Module 5 - Interior Design of the Space Colony
The interior of a space colony means the inside. The interior is important because this is what the people living the space colony will see and experience every day. It has to be comfortable and it must feel open enough that people don't go crazy from living in tiny spaces.
The interior of the space colony should probably look like a small city. Remember, people in this colony will be living in a circular or tube shape, so the width of the city will be pretty narrow, probably 400-700 meters across. A good design may be a central road or sidewalk and homes or businesses on either side of that road.
The slideshow below shows some professional and student designs of an interior of a space colony.
The interior of the space colony should probably look like a small city. Remember, people in this colony will be living in a circular or tube shape, so the width of the city will be pretty narrow, probably 400-700 meters across. A good design may be a central road or sidewalk and homes or businesses on either side of that road.
The slideshow below shows some professional and student designs of an interior of a space colony.
Interior Details
Notice how the interior in these pictures tries to match life on Earth. There are plants. There are buildings. There are windows in the space colony so people can see outside. People can walk around without space helmets because there is normal air inside to breathe.
LEVELS OF THE COLONY
In some colony designs, there may be many different levels, kind of like a house that has an upstairs or downstairs level. There may be different things on each level. Maybe on one level there would be the farms. On another all the houses. On another all the businesses. Or maybe you want to mix all those things together and just have multiple levels of the same things. Or maybe there is just one level and that's all. It's up to you.
ATMOSPHERE OF THE COLONY
The farms in the colony will play a major role in keeping a stable atmosphere. These plants can grow in space by performing photosynthesis. They will release oxygen into the atmosphere. Remember, on Earth, the atmosphere is made of 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. The remaining 1% is made up of carbon dioxide, water vapor and smaller gases like argon. It's up to you to decide which gases you space colony will use.
TRANSPORTATION
If your space colony is a small city in space, people are going to have to get around. How will they do this? Walking would be a good start. Bicycles would be another healthy tip that would allow people to get exercise. Cars would save time, but they also produce pollution. If you're trapped in a space colony, would you want pollution all over your small atmosphere? Doesn't sound too good, does it? So, maybe you use electric cars? Maybe you use Segways or scooters that run off electricity or solar energy. Whatever you use, it needs to be effective for getting around without creating pollution.
FARMS IN THE SPACE COLONY
In Module 2, we discussed how farms would be important to provide food, air and water. How many farms will you need on your space colony to support the people. A farm of 2 meters by 15 meters would provide enough food for about 10 people. That's an area of 30 square meters. Now you need to figure out how much for a whole colony. This will vary depending on how many people you have in your space colony. The types of food you grow on your farms will depend on the types of food people generally like and need to survive. Wheat, rice and corn are a must because they provide most of the food people eat around the world. Vegetables and fruits of different varieties would be good too.
GARBAGE AND WASTE
On average, Americans throw hundreds of pounds of garbage away every year. This is a problem on Earth where we have thousands of miles of space. In space though, you don't have a lot of space. What will you do to get rid of all the garbage? What about human waste that comes from the digestive process? Do you just shoot it into space, where it pollutes space? Do you burn it all up? Do you ship it back to Earth to let them take care of it? What do you do?
LEVELS OF THE COLONY
In some colony designs, there may be many different levels, kind of like a house that has an upstairs or downstairs level. There may be different things on each level. Maybe on one level there would be the farms. On another all the houses. On another all the businesses. Or maybe you want to mix all those things together and just have multiple levels of the same things. Or maybe there is just one level and that's all. It's up to you.
ATMOSPHERE OF THE COLONY
The farms in the colony will play a major role in keeping a stable atmosphere. These plants can grow in space by performing photosynthesis. They will release oxygen into the atmosphere. Remember, on Earth, the atmosphere is made of 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. The remaining 1% is made up of carbon dioxide, water vapor and smaller gases like argon. It's up to you to decide which gases you space colony will use.
TRANSPORTATION
If your space colony is a small city in space, people are going to have to get around. How will they do this? Walking would be a good start. Bicycles would be another healthy tip that would allow people to get exercise. Cars would save time, but they also produce pollution. If you're trapped in a space colony, would you want pollution all over your small atmosphere? Doesn't sound too good, does it? So, maybe you use electric cars? Maybe you use Segways or scooters that run off electricity or solar energy. Whatever you use, it needs to be effective for getting around without creating pollution.
FARMS IN THE SPACE COLONY
In Module 2, we discussed how farms would be important to provide food, air and water. How many farms will you need on your space colony to support the people. A farm of 2 meters by 15 meters would provide enough food for about 10 people. That's an area of 30 square meters. Now you need to figure out how much for a whole colony. This will vary depending on how many people you have in your space colony. The types of food you grow on your farms will depend on the types of food people generally like and need to survive. Wheat, rice and corn are a must because they provide most of the food people eat around the world. Vegetables and fruits of different varieties would be good too.
GARBAGE AND WASTE
On average, Americans throw hundreds of pounds of garbage away every year. This is a problem on Earth where we have thousands of miles of space. In space though, you don't have a lot of space. What will you do to get rid of all the garbage? What about human waste that comes from the digestive process? Do you just shoot it into space, where it pollutes space? Do you burn it all up? Do you ship it back to Earth to let them take care of it? What do you do?
