Designing habitation for long duration missions has many challenges including: maintaining physical health, psychological health, operational functions and many more. This thesis is an exploration between the physical habitat design and psychological function of crew members. Its focus is on the visual elements implemented into the spaces, and integration of environmental features that can enhance the mental wellbeing of astronauts. The study examined and analyzed previous research done in analog missions on the effects of long duration missions on humans. While previous research looked at the effects of the mission on humans very little addresses the design of the habitats as a cause for the stressors. This psychological research was synthesized with research done on current transit habitat designs. The focus was on optimizing the transit spaces but often overlooked strategies to minimize psychological stressors.

From the two research studies there are four design attributes that are being proposed to mitigate the psychological stressors in long duration missions. The recommendations aim to improve the quality of life for astronauts by mimicking earth’s key conditions needed to regulate the astronaut’s mental wellbeing. Lighting, virtual windows and skylights, display screens and open spaces all can be implemented i a variety of mission scenarios. The goal is to ultimately optimize the psychological wellbeing of astronauts in the in-transit period of the long duration of missions to ensure success of their missions.

UNIT represents a pivotal advancement in lunar exploration infrastructure. Designed as an inflatable tower, it serves as a key component to a larger communication network intended to address the issues of power, illumination, and communication latency. The concept of the tower is to allow for rapid deployment as well as segmented inflation for scalability and flexibility. It supports deployments of equipment that will be necessary for permanent settlement, including solar panels for emergency and network power, a communication antenna and illumination device. The tower supports future operations for Artemis mission's LunaNet; UNIT can seamlessly integrate into the large-scale communication system. The design of UNIT involves a core load integrated with a rigid structural element at the tower's base. This is coupled with a pulley system, ranging the length of the tower, which stabilizes the structure throughout the deployment process. The tower starts by deploying from the base and then moves up the tower in sections. There is a toroidal tank that sits at the base of the tower that distributes the stored air evenly allowing for consistent pressure, ensuring full stability and structural integrity. The tower will be built using materials best for inflation integrated with various 3D printed parts. Should the tower make it to the prototyping stage the design, structure and inflation will all be evaluated through a series of verification tests such as pressure test, shake table test and stabilization test. UNIT is a versatile infrastructure element for lunar exploration and a significant step towards creating a sustainable human presence on the Moon. By learning from its applications on the Moon, the tower is a steppingstone for the future Mars. The team hopes that the tower will successfully be deployed and operated for any necessary operations. In the ever-changing landscape, this tower can be utilized in many ways to help create a long-lasting human presence on the Moon and Mars no matter the goal.

The extraction of lunar resources will not only catalyze the growth of commercial enterprises on the moon, such as mining, processing, and transportation, but will also be crucial to sustaining a long-term human presence. The base will provide commercial partners with the operational support to develop on the Moon, and their development will facilitate increased Earth investment. Creating a Sustainable Lunar Base: A lunar base will be dependent on Earth resupply particularly through the first phases of the project where resource independence will be unattainable. This means a sustained human presence on the moon must be driven by its economic sustainability. The creation of a stable lunar economy will be driven by production of lunar resources and partnerships with Earth-based industries.

The quest to harness space radiation for energy generation has presented a dynamic understanding of sustainable power generation. This abstract explores the complex and promising landscape of space radiation capturing technologies. Examining the various dimensions, opportunities, and challenges inherent in this idea. The integration of radiation capturing for habitation, exploration and flight is a crucial step towards addressing the growing energy needs in extreme environments. However, this journey is filled with intricacies and potential risks, encompassing health hazards, equipment reliability, cost complexities, regulatory compliance, and environmental impact, mandating meticulous examination and mitigation strategies. Understanding the fundamentals of radiation and its importance for mitigation is just the first step in the future of space radiation harvesting. With the recent discovery of potential kinetic energy in radiation particles, this allows for implementation of new apparatus to capture the energy. Acknowledging existing mitigation methods and refining radiation capturing techniques is important to maximize energy efficiency while protecting humans in space. As scientific and technological advancements develop the sophistication and efficiency of these technologies are likely to witness significant enhancement to propel space radiation harvesting at the forefront of the industry.