This futuristic space habitat is designed to self-assemble in orbit
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/09/1096097/this-futuristic-space-habitat-is-designed-to-self-assemble-in-orbit/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=tr_social&utm_campaign=site_visitor.unpaid.engagement
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**From the article:**
More people are traveling to space, but the International Space Station can only hold 11 people at a time. The Aurelia Institute, a nonprofit space architecture lab based in Cambridge, MA, has an approach that may help: a habitat that can be launched in compact stacks of flat tiles and self-assemble in orbit.
Building large space habitats is difficult. Structural components, like walls, have to fit on a rocket. There’s often not enough room to launch everything in one go. It takes multiple launches to build larger structures, like the ISS, adding to the expense. Once all the components have made it to space, habitats must be constructed by humans, and that’s dangerous work.
“If you rely on a human to help you assemble something, they have to put on an extravehicular suit,” says Aurelia Institute CEO Ariel Ekblaw. “It’s risking their life. We’d love to have this done more safely in the future.”
Maybe we should work on returning our astronauts to earth first. Unless they were planning on rescuing them this way.