Habitability In Space: Design For Microgravity

Spacecrafts are masterpieces of engineering solutions that enable life in the most hostile environment for human beings, the extraterrestrial environment. Nevertheless, world space agencies have reached in the past half century the skill to produce a permanent orbiting base, the International Space Station, for a crew of scientists-astronauts who spend up to three months aloft. The level of comfort is very far from what we usually consider a standard in our everyday life on Earth. From sleeping to eating, to simply going to the bathroom, living in microgravity in a confined environment is indeed very hard.The aim of this essays to highlight which main problems occur when living aloft and demonstrate how the industrial design discipline might concur into the projects of space missions in order to improve the astronauts wellbeing.