiology, as well as discussing space pollution," he said.

"In terms of politics, questions are being raised about already existing space programs, the policies governing the activities of the exploration and use of outer space."

Alongside the space transporting 3D scanner, displayed on a rotating table is a collection of works and prototypes developed by Urbonas and the LSA that explore gravitational aesthetics.

Gravitational aesthetics is a term coined by Urbonas to describe a specific type of architecture, design and art that explore the effects of power on sensual, psychological and social experiences.

These works include Euthanasia Coaster, a hypothetical roller coaster engineered to create a spectrum of emotions from euphoria to thrill, which ultimately leads its users to a euphoric death.

As well as the Cerebral Spinner, a circular structure, which is currently under development, that contains a lecture theatre that spins users and mimics the forces of three G – a force three times higher than the Earth's gravity.

Urbonas explained that the project is based on both fiction and scientific research, stating that an internal part of the project is the blurring of what is human and what is fake

"In our project, we invite to challenge the idea of architecture as an earthly form of imagination, with gravity as its main problem," said Urbonas.

"The Lithuanian Space Agency's work isn't focused on the visibility of a particular country in space but rather on spreading the idea about the openness of space to various people, experts and disciplines," he explained.

"Cultural, social or biological attributes such as nationality, race, sex, sexual orientation, age, social status or political views dissolve whilst suspended in space, detached from systems of judgement and classification prevailing on Earth."

The Lithuanian Space Agency was founded by Urbonas in 2019. The studio aims to marry and blur the lines between architecture, art and design related to space research.

Photography is by Aistė Valiūtė and Daumantas Plechavičius.

Planet of People will be on display in the Santa Maria dei Derelitti as part of the Venice Architecture Biennale, which takes place from 22 May to 21 November 2021. See Dezeen Events Guide for all the latest information you need to know to attend the event, as well as a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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NASA has selected three projects from the Rhode Island School of Design's Space Design club for its development programmes, meaning the work could one day be tested in space.

A space-dust repeller, an augmented-reality headset and a wearable container for rock samples are among the project proposals chosen for the BIG Idea Challenge and other NASA programmes.

All of the projects were born from the Rhode Island School of Design's (RISD) Space Design club, which was formed in autumn 2020.

It succeeds the RISD Rover club, which was launched to compete in the annual NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge but had to disband because the work of building and racing vehicles as a team was not possible during the pandemic.

Instead, the RISD Space Design club came up with proposals that could be worked on remotely.

RISD design to protect astronauts from space dust

The space dust project, by students from RISD along with Brown University, was one of seven proposals selected for the BIG Idea Challenge, which had more than 100 entries.

Called TEST-RAD (Tufted Electrostatic Solution to Regolith Adhesion Dilemma), the technology is about protecting astronauts and their equipment from space dust, also known as regolith. These particles are similar in size to asbestos and can damage the lungs.

The project uses densely packed fibres that are electrostatically charged to repel the dust. The students originally planned to apply the fibres to space suits, but based on feedback from NASA engineers, they will first test them on lower-stakes items, such as a camera lens or battery cover.

The team also sees a potential future application for Earth.

"A lot of new tech comes from space research, for example Velcro," said Space Design club vice-president Bowen Zhou. "Our TEST-RAD technology might also help miners, who have similar problems with harmful dust particles."

A separate project was selected for the NASA's Micro-G Next challenge, which searches for devices that enable space exploration.

It is a dispenser that attaches to an astronaut's space suit and holds samples collected during spacewalks.

NASA will test the prototype, which was made out of folded aluminium in RISD's metal shop, in its simulated microgravity environment at the Johnson Space Center Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.

Augmented reality headset to be presented in autumn

The third selected project is an augmented reality headset that is part of the NASA SUITS (Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students) Competition.

The headset would project data, maps and other information inside an astronaut's helmet during spacewalks, helping them to navigate, take field notes or keep track of their oxygen levels.

The team is currently in the research phase and hopes to present its ideas to NASA in the autumn.

The RISD Space Design Club is helping to support the teams in all three projects. The club had initially planned to submit one collective proposal, but after the students couldn't decide on one challenge to pursue, they submitted multiple applications — and had multiple acceptances.

The projects are being developed mostly virtually, with RISD taking precautions to keep students safe from Covid-19.

"In comparison to the Rover Challenge, which required a team of 12 people to physically work on the vehicle at the same time, this year's challenges are fairly easy to do remotely," said club president Sebastian Boa.

NASA regularly runs various competitions to discover and develop new potential space technologies.

One of its most famous was the 3D Printed Habitat Challenge, which had entrants design a Mars base using materials indigenous to the Red Planet.

Recently, the agency announced it has contracted Elon Musk's SpaceX to design the first commercial human lander for NASA.

Photography courtesy of RISD.

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Elon Musk's SpaceX will develop the first commercial human lander for NASA as part of its Artemis program, which will carry the first woman to the moon.

Named Starship, the human landing system (HLS) designed by SpaceX will carry crew, supplies and equipment between a craft in lunar orbit and the moon's surface during the planned 2024 mission.

The astronauts will be launched into orbit in NASA's Space Launch System rocket onboard the Orion spacecraft. Two crew members will then transfer to SpaceX's Starship, which will transport them down to the moon.

Above: NASA has chosen SpaceX for the Artemis mission. Top image: the spacecraft will land humans on the moon

"With this award, NASA and our partners will complete the first crewed demonstration mission to the surface of the Moon in the 21st century as the agency takes a step forward for women's equality and long-term deep space exploration," NASA's associate administrator for human explorations and operations mission directorate Kathy Lueders said.

"This critical step puts humanity on a path to sustainable lunar exploration and keeps our eyes on missions farther into the solar system, including Mars."

Artemis to land first woman and first person of colour on the moon

SpaceX's Starship uses Raptor engines and draws on the flight heritage of the company's previous Falcon and Dragon spacecrafts.

The company has conducted six suborbital flight tests of the Starship, which has a spacious cabin and two airlocks to be used for moonwalks by the astronauts.

At least one of those astronauts will be a woman, who will make history by becoming the first woman to land on the lunar surface. The Artemis program also aims for another historical first by landing the first person of colour on the moon.

SpaceX has built 10 Starship prototypes since January 2020, but a number have exploded during tests.

"For the next phase, going forward, we have to make sure that the testing occurs because we're not going to launch humans until we have a successful test," Lisa Watson-Morgan, program manager for HLS at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, said during the announcement.

Mission planned as first moon landing since 1972

SpaceX was competing against Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin and Alabama-based Dynetics to win the contract.

The total award value of the contract for the Starship is $2.89 billion, and its architecture is meant to evolve to a fully reusable launch and landing system designed for travel to the moon as well as Mars and other destinations.

The Artemis project, which will mark the first time humankind has landed on the moon since 1972, is being undertaken as preparation for a future mission to Mars.

Last year NASA announced that it is working with architecture studio BIG to design 3D-printed buildings for the moon, and debuted SpaceX spacesuits featuring its 1970s "worm" logo.

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In this week's comments update, readers are considering a concept for a self-sufficient city on Mars and sharing their views on other top stories.

Abiboo has designed the concept for a self-sufficient city set within a cliff on Mars. The architecture studio claims Nüwa could be built in 2054. 

The vertical settlement, which could eventually house 250,000 people, would be built using materials available on the planet.

"Colonialism is alive and well"

Readers aren't sold on the idea. "Go and live somewhere with no water, oxygen and if you go outside, you die?" asked Bubba10. "Sounds like a marketer's dream."

"The biggest problem is that Mars has much lower gravity than Earth," added Egad. "The human body has evolved to be compatible with gravity and cannot survive without it. Until they can invent gravity, this idea of Mars habitation is merely fanciful fiction."

Elie Atallah had other concerns: "Colonialism is alive and well! Settlements! The sense of superiority is staggering."

"Let's not forget that we know a place that is closer, has air, water, food and for a long, long time seemed to be working," finished Marius. "There is new snappy slogan in London: 'Do not move, improve'. How about adopting it on the third rock from the sun?"

Are commenters being cynical? Join the discussion ›

"Spray the security cameras red" says reader

Commenters are discussing 11-19 Jane Street, a red concrete and brick apartment building in New York designed by David Chipperfield Architects.

"A meaningful contribution to the city," said Simon M. "Love it."

Jesse Lockhart Krause was also pleased: "Beautiful balance, subtle, respectful, an elegant outcome which contributes to the city. Well done."

"Spray the security cameras red!" insisted Arbee.

Is 11-19 Jane Street impressive? Join the discussion ›

"Designers need to take a long look at themselves" says commenter

Readers continue to debate NFTs after designers claimed their emergence will trigger a wave of artistic innovation and allow creatives to sell avant-garde work directly to customers.

';"What I like about this new market is that artists who do digital work can monetise their files the same way as artists who create physical work," said Zea Newland. "You no longer need movies, architectural commissions or games in order to get paid."

"Who the hell wants to own a digital file that can't do squat except take up space on your hard drive?" asked Design Junkie. "Little to do with art and all to do with money."

Captain Sensible agreed: "Artists and designers need to take a good, long, look at themselves and ask whether they are actually contributing to the improvement of art and society, or whether they are merely chasing trends."

Will NFTs trigger a wave of artistic innovation? Join the discussion ›

"Low tech at its best" says reader

Commenters are delighted by a brick shopping centre in northern Mexico, which Colectivo C733 topped with roof volumes that bring in daylight and allow hot air to escape.

"Well done," said Vince Cap. "Low tech at its best."

M agreed: "Beautifully and sensitively done. Bravo."

"Architecturally magnificent, wonderful balance of playfulness and elegance," concluded Jesse Lockhart Krause. "Would be nice to see photographs full of vibrance, colour and life when the community uses it."

What do you think of Matamoros Market? Join the discussion ›

Read more Dezeen comments

Dezeen is the world's most commented architecture and design magazine, receiving thousands of comments each month from readers. Keep up to date on the latest discussions on our comments page.

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Dava Newman, former NASA deputy administrator, astronautics researcher and inventor of the BioSuit, will be the new director of MIT Media Lab.

Newman, who is currently the Apollo Program professor of astronautics in MIT’s department of aeronautics and astronautics, will take up the role on 1 July 2021.

"Leading the legendary Media Lab is a dream for me," said Newman.

"I can't wait to help write the next chapter of this uniquely creative, impactful, compassionate community."

Newman worked for NASA during the Obama administration and her research has focused on supporting the human body in space to help make interplanetary exploration a reality.

She is the designer of the BioSuit, a flexible skintight spacesuit for astronauts to wear on Mars.

Created in collaboration with NASA and MIT, the BioSuit was designed as a practical alternative to traditional rigid gas-filled pressure-controlled suits called extravehicular mobility units.

The stretchy skintight suit would be reinforced with an exoskeleton formed by a complex pattern of 3D lines. The goal of the BioSuit is to create something that could be put on by an astronaut in under ten minutes – saving precious time and money during expensive space flights.

Newman will bring this experience to MIT Media Lab, an interdisciplinary research organisation that brings together experts from a wide range of arts and science subjects.

"The magic of the Media Lab, which I hope to help build on, is to provide a trusted, open-minded, stimulating space where each person can contribute extraordinary expertise while being stretched beyond their comfort zone to collectively imagine a better, bolder future," she said.

The previous director of the MIT Media Lab, Joichi Ito, resigned in September 2019 following allegations concerning donations he received from convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein.

Founded in 1985 and based at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, USA, MIT Media Lab researches topics including biotechnology, robotics and sustainable cities. Faculty members include Ekene Ijeoma, Hiroshi Ishii and Neri Oxman.

Images are courtesy of MIT.

BioSuit project credits:

Inventor, science and engineering: Professor Dava Newman, MIT
Design: Guillermo Trotti, A.I.A., Trotti and Associates (Cambridge, MA)
Fabrication: Dainese (Vicenza, Italy)

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This video shows a fly-through of Nüwa, which has been designed by architecture studio Abiboo to be the first permanent city on Mars.

Powered by solar energy and growing its own food, the self-sustaining city of Nüwa would be built into a cliff face on Mars.

According to its architect, Abiboo founder Alfredo Munoz, the city would house 250,000 people and construction could begin in 2054 with the city complete by the end of the century.

"Nüwa solves all the core problems of living on Mars while creating an inspiring environment to thrive, architecturally rich and using only local materials sourced on Mars," Munoz told Dezeen.

"It is a sustainable and self-sufficient city with a strong identity and sense of belonging. Nüwa is conceived to be the future capital of Mars."

Read more about the Mars city ›

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Architecture studio Abiboo has designed the concept for a self-sufficient city on Mars named Nüwa that could be built in 2054. Its architect explains the project to Dezeen.

Set within a cliff on Mars, Nüwa was designed for non-profit organisation the Mars Society to be the first permanent settlement on Mars.

The vertical settlement, which could eventually house 250,000 people, would be embedded into the side of a cliff and built using materials available on the planet.

Abiboo founder Alfredo Munoz believes that building a permanent, large-scale habitat on Mars is feasible this century and that the planet may have more potential for settlement than the moon.

"Permanent habitats on the Moon that are self-sufficient would be challenging, including the lack of water and critical minerals," he told Dezeen.

"On the other hand, Mars offers the right resources to create a fully sustainable settlement."

The city, developed with scientific group SONet, would be built into a one-kilometre-high cliff face to protect the residents from radiation and allow for a large city to be built without constructing huge enclosures.

"Nüwa solves all the core problems of living on Mars while creating an inspiring environment to thrive, architecturally rich and using only local materials sourced on Mars," said Munoz.

"It is a sustainable and self-sufficient city with a strong identity and sense of belonging. Nüwa is conceived to be the future capital of Mars."

A system of interconnected tunnels would be bored into the Martian rock, with light entering from the cliff tunnel ends at the cliff face. The area at the top of the cliff would be used for growing food.

According to Munoz, Nüwa combines the benefits of previously proposed surface and tunnel dwellings.

"Some past solutions for habitats on Mars propose exciting buildings on the surface of the red planet," he said.

"The challenge with these solutions is that to protect effectively and long-term from radiation, the buildings' skin needs to be thick and opaque."

"Alternative past solutions on Mars are underground, located inside lava tubes or craters," he continued.

"Such building configurations might provide a more efficient and safe technical solution than those on the surface. However, access to light is essential for humans' psychological well-being, and spending long-term underground might not be the ideal solution."

Abiboo's Martian city would be built using tunnelling technology that is"already available on Earth" and steel obtained by processing water and CO2 found on Mars using a system that will need to be developed.

While the studio believes that hydroponic systems for making food and solar generation systems for making electricity already largely exist, it sees manufacturing breathable air as the biggest technical hurdle to overcome to make the city viable.

The architect also highlights transporting goods and people to Mars and funding as potential barriers, but believes that construction could begin in 2054.

"We estimate that by 2054 we could be able to start building a settlement like Nüwa," Munoz said.

"However, this date is tentative as there are many critical paths associated with a city on Mars," he continued.

"If the right resources are in place and some of the required technologies on Earth support the speedy implementation, Nüwa could be finished by 2100."

Read on for the full interview with Alfredo Munoz:

Tom Ravenscroft: What is the core concept for Nüwa?

Alfredo Munoz: Nüwa is a vertical city inside a cliff. The town protects its inhabitants from deadly radiation, potential impacts from meteorites, and extreme temperature changes on Mars by this configuration. Additionally, its modularity provides a highly scalable solution that can be standardised while giving a very diverse experience to its citizens.

Nüwa solves all the core problems of living on Mars while creating an inspiring environment to thrive, architecturally rich and using only local materials sourced on Mars. It is a sustainable and self-sufficient city with a strong identity and sense of belonging. Nüwa is conceived to be the future capital of Mars.

Tom Ravenscroft: How does this differ from other prospective designs for living on Mars or the moon?

Alfredo Munoz: Permanent habitats on the Moon that are self-sufficient would be challenging, including the lack of water and critical minerals. On the other hand, Mars offers the right resources to create a fully sustainable settlement.

Some past solutions for habitats on Mars propose exciting buildings on the surface of the red planet. The challenge with these solutions is that to protect effectively and long-term from radiation, the buildings' skin needs to be thick and opaque.

Additionally, the pressure difference between the inside and the outside requires structures that prevent the building from exploding. For small buildings, this is not a terrible challenge because the design can absorb the pressure.

Still, the more ample space, the tension grows exponentially. As a result, on-the-ground-building is not reasonable to accommodate a large population, as the amount of material associated with their structure would be vast and expensive.

Alternative past solutions on Mars are underground, located inside lava tubes or craters. Such building configurations might provide a more efficient and safe technical solution than those on the surface. However, access to light is essential for humans' psychological well-being, and spending long-term underground might not be the ideal solution.

Nüwa is excavated on a one-kilometre-high cliff oriented to the south with tunnels that extend towards the cliff's wall, bringing indirect light and creating buffer spaces for the community to thrive and socialise.

Being inside the cliff protects from radiation and meteorites. The rock absorbs atmospheric pressure from inside and provides thermal inertia to avoid temperature losses, as the outside can be below 100 degrees Celsius.

Density is critical on Mars as every square meter is costly. Reducing the space required for infrastructure, logistics, and inter-city transportation is of utmost importance on Mars. The location of Nüwa inside a cliff ensures such space is minimised. Finally, the cliffs have a mesa at the top that is usually relatively flat, which is ideal for locating the vast areas required for the generation of energy and food.

Tom Ravenscroft: How did you aim to ensure that this is a feasible design?

Alfredo Munoz: Nüwa is the result of months of work of 30 plus global experts from different fields. Abiboo headed the architecture and urban design. Still, the project's innovative solutions would have been impossible without the close collaboration with top global minds in astrophysics, life-support systems, astrobiology, mining, engineering, design, astrogeology, arts, and many other fields.

Tom Ravenscroft: What were the main factors that impacted the design of this concept?

Alfredo Munoz: The first factor was the Mars Society's request to provide a large-scale permanent settlement on the red planet. Creating a temporary solution or even a building for a small community of future Martian requires completely different strategies than those needed for a city where people will live and die.

Ensuring that the citizens have the right environment for an enriching life was critical for us. Public areas and vegetation are the core of life at Nüwa.

The second factor was our determination for Nüwa to be a self-sufficient and sustainable city on Mars. This requirement was critical when conceptualising the design because we needed to use simple, scalable, and affordable solutions to provide a massive construction volume.

Nüwa accommodates 250,000 people and provides 55 million square meters of total built-up area and 188 million cubic meters of breathable air. The modularity, urban strategy, and configuration inside a cliff are the results of such self-imposed constrain.

Tom Ravenscroft: What do you think the main barriers to building on Mars are?

Alfredo Munoz: The tunnelling systems, which are one of the most critical technologies required in Nüwa, are already available on Earth. Steel would be the primary material for civil work, as it can be obtained through processing water and CO2, which are available on Mars. While the team of scientists feels comfortable that such processing is possible, the technology has to be developed and tested on Earth.

However, considering the relevance of mining and excavation in Nüwa, a geotechnical analysis should be performed on the ground by astronauts to thoroughly verify and analyse if the conditions are adequate for extensive excavations on Tempe Mensa or new locations have to be scouted.

As a result, until we cannot send a limited number of humans to Mars, we will not have the intel needed to develop the detailed construction plans. While a lot of work can be performed with prototypes and analogues on Earth, astronauts should validate everything on the ground.

From the life-support point of view, the processing of oxygen is the most challenging technology that has to be developed. Although the vegetation in Nüwa provides oxygen, a large percentage needs to be "manufactured".

We still do not have the technology to create such a breathable air volume, which is a critical path for Nüwa's feasibility. On the other hand, the solutions regarding food, such as hydroponic systems for the crop, cellular meat, or microalgae-based food, are almost currently ready.

From the energy aspect, the solar generation systems of Nüwa are based on photovoltaics and solar concentrators, which are also available nowadays on Earth. The most significant problem we have on Mars is that solar power does not work during common sand storms. During those times, alternative energy sources need to be provided. While Nüwa is considering a small nuclear plant, further technology should be developed as an ideal alternative.

Even if Nüwa could be technically possible during the following decades, we still need to transport such an amount of people. Sending so many people is a massive challenge, as we only have a window of opportunity every two years due to the distances and orbits of Earth and Mars. Elon Musk and Space X might help during this in the next decade, but a colossal technology improvement on space shuttles needs to happen for Nüwa to be open its doors.

Finally, the resources and the will have to be in place for Nüwa to be a reality. The Panama Canal required decades of work and massive sources. Similarly, a city on Mars will require a long-term vision and commitment.

Tom Ravenscroft: When do you expect a city of this scale could be constructed on Mars?

Alfredo Munoz: Based on the summary of barriers that I explained before and considering preliminary technical analysis with the scientists we estimate that by 2054 we could be able to start building a settlement like Nüwa.

However, this date is tentative as there are many critical paths associated with a city on Mars. If the right resources are in place and some of the required technologies on Earth support the speedy implementation, Nüwa could be finished by 2100.

Images are by Abiboo / SONet

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Following last week's news that the first space hotel could be ready for guests in 2027, chief architect Tim Alatorre answers questions posed by sceptical Dezeen readers about the project.

The claim that the wheel-shaped space hotel would be constructed in just one year was questioned by several Dezeen commenters.

Others expressed doubts about the way the spinning ring would replicate the effects of gravity through centrifugal force.

But Alatorre, who is chief architect for the project and chief operating officer at space construction firm Orbital Assembly Corporation, reassured readers that the 2027 opening date is achievable.

"This is dependent on everything going to plan, which in space we know things don't always go to plan," Alatorre told Dezeen. "We are pushing for this date."

The biggest obstacle to completion is the availability of rockets powerful enough to ferry components to an altitude of around 2,000km above the surface of the earth, where they will be assembled in low-earth orbit.

"We will need the next generation of launch platforms to become operational," he said.

Rotation "slightly faster than the second hand of a clock"

Guests would not get space sickness in the spinning Voyager Station, Alatorre confirmed.

"We will be rotating at approximately 1.2 revolutions per minute, which is slightly faster than the second hand of a clock," he said.

"Studies have shown that humans can adapt up to as high as 23 revolutions per minute."

Construction of the 400-person hotel will begin on Earth in 2023. "Significant portions will be constructed on the ground and then assembled in orbit," Alatorre said.

Assembly of the outer ring, which will hold the hotel's habitation modules, is due to start in space in 2025.

The 50,000-square-metre space hotel will eventually have 24 modules, although the hotel can begin operating once four of them are in place.

"Our plan is to start the construction of the outer ring truss in 2025," said Alatorre. "We can start the operation of the station with only four modules in place. This is our 2027 target."

Below is the Q&A with Alatorre:

Tom Ravenscroft: Do you think that the 2027 opening date is realistic?

Tim Alatorre: Our development roadmap is planned for a 2027 initial operation date. This is dependent on everything going to plan. In space, we know things don't always go to plan. We are pushing for this date.

Tom Ravenscroft: What are the main obstacles to this happening?

Tim Alatorre: The primary obstacle is heavy-lift launch capabilities. Our initial steps could be done with existing capabilities but we will need the next generation of launch platforms to become operational.

Tom Ravenscroft: The start date for construction was reported as 2026 with completion in 2027. This seems ambitious.

Tim Alatorre: Our plan is to start the construction of the outer ring truss in 2025. We can start the operation of the station with only four modules in place. This is our 2027 target.

Tom Ravenscroft: Will construction involve a lot of on-earth prefabrication?

Tim Alatorre: Yes. Significant portions will be constructed on the ground and then assembled in orbit. I expect the first sections should begin fabrication towards the end of 2023 or early 2024.

Tom Ravenscroft: How is the space hotel being financed?

Tim Alatorre: A combination of equity financing, pre-sales and investment capital.

Tom Ravenscroft: How will gravity be created within the hotel?

Tim Alatorre: We can't create true gravity but we will create artificial, or simulated, gravity through rotation. As the station rotates, the occupants feel centrifugal forces, which creates the effect of gravity.

Tom Ravenscroft: Is there a chance that people will get space sick?

Tim Alatorre: Space sickness is caused by microgravity (zero gravity) and may occur while travelling to the station but is dependent on a number of factors.

Tom Ravenscroft: How will it feel to be in a spinning hotel room?

Tim Alatorre: The station will have 1/6 Earth gravity. We will be rotating at approximately 1.2 revolutions per minute, which is slightly faster than the second hand of a clock. Studies have shown that humans can adapt up to as high as 23 revolutions per minute.

By using a low rate of rotation, we hope the adaptation period will be very short. Occupants will notice effects of the rotation but not to impairment of motion or comfort.

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The Gateway Foundation has announced that it intends to open the first hotel in space, named Voyager Station, in 2027.

Voyager Station will be built by construction company Orbital Assembly Corporation, which describes itself as "the world's first large scale space construction company".

According to the organisation, construction of the 50,000-square-metre facility will start in 2026 with the first passengers visiting the hotel in 2027.

When it opens, the rotating hotel will have rooms for up to 440 people. The rotating ring-shaped form will give the station gravity equivalent to one-sixth of the Earth's.

"Going to space will just be another option people will pick for their vacation"

The Gateway Foundation originally revealed its design for the space hotel, which was then called the Von Braun Space Station, in 2019.

At the time, its senior design architect Tim Alatorre explained that the aim of the project was to make visiting space accessible to everyone.

"Eventually, going to space will just be another option people will pick for their vacation, just like going on a cruise, or going to Disney World," Alatorre told Dezeen.

"Because the overall costs are still so high most people assume that space tourism will only be available to the super-rich, and while I think this will be true for the next several years, the Gateway Foundation has a goal of making space travel open to everyone."

Hotel will contain restaurants, bars and gyms

Since its first launch, Orbital Assembly Corporation has revealed more details about the structure and its construction.

The first element to be built will be a central un-pressurised ring structure that will contain the docking hub at its centre.

Following this, the 200-metre-diametre outer ring truss will be assembled and connected to the central ring by a network of spokes.

This ring will support the 24 habitation modules, which will be used for hotel accommodation, restaurants, bars, gyms, crew accommodation and scientific research pods.

Interiors will have "natural materials and colours"

According to the organisation, Voyager Station will be designed to have the "feel of a luxury hotel", with comfortable interiors that reject the sleek futurist look often depicted in films.

"In the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick's Space Station 5 is a sterile, white, museum-like hotel," explained Alatorre in an interview with Dezeen.

"While it made for a clearly futuristic feeling in the movie, in reality, it wasn't a very inviting space. As humans, we innately connect to natural materials and colours."

Voyager Station will contain a range of holiday accommodation options with 500-square-metre "luxury villas" that will be available to be rented for a week, month or permanently.

These villas will have sleeping space for 16 along with three bathrooms and cooking facilities.

Alongside the villa, the space station will have numerous 30-square-metre hotel suites that will have beds for two people and a private bathroom.

According to the Gateway Foundation, as the space hotel has gravity, guests should expect a similar experience to visiting a high-end hotel, with restaurants that "will rival the best venues on Earth".

Guests will be able to relax in a triple-tier bar with a water feature that "will seemingly defy the laws of physics".

"We are planning on full-service kitchens with all of the dishes you would expect on a luxury cruise ship or in a major hotel," said Alatorre.

"A lot of the logistical issues for food service have been worked out years ago by the cruise ship industry."

An activity and gym module with seven-metre-high ceilings will be used for low-gravity games.

At night it will be used as a concert venue where "the biggest musicians on Earth will rock the station as it circles the planet".

Voyager Station was originally planned to open in 2025, but coronavirus-related delays have pushed this back to 2027 said the company.

Numerous architects and designers are currently working to develop space tourism. Recently transport design studio PriestmanGoode developed a concept for a high-performance balloon to take space tourists on a "cruise" around the stratosphere.

London studio Seymourpowell designed the interior cabin of Virgin Galactic's spacecraft to take six passengers on a sub-orbital flight into space and view the Earth.

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A rocket by Elon Musk's SpaceX carried an unprecedented number of satellites into space on Sunday, setting a new record for the most spacecraft that have ever been deployed in one mission.

Dubbed Transporter-1, the mission carried 143 spacecraft into Earth's orbit including compact nano- and microsatellites from a range of different countries and corporations.

This beats the previous record of 104 satellites, which were launched during a mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2017.

SpaceX's rocket launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 10 o'clock in the morning, marking the first dedicated mission of the company's SmallSat Rideshare Program.

As the name suggests, the initiative resembles a kind of UberPool for satellites, allowing different operators to hitch a ride into space on the same rocket and split the cost, rather than having to invest upwards of $60 million to charter an individual rocket.

Under the SmallSat Rideshare Program, it costs only $1 million to send a 200-kilogram spacecraft into sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), which houses imaging, military and weather satellites.

SpaceX aims to serve this orbit via a regular service every four months, in a bid to provide "increased access to space for small satellite operators seeking a reliable, affordable ride to orbit".

Rocket designed to be reused

The relative affordability of the programme is also linked to the design of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, which was used for the mission and was developed to be partially reused.

The most expensive part of the rocket – the first-stage booster which propels it off the ground and falls away once it has served its purpose – is able to land on one of the company's ocean-bound droneships and can subsequently be used for other missions to bring down the astronomical cost of rocket launches.

Falcon 9 launches 143 spacecraft to orbit — the most ever deployed on a single mission — completing SpaceX’s first dedicated SmallSat Rideshare Program mission pic.twitter.com/CJSUvKWeb4

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 25, 2021

The first-stage booster used in the Transporter-1 mission, for example, was previously used in four other missions including for SpaceX's Starlink programme, which is seeing a constellation of thousands of satellites set up in Earth's orbit to provide high-speed internet access across the world.

Number of satellites set to quintuple in the next decade

Aboard the Transporter-1 mission were spacecraft from research organisations such as NASA and the University of South Florida Insitute of Applied Engineering, alongside eight communications satellites by Canadian company Kepler and 48 shoebox-sized Earth imaging satellites by San Francisco-based Planet Labs.

Also launched as part of the mission were ten of SpaceX's own Starlink satellites – the first in the constellation to be deployed into polar orbit, where they will traverse the Earth from north to south.

This comes shortly after another Starlink mission saw 60 satellites sent into orbit on January 20, as part of the company's aim of establishing a mega-constellation of at least 12,000 satellites by the middle of the decade.

With the advent of smaller, more affordable satellites, and ridesharing programmes like that of SpaceX or the Vega programme by European company Arianespace, the number of satellites in Earth's orbit is set to quintuple in the next decade.

This has raised concerns about light pollution among astronomers as well as increasing the risk of collisions and eventually adding to the estimated 6,000 tons of space waste that are already floating in low Earth orbit – including 2,550 of our planet's 5,850 satellites.

In a bid to tackle this space waste, Kyoto University recently announced that it was developing the world's first wooden satellite in collaboration with Sumitomo Forestry, which would burn up completely at the end of its life.

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Researchers from Kyoto University are developing a satellite made from wood that would burn up completely at the end of its life to reduce the amount of human-made waste floating in space.

Set to launch in 2023, the LignoSat satellite will have a shell made of timber, allowing it to burn up completely as it re-enters the earth's atmosphere.

The project is a collaboration with Japanese logging company Sumitomo Forestry and aims to tackle the growing amount of space hardware that is floating in our planet's orbit despite no longer being functional.

Alongside millions of pieces of debris, this includes more than 34,000 larger units such as discarded rocket stages and 2,550 of earth's 5,850 satellites, which are now defunct.

While they are in still orbit, these are hazards to passing spacecraft and functioning satellites.

According to Takao Doi, the former astronaut who is leading the team at Kyoto University, once the debris re-enters the atmosphere it can release small particles of alumina, also known as aluminium oxide, into the atmosphere as it burns.

"We are very concerned with the fact that all the satellites which re-enter the Earth's atmosphere burn and create tiny alumina particles which will float in the upper atmosphere for many years," Doi told the BBC. "Eventually it will affect the environment of the Earth."

Although more data needs to be gathered, researchers believe that a buildup of these particles could deplete the ozone layer surrounding our planet, which reflects ultraviolet rays away from the earth.

By making LignoSat out of wood, Sumitomo Forestry argues that the satellite would burn up completely without releasing harmful substances, making for a "cleaner and environmentally friendly" alternative.

LignoSat to be launched by 2023

Doi's team is researching how wood can be treated to withstand temperature changes, radiation and sunlight, as well as testing it in extreme environments on earth.

From there, the researchers will develop an engineering model of the satellite and finally a functioning flight model, which they are aiming to launch in 2023.

Unlike the aluminium shell of standard satellites, Sumitomo Forestry claims that a wooden version would not block out electronic waves or the Earth's magnetic field, meaning that any antennas or other devices could be stored inside of the LignoSat rather than on its exterior.

This would allow the satellite's design to be pared back to a simple box without extraneous details that might break off and further add to what NASA has labelled the "orbital space junkyard".

The LignoSat team did not share any information about how it plans to deal with the technical equipment contained in the wooden satellite once the exterior has been burned away.

The collaboration between Sumitomo Forestry and Kyoto University will also include wider research on the applications of wood as a renewable resource in space, for example to create entire habitable structures.

According to the company, the aim is to then feed this insight back into creating "ultra-strong, weather-resistant wooden buildings" on Earth.

Architects racing to prove large-scale viability of timber

Over recent years, architects have increasingly been exploring timber as a sustainable building material, as it has a significantly lower embodied carbon footprint than concrete or steel and actually captures CO2 from the atmosphere as it grows.

As a result, practitioners are racing to build ever-taller wooden towers, to prove that the material is viable even in large-scale applications and urban environments.

Last year, Voll Arkitekter completed the world's tallest timber building, standing at 85.4 metres high in the Norwegian city of Brumunddal, while Urban Agency plans to extend a mill building in Ireland to create one of the tallest timber buildings in Europe.

In recognition of the material's environmental credentials, the French government ruled earlier this year that by 2022 all its new public buildings must be built with 50 per cent wood.

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American prefabricated shelter company Jupe has launched its travel pod, a flat-pack temporary cabin with birch wood floors and an illuminated frame designed by Liz Lambert and Cameron Sinclair.

The geometric Jupe pods, named after the planet Jupiter, are intended as a futuristic alternative to traditional glamping tents and yurts.

Jupe's design team, whose credentials include working for rental platform Airbnb, electric car makers Tesla and rocket manufacturers Space X, set out to make a sci-fi-style product inspired by space travel.

"We turned to ideas that inspired and excited us," said Jupe co-founder and micro-home entrepreneur Jeff Wilson.

"Remember that monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey? It last sent signals to Jupiter from the moon. It seems that a few of those blueprints were bounced back to Earth. We intercepted them and created Jupe."

Fire-resistant canvas stretched over aluminium poles forms the angular pod, which slopes upwards to a ceiling height of 11 metres at the tallest point.

LEDs along the poles can be used to provide illumination in the dark.

Jupe is designed to function off-grid with the light-up frame, wifi, electrical outlets and USB ports powered by solar panels or battery packs.

"Experiencing the natural wonders of the world shouldn't mean being forced to disconnect while staying in a less-than-inspirational living space," said Wilson.

Extras offered by the company include a porch, a lockable safe, a cooler, speakers and an Amazon Alexa voice-controlled device.

Each shelter sits on a chassis that raises the tented part off the ground. Birch floor tiles lift up to allow occupants to access storage space below, which Jupe's designers estimate can hold up to ten suitcases.

The entrance to the 111-square-metre cabin can be left open to frame the landscape, and slim openable windows in the side provide extra ventilation.

A palette of sand tones was selected for the interior of the pods, which are designed by boutique hotel designer Liz Lambert and Cameron Sinclair, who was previously Airbnb's head of social innovation and co-founder of Architecture for Humanity.

A step leads up to a platform with a full-size bed with a mattress and bedside cubbies are slightly sunken into the floor. Built-in furniture includes a desk, a chair and an ottoman.

The company has made the pods, which are manufactured in a Los Angeles factory, available for pre-order now, with the first flatpack kits due to be delivered in January 2021.

Jupe was founded by investment banker Cameron Blizzard and Jeff Wilson, whose previous micro-housing startup Kasita folded in 2018.

Earlier this year the company developed mobile intensive-care units for hospitals overwhelmed by coronavirus patients.

Photography is by Sam Gezari.

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US sportswear brand Under Armour has designed the spacesuits and footwear that Virgin Galactic's pilots will wear for its first commercial spaceflight later this month.

According to the brand, the spacesuits are designed to make the pilots feel confident while ensuring they are understated enough to not be distracting.

While each all-in-one suit has been tailored to the pilot it is intended for, they are all made from a royal-blue material with black panels under the arms, above the feet and running along both sides of the body.

The suits are made of tough, flight-grade knitted fabrics that are as lightweight as possible – with each garment weighing just over one kilogram.

Cushioning on the shoulders offers comfort as pilots are held into position by straps when seated in zero gravity. This also serves to support the pilots during boost, when the forces press them back into their seats.

"A pilot's flight suit has been refined over the decades to embody a certain undeniable look and function, but they also have to perform beyond expectations," said Randall Harward from Under Armour.

"We took that as a starting point and built in all of the Under Armour solutions we've developed for comfort, support, movement and temperature management."

"Our goal was to build a suit that leaves a pilot – like any athlete – feeling confident and with zero distractions during a critical moment of performance. It's been a fascinating journey."

Under Armour was given a brief to create a non-pressurised spacesuit that both reflected the pilots' role in the space mission and practically supported their task.

Chief pilot Dave Mackay and pilot CJ Sturckow will wear the spacesuits and footwear on future flights, including its first commercial spaceflight that will fly private astronauts – astronauts on spaceflights not conducted by a government agency – into space from Spaceport America in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

This mission is due to take place later this month, with the flight window opening on December 11th 2020.

As Virgin Galactic's technical spacewear partner, Under Armour has designed other astronaut apparel pieces for the company, including similar suits designed for private astronauts.

While the garments are visually very similar, it was important for the sportswear brand to set the pilots' suits apart from those that will be worn by the future astronauts to help highlight the roles they play in the spaceflight.

"A common colour palette accentuates the fact that pilots and customers are all part of one crew. But the addition of black within the pilot spacesuits, sets the pilots a little apart and is a reminder that the destination of each flight is the black sky of space," Virgin Galactic said.

The pilots' spacesuits also feature the Virgin Galactic pilot wings emblem.

Under Armour also created the 3D-knitted covers for the seats in the interior cabin of the Virgin Galactic SpaceshipTwo craft, which was designed in collaboration with London studio Seymourpowell.

The craft will be designed to take six passengers on a sub-orbital flight into space to view the Earth and experience several minutes of weightlessness at $250,000 per seat.

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UK company Metalysis has been awarded a European Space Agency (ESA) contract to develop technology that turns lunar rock into oxygen and building materials, which could enable astronauts to set up a base on the moon.

The process, which involves reducing the metal oxides found on the moon's surface to produce pure oxygen, metals and alloys, could provide astronauts with a way to generate oxygen and materials that can be used for construction directly from the moon.

The project, titled The Metalysis FFC Process for Extra-Terrestrial Oxygen Production from ISRU, is being funded by the ESA and forms part of its Space Resources Strategy.

Metalysis' FFC process is an electrolytic technology that is able to extract the oxygen from metal oxides, resulting in pure metal and alloy powders.

The FFC process is based on a technology that was first developed at the UK's University of Cambridge by Derek Fray, Tom Farthing and George Chen in 1996 and 1997, and takes its name from the inventors' initials.

The FFC process has long been proven to work for the industrial-scale production of metals and recent studies have demonstrated its potential application on lunar regolith – the layer of loose solid material that covers the moon.

Analyses of rocks brought back from the moon have shown that lunar regolith comprises 40 to 45 per cent oxygen by weight, which is chemically bound in the form of metal oxides.

A test using the FCC process on simulated lunar regolith, which was conducted in 2019, took a total of 50 hours to extract 96 per cent of the oxygen from the material.

As explained in an article by the ESA, the process involves placing the powdered regolith in a mesh-lined basket with molten calcium chloride salt, which acts as an electrolyte, before heating it to 950 degrees celsius – a temperature at which the regolith remains solid.

By passing a current through the material, the oxygen is extracted from the regolith and moves across the salt to be collected at an anode and stored for future usage.

Not only does the process produce oxygen, which could be used to provide astronauts with fuel and life support on the moon, but the mixed metal alloy by-product could be used as a building material for in-situ manufacturing.

Generating products with local materials in space – a practice called in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) – is important in significantly reducing the amount of material that is needed to be transported from Earth to the moon.

"The ability to extract oxygen on the moon is vital for future exploration and habitation, being essential for sustainable long duration activities in space," said the firm.

Other companies are also setting their sights on building bases on the moon. Architecture firm BIG and 3D-printed building company ICON are working on a project to create a 3D-printed infrastructure for living on the moon using materials found on its surface.

Working with Space Exploration Architecture and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the aim is to use a simulant of moon soil for the construction.

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Hugh Broughton Architects and Pearce+ are creating Martian House, an inflatable building in Bristol, England, that will explore what an extraterrestrial house for life on Mars could look like.

The house,  a collaboration with local artists as part of the ongoing art project Building a Martian House, is set over two levels, with the lower level designed to be built below the ground of the red planet.

The upper level will be made from a gold inflatable formwork, which is being developed by specialists Inflate.

On Mars it would be filled with regolith – Martian soil and rock – to reduce "cosmic and galactic radiation" although the team will have to settle for more terrestrial materials in Bristol.

"Inflate are still developing the designs, but it will likely be a ripstop nylon fabric with a gold coating externally," architects Hugh Broughton and Owen Pearce told Dezeen.

"The gold is important for dissipating heat into the thinner atmosphere on Mars. For future use on Mars, a new polymer might need to be developed that is light enough to be transported to the red planet."

"The regolith within is set using biological solidification – the regolith becomes bonded using microbes and forms essentially Martian concrete. The inflatable formwork remains as a seal and final surface."

Although it will be displayed above ground, Martian House's lower level will be designed to be fully buried to maximise protection, and would likely be made of reused rocket components.

"On Mars, it would occupy one of the maze of lava tubes which run beneath the Martian surface," the architects explained.

"The life support systems would be reused from spacecraft manufactured on Earth to ensure quality control."

Inside, the architects envisioned the house would feature a hydroponic living room filled with decorative plants that could feed into a circular wastewater system that is currently being developed with Hydrock.

Hugh Broughton Architects is used to creating designs for challenging environments, as it has previously worked on projects including a research station in Antarctica, and both it and Pearce+ have experience of designing for space.

"Whether working on these extraterrestrial projects or in the polar regions, there are are many similarities in approach," said the designers.

"We need to make ergonomic space in the least volume possible; minimise the impact on the environment through the application of technology to reduce waste, energy consumption and water demand; protect the crew from the hostile external environment, whether that's wind-driven ice or solar radiation, and consider the well-being of the crew, isolated from home for many months, even years, at a time," they added.

Martian House, which will be installed in Bristol for five months in 2022, was conceived by local artists Ella Good and Nicki Kent.

They have brought together experts, including scientists and engineers, as well as the general public to create new visions for life on Earth and on Mars.

IKEA also looked at living conditions on Mars when it redesigned the living pod on the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, US, while BIG is working with NASA to develop 3D-printed buildings for the moon.

Martian House will be on show outside the M Shed museum in Bristol from April 2022 to August 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

Project credits:

Architects: Hugh Broughton Architects and Pearce+
Artists: Ella Good and Nicki Kent
Science advisors: Professor Lucy Berthoud, Dr Robert Myhill, Dr James Norman, University of Bristol
Museum partner: M Shed
Structural engineer: Buro Happold
M&E engineer: Hydrock
Quantity surveyor: MDA Consulting
Inflatable specialists: Inflate and Airclad
Visualisations: Hugh Broughton Architects and Pearce+
Funding: The Edward Marshall Trust

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BIG and 3D-printed building company ICON have revealed they are working on Project Olympus, which aims to develop robotic construction for the moon.

The architecture firm and SEArch+ (Space Exploration Architecture) were enlisted for the project by ICON after it received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) government contract boosted with funding from NASA.

Called Project Olympus, it aims to develop a way to create a 3D-printed infrastructure for living on the moon using materials found on its surface.

"With ICON we are pioneering new frontiers – both materially, technologically and environmentally," said BIG founder Bjarke Ingels.

"To explain the power of architecture, 'formgiving' is the Danish word for design, which literally means to give form to that which has not yet been given form," Ingels added.

"This becomes fundamentally clear when we venture beyond Earth and begin to imagine how we are going to build and live on entirely new worlds."

Working with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the team will use a simulant of moon soil to investigate a 3D-printable construction.

While other projects have suggested inflatables or metal structures, Project Olympus is intended to create a robust construction suited to the environment on the moon. The team said that by using 3D-printing and local materials it will also be more sustainable and reduce waste.

"We have explored various building forms ideal for containing atmospheric pressure and optimised for protection from cosmic and solar radiation. "

"The habitat will be designed with the inherent redundancy required for extraterrestrial buildings, while also using groundbreaking robotic construction that uses only in-situ resources with zero waste left behind."

In time, Project Olympus could also offer a more sustainable example for building on earth, according to the team.

"3D printing with indigenous materials is a sustainable and versatile solution to off-world construction that will prove to be vital to our future here on Earth and in Outer Space," SEArch+ added.

"With the technologies and efficiency parameters developed for the construction of extraterrestrial buildings, Project Olympus will also help us to build sustainably on planet Earth as we strive to reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment," said BIG partner Martin Voelkle.

ICON received the government grant for off-Earth exploration after working to develop more sustainable construction using 3D-printing robotics, software and advanced materials. In 2018, it completed its first 3D-printed home in the US and has recently started construction on "the world's first 3D printed community of homes" in Mexico.

It selected BIG, which has previously designed a simulation of Mars called Mars Science City in Dubai, and SEArch+, for Project Olympus.

"Building humanity's first home on another world will be the most ambitious construction project in human history and will push science, engineering, technology, and architecture to literal new heights," said ICON Co-founder Jason Ballard.

The project forms part of NASA's commitment to exploring life on the moon, which includes the Artemis program to place the first woman and next man on the astronomical body in 2024. Earlier this year, NASA named Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, Elon Musk's SpaceX and Alabama-based Dynetics as the three teams to develop vehicles for the planned landing.

The space agency also ran the 3D-printed Habitat Challenge, which tasked architects and designers to conceive 3D-printed homes for deep space.

A number of architecture firms are also exploring building on the moon.

Last year, SOM revealed it had teamed up with the European Space Agency (ESA) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to design the inflatable Moon Village as "the first permanent human settlement on the lunar surface".

In 2017, British firm Foster + Partners unveiled a proposal to 3D print buildings on the astronomical body. More recently, a collection of projects visualised life on the moon for the competition Moontopia.

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Virgin Galactic has revealed the interior cabin of its SpaceshipTwo craft, designed in collaboration with London studio Seymourpowell to provide "safety without distraction".

The craft, dubbed the Virgin Spaceship Unity (VSS Unity), will be designed to take six passengers on a sub-orbital flight into space to view the Earth and experience several minutes of weightlessness at $250,000 per seat. Sub-orbital spaceships don't have the power to achieve and remain in orbit, but instead fly up to a certain height before coming back down.

Designed to prioritise the view of the Earth from space, the VSS Unity cabin concept is lined with 12 large, porthole-style windows, six of which are positioned directly next to the individual passenger seats.

The cabin interior is complemented by icy hues of white, silver and teal, intended to be reflective of space itself and the Earth below.

Virgin Galactic and Seymourpowell aimed to create an interior design that would "drive the excitement and anticipation of what's in store", without making the experience overwhelming.

The cabin is lined with a lightweight foam with a honeycomb structure, which optimises both the thermal and acoustic qualities of the interior as well as providing a soft touch while passengers traverse the space during their zero-gravity experience.

Each window is bordered by a soft, circular "halo" which both frames the views and acts as hand and footholds for astronauts when weightlessly moving around.

A large, circular mirror fills the back section of the cabin, also known as the aft bulkhead, to further enhance the zero-gravity experience by allowing passengers to view themselves as they float around.

"While it has been created to integrate seamlessly with every other aspect of the Virgin Galactic astronaut journey – the cabin is also the design centrepiece; providing safety without distraction, quietly absorbing periods of sensory intensity and offering each astronaut a level of intimacy required for personal discovery and transformation," the design team explained.

Each of the six passenger seats cantilever from the sides of the walls, opening up space in the lower part of the cabin. The interior can also be adapted to accommodate research payloads instead of space tourists.

The seats – which include two additional crew seats in the cockpit– are individually sized to fit each passenger's body measurements.

Made from aluminium and carbon fibre, with engineered foam and technical fabric finishings, the seat is covered with a 3D-knitted sleeve developed by US sportswear brand Under Armour, which simultaneously offers optimum comfort while indicating a sense of "performance and agility".

Described by Virgin Galactic design director Jeremy Brown as the craft's "iconic" feature, these seats are woven with the same frosty hues featured across the rest of the interior.

These colours were chosen to evoke both the "celestial spaces" above and the ocean below, while golden metallic detailing recalls "luminous" desert sands. These shades complement the astronaut spacesuits, also designed by Under Armour.

The seats are equipped with a pilot-controlled recline mechanism, which places passengers in the best position to manage gravitational forces without detracting from "the thrill of the ride", as well as freeing up the surrounding cabin space to act as a "float zone" when in zero gravity.

Each space tourist also has their own personal digital display within the seat-backs showing them live flight data including speed, gravity and remaining boost time of the flight.

Virgin Galactic and Seymourpowell also incorporated mood lighting into the interior, which sees multi-colour LEDs hidden within the window "halos" illuminate in colours that reflect each stage of flight: with calming tones used on the journey to release altitude, or more vibrant colours during the rocket-boost phase.

This mood lighting is then turned off completely while in space, bringing focus to the views of Earth.

Sixteen cabin cameras, plus several in the cockpit and mounted externally, are also embedded to capture the experience in high definition, ridding space tourists of the need to bring their own cameras and recording devices.

Based in London, Seymourpowell is an industrial design studio founded by Richard Seymour and Dick Powell in 1984.

The SpaceshipTwo cabin was unveiled during a YouTube live-stream on 28 July. An augmented reality mobile app was also launched after the event, which enables people to view the cabin in 360 degrees through their device.

Virgin Galactic completed the first successful supersonic, rocket-powered flight of its SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity prototype in April 2018.

Last year the company also revealed the desert-inspired interiors of its Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space building in New Mexico, USA, which which can be used by Virgin Galactic staff and tourists travelling beyond the earth's atmosphere.

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The United States Space Force has unveiled a black and silver logo, following an earlier design released by president Donald Trump that proved controversial.

Revealed 22 July, the logo comprises a delta symbol with a silver border intended to represent defence against "adversaries and threats emanating from the space domain". It encloses a black centre indicative of deep space.

Four grey bevelled elements break up the black centre to symbolise the four armed forces the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps, which will support the space mission. They encase the star Polaris, also known as the North Star.

Trump released a logo design in January 2020 on Twitter based on the delta symbol, just one month after the Space Force military branch was created. This design composed a circular seal around an arrow-shaped spaceship and a white swoosh with a universe backdrop.

The design was met with criticism on social from design figures including Pentagram partner Michael Bierut and UK graphic-design studio MHD. Others likened the design to the Star Fleet logo from the cult TV show Star Trek.

At the time, Space Force officials defended the logo in a statement posted on Facebook, highlighting the historic use of the delta symbol in the US armed forces.

"The delta symbol, the central design element in the seal, was first used as early as 1942 by the US Army Air Forces; and was used in early Air Force space organization emblems dating back to 1961," it said.

"Since then, the delta symbol has been a prominent feature in military space community emblems."

In addition to the new logo, the US Space Force has also unveiled its motto as Sempa Supra, which translates from Latin as Always Above.  "The logo and motto honor the heritage and history of the US Space Force," it said.

The US Space Force was established in December 2019 as part of a $738 billion (£564 billion) military spending bill passed by the US Congress. It is the first new US military branch to be introduced since the launch of the Air Force in 1947, and now forms part of the existing Air Force department.

The objective of the new force is to protect US and allied interests, including assets such as satellites, in space.

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NASA has compiled over 87,000 high-resolution images of the sun taken over the past decade from its Solar Dynamics Observatory to create an incredibly detailed time-lapse movie.

The video was released to mark the 10th anniversary of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite, which has been photographing the sun from its orbit around the Earth since 2010.

To create the time lapse, NASA edited down the 425 million high-resolution images captured with its SDO by choosing one photo taken every hour from the satellite.

NASA's video condenses the past decade into a 61-minute-long video, with each second representing approximately one day.

The SDO takes an image of the sun every 0.75 seconds and has so far amassed 20,000,000 gigabytes of data on the star at the centre of the solar system. It takes images in 10 different wavelengths of light.

The time lapse shows the sun's outermost atmospheric layer, the corona. It was compiled using images taken at an extreme ultraviolet wavelength of 17.1 nanometers.

Although the SDO has been focused directly at the sun for the past decade, the video has some dark frames caused by the Earth or the moon passing between the satellite and the sun.

The video also has a dark spot when there was a week-long issue with the camera in 2016. At some moments in the video the sun moves off centre, this is due to the SDO calibrating its instruments.

The SDO was launched on 11 February 2010 and is part of NASA's Living With a Star program, which aims to understand the influence of the sun on the Earth.

NASA is currently planning a mission to the moon for 2024. The space organisation recently named Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, Elon Musk's SpaceX and Alabama-based Dynetics as the three teams that will develop vehicles for the mission.

Project credits:

Lead producer: Scott Wiessinger (USRA)
Lead data visualiser: Tom Bridgman (GST)
Lead science writer: Mara Johnson-Groh (Wyle Information Systems)
Project support: Robert C. Garner (USRA)

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Transport design studio PriestmanGoode has developed a concept for a high-performance balloon and pressurised capsule for Space Perspective to take space tourists on a "cruise" around the stratosphere.

Designed for American space tourism startup Space Perspective, the two-part spaceship is comprised of a four-metre-tall and five-metre-wide pressurised pod shaped like a spinning top, which is attached to a giant high-altitude balloon.

The Neptune craft will take up to eight "explorers" and a suite of research payloads on a six-hour journey to the upper edge of earth's atmosphere.

Described by Space Perspective co-founder Taber MacCallum as "off-world yet classic", PriestmanGoode's capsule design features floor-to-ceiling windows to grant space tourists a panoramic viewing experience.

"The design of the capsule is a critical component of providing our explorers the inspirational experience that astronauts describe of seeing our Earth in space," added co-founder Jane Poynter.

The journey would see a pilot launch from the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to fly passengers on a two-hour ascent above 99 per cent of the earth's atmosphere to 100,000 feet (around 30,000 metres).

Here it will "cruise" above the earth for up to two hours, to enable voyagers to take in the view and record the experience.

The craft will then embark on a two-hour descent under the balloon before landing in the Atlantic ocean, where a ship will collect the passengers, the capsule and the balloon and transport them back to land.

In 2013, Space Perspective's two founders were involved in a similar initiative to take passengers to the edge of space in a balloon-like vessel, also designed by PriestmanGoode.

Although these journeys didn't happen, the company has scheduled Neptune's first test flight to take place in early 2021, without any passengers, but with a group of research payloads onboard.

The Neptune spaceship has been designed "from the inside out", with passenger experience at the forefront of the design, said PriestmanGoode co-founder Nigel Goode.

"[Neptune] is the culmination of a long-term collaboration that has resulted in the only spaceship that is designed with the human experience at its core and will pave the way for the future of commercial space travel," he said.

"Our starting point was the passenger experience," he continued. "We looked at all the different elements that would make the experience not just memorable, but truly comfortable as well and included essentials for a journey of six hours, like a lavatory."

According to Goode, the design team wanted to ensure that travellers had access to unobstructed, 360-degree views, as well as having an efficient space that they could move around during the journey.

"We needed to minimise weight and create a highly functional environment for the pilot," Goode added. "All these elements guided the shape of the final capsule."

Space Perspective is just one of many initiatives hoping to send members of the public into space. The Gateway Foundation is designing the world's first commercial space hotel in a bid to make space accessible to everyone.

Called the Von Braun Space Station, the hotel will consist of a 190-metre-diameter wheel that will rotate to create a gravitational force similar to that felt on the moon.

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NASA will use the Danne & Blackburn-designed "worm" logo for the first time since 1992, while its astronauts will debut SpaceX spacesuits when the Demo-2 flight to the International Space Station launches tomorrow.

The astronauts will be carried aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft, marking the first time that astronauts will travel to the orbiting International Space Station aboard a commercially built and operated American rocket. It is also the first astronaut launch from US soil since 2011.

To mark the occasion NASA has brought the curving red wordmark, nicknamed "the worm", which was created by Danne & Blackburn in the 1970s out of retirement. The logo was phased out in favour of the original 1950s "meatball" design in 1992.

"The worm is back," said NASA. "And just in time to mark the return of human spaceflight on American rockets from American soil."

"The retro, modern design of the agency's logo will help capture the excitement of a new, modern era of human spaceflight on the side of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle that will ferry astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the Demo-2 flight."

The SpaceX Demo-2 test flight will send two veteran NASA astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, from the Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station (ISS).

Originally planned for 27 May, the launch "was scrubbed due to unfavorable weather conditions" and rescheduled for liftoff at 3:22pm EST (8:22pm UK time) on Saturday 30 May. Behnken and Hurley are expected to dock at the space station at 10:29am on Sunday 31 May.

The worm will also decorate the front of the SpaceX-designed suits Behnken and Hurley will wear for the mission.

As shown in the dress rehearsal on 23 May, these will be white with grey contrast panels and piping, and detailed with an American flag on the right shoulder, alongside the astronaut's name.

The suit is completed with a 3D-printed helmet, touchscreen-compatible gloves, a flame-resistant outer layer and offers hearing protection during ascent and reentry.

Elon Musk, who also founded Tesla, established SpaceX – short for Space Exploration Technologies Corporation – in 2002, with the goals of enabling Mars colonisation and reducing space travel costs.

The company was selected along with Boeing to develop a domestic vehicle that could launch astronauts from American soil, as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The last flight from USA took place in 2011 and NASA has been sending crew from Russia since.

"This test flight is a pivotal point in NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which is working with the US aerospace industry to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil to the space station for the first time since 2011," explained NASA.

Tomorrow's planned demo flight follows the Crew Dragon Demo-1 test flight last year, which saw an unmanned craft sent to the ISS.

Behnken and Hurley are now expected to spend a few months in the ISS with NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagne. NASA believes the time could provide useful research in an eventual goal to send humans to the Moon and Mars.

"The goal of the Commercial Crew Program is to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station. This could allow for additional research time and increase the opportunity for discovery aboard humanity's testbed for exploration, including preparation for human exploration of the Moon and Mars."

This mission follows the SpaceX Demo-1 flight, which saw an unmanned Crew Dragon sent to the station. It makes a major step forwarded for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, established to develop a domestic vehicle that could launch astronauts from American soil.

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NASA has named Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, Elon Musk's SpaceX and Alabama-based Dynetics as the three teams that will develop vehicles for its planned moon landing in 2024.

Each of the three teams will spend the next 10 months designing and developing their human landing systems (HLS) to be used for NASA's Artemis program, which aims to place the first woman and next man on the moon in four years time.

"With these contract awards, America is moving forward with the final step needed to land astronauts on the Moon by 2024, including the incredible moment when we will see the first woman set foot on the lunar surface," said NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine.

"This is the first time since the Apollo era that NASA has direct funding for a human landing system, and now we have companies on contract to do the work for the Artemis program."

At the end of the 10-month period the moon landers being designed by Blue Origin, SpaceX and Dynetics will be evaluated by NASA, with the preferred designs being chosen to perform initial demonstration missions.

A final decision on the company and design that will be used to make the moon landing will be made after the initial demonstrations take place.

Each of the three companies has taken a significantly different approach to the design of their moon-landing vehicle.

Elon Musk's company SpaceX has designed a lander called Starship. It is a is a fully reusable launch and landing system that will be carried from the earth on SpaceX's Super Heavy rocket booster.

Blue Origin, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, is developing a three-stage Integrated Lander Vehicle (ILV), which has decent, ascent and transfer modules. It will be launched on either its New Glenn rocket system or the ULA Vulcan.

The Dynetics Human Landing System is Alabama-based technology company Dynetics' offering. This single structure has a low-slung crew module to allow for easier boarding from the craft. It will also be launched on the ULA Vulcan launch system.

"I am confident in NASA's partnership with these companies to help achieve the Artemis mission and develop the human landing system returning us to the Moon," said Lisa Watson-Morgan, human landing systems program manager for NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center.

"We have a history of proven lunar technical expertise and capabilities at Marshall and across NASA that will pave the way for our efforts to quickly and safely land humans on the Moon in 2024."

NASA is using the 2024 moon landing mission as preparation for a future mission to land on Mars. Architect and designers have been working with NASA to envision how people could live on the Red planet.

Other designs for Mars include architect Stefano Boeri proposal for a dome-covered Mars colony with "vertical forests" and Malaysian designers Warith Zaki and Amir Amzar settlement made from locally grown bamboo.

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Alternative architecture event Turncoats has returned for a final season, and Dezeen is giving away five pairs of tickets for its debate on space.

This competition has now closed. 

Following a sold-out first debate last month on nuclear housing, Lost in Space will be held at St John's Hoxton on 7 February.

Each night takes a provocative question and invites its panellists to argue for or against it with both barrels – before switching sides.

Theatrical opening acts set the tone for an unconventional night, which host Phineas Harper. said is like "stabbing a syringe of adrenaline into the fleshy tissue of architectural discourse and pressing down hard".

Everything is off the record and the audience's phones are sealed in bags before it starts.

"Turncoats is an experiment, a test, a shot in the dark, a hunch that most panel debates are too dry, too polite and ultimately too dull to cut through the noise in this critical time," said Harper, who is also a Turncoats co-founder and Dezeen columnist.

"We've all sat in painfully dreary lecture theatres watching panels of similar people with similar ideas gently buffing each other's egos while jamming biros into our legs just to stay awake," he added.

"Turncoats is for anyone who craves public debate with some kick, humour and the occasional dram of vodka – to grapple with really serious ideas, sometimes you need to lighten up."

After a ritual roasting by Harper, the panel of experts will take turns to argue the pros and cons of humankind's continued exploration of space.

Will missions to Mars see people building homes on alien planets, or should design focus on solving issues here on earth?

Arguing to ditch the rockets to the moon are Tosin Thompson and Imani Jacqueline Brown. Thompson is an actor and writer for the New Humanist, the Guardian and the New Statesman. Jacqueline Brown is an artist, activist, researcher, and writer from New Orleans.

In the pro-Space corner are Xavier De Kestelier and Steve Austen-Brown. De Kestelier is head of design technology and innovation at Hassell and has led several Foster + Partners projects on space exploration. Austen-Brown is creative director of Avantgarde UK and is working on the space-themed UK pavilion at the 2020 Dubai Expo.

Rory Hyde, curator of contemporary architecture and urbanism at the V&A, will chair the debate. Comedian Darren Walsh will open the event.

Harper, who is the Architecture Foundation deputy director, established Turncoats with the former director of Studio Weave Maria Smith and architecture professor Robert Mull.

Competition closes 7 February 2020. Five winners will be selected at random and notified by email.

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Science, aeronautics and NASA inspired the Very Polite Agency's packaging design for ALT, a liquid cannabis product for people who want a mind-expanding rather than purely medicinal high.

The Canadian creative agency worked on every aspect of the brand identity with the ALT founders, including the name.

"ALT" is a play on the words "altitude" and "altered state" that eventually evolved into an acronym — Advanced Liquid Technologies.

The product has a couple of unique selling points: it is liquid in form, and it promises a controlled but deep high that, according to the brand, opens up neural pathways and gives users a chance to see things differently.

Very Polite saw a potential market among people interested in self-improvement based on scientific approaches, and they designed the packaging accordingly.

"ALT was rooted in scientific development, which we found interesting in a space where cannabis often has an 'organic' or 'granola' association, both in aesthetic and overall tone," Very Polite partner and head of creative Dylan Rekert told Dezeen.

"We wanted to pull from the science element without it feeling pharmaceutical. We had to find a way to make it work, and to us that came in the idea of performance."

This brought Very Polite to the aeronautical and moon-landing theme — not only was it scientific, it conjured associations with human aspiration and achievement that seemed right for ALT.

At the same time, the overall effect had to suit the demographic by being discrete and refined — "something they would have no issue displaying on their coffee table", according to Rekert.

They took their visual cues from NASA, incorporating a minimal black, white and silver colour palette with dashes of red.

The visual identity pairs navigational elements such as crosshairs and GPS coordinates with lean, sans serif typography.

When it came to the packaging design, space food was a major reference; ALT comes vacuum-sealed in silver foil, looking like a luxury version of the meals astronauts get on voyages.

The box within contains five resealable vials of ALT, with dosage levels clearly labelled.

The product comes in either a "functional micro-dose" version with five milligrams of THC per vial or a "deeper expression" with 10 milligrams of THC per vial.

ALT's approach is in contrast to other new premium cannabis companies such as Dosist and Standard Dose, which have tried to associate themselves with wellness.

It is also a departure from the jokey or kitschy branding that still dominates in the sector.

"Ultimately, the cannabis industry is a pun-filled market we didn't want to fall into," said Rekert.

"What we created was a strong, aspirational concept that approached 'getting high' from a different perspective, and the idea of doing something to expand potential for yourself," he continued.

"The same way meditation has gone from a 'hippy' thing to a widely socially accepted and integrated practice, using ALT is a form of modern connectivity, evolved from the perception of simply 'getting high'," he said.

"It can be a cerebral drug, with the right dosage, expanding the mind intentionally."

ALT will be available to buy in North America, which has seen an explosion in cannabis-related products and technologies since US states began legalising recreational marijuana use in 2012.

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The first images taken by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) latest solar telescope show the cell-like structures "the size of Texas" that cover the sun's surface.

The snapshots show a pattern of "turbulent boiling plasma" that covers the whole of the sun's surface.

According to the NFA, each of the cell-like structures depicted are approximately the size of Texas, and are a sign of "violent" motions that transport heat from the inside of the sun to its surface.

This process, known as convection, sees the hot solar plasma rise to form the bright centres of the cells before cooling off and sinking below the surface, creating dark "lanes".

The images have been captured using the NSF's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii – the world's largest solar telescope.

It combines a four-meter mirror with "unparalleled viewing conditions" atop the 10,000-foot Haleakala mountain in Maui, Hawaii.

Used for the first time, the telescope captured the highest resolution images ever taken of the sun's surface. Scientists hope this will help them better understand the sun's activity, known as space weather, and its impact on the earth.

More specifically, scientists hope the newly revealed details will allow them to determine what causes the sun to release powerful flares out into space.

These are potentially harmful to air travel, satellite communications and can bring down power grids, causing long-lasting blackouts and disabling technologies such as GPS.

Having access to more detailed images of the sun's surface will help governments better prepare for future space weather events by notifying them of potential impacts as much as 48 hours ahead of time, instead of the current standard of around 48 minutes.

"NSF's Inouye Solar Telescope will be able to map the magnetic fields within the Sun's corona, where solar eruptions occur that can impact life on Earth," said France Córdova, NSF director.

"This telescope will improve our understanding of what drives space weather and ultimately help forecasters better predict solar storms," she added.

The Inouye Solar Telescope was built by NSF's National Solar Observatory and managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA).

It generates 13 kilowatts of solar power and heat from its main, four-metre mirror, and therefore requires a specialised cooling system to dispel this heat.

The dome that surrounds the telescope is covered in thin cooling plates that work to stabilise the temperature around the telescope.

The mirror's "off-axis" placement reduces bright, scattered light to obtain clearer views.

According to David Boboltz, program director in NSF's division of astronomical sciences, the telescope's first images are "just the beginning".

"Over the next six months, the Inouye telescope's team of scientists, engineers and technicians will continue testing and commissioning the telescope to make it ready for use by the international solar scientific community," said Boboltz.

"The Inouye Solar Telescope will collect more information about our Sun during the first five years of its lifetime than all the solar data gathered since Galileo first pointed a telescope at the Sun in 1612," he added.

Scientists were also experimenting with solar geoengineering back in December 2018 in a bid to dim the sun, using a process that replicates the climate-cooling effect of volcanic eruptions.

The experiment, which was set to take place in early 2019, saw calcium carbonate particles injected high above the earth in an attempt to reflect some of the sun's rays back into space.

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