When you think about living in space, the Jetsons’ house is probably the first thing that comes to mind (well, that is if you’re of the generation that regularly watched the animated series). We’re basically imagining how we live on earth but transported to space so there may be some advanced technology things floating around. But the reality is that housing in outer space will probably be very different from how we live on our planet.
The Acromnia Orbital Hotel is a speculative concept design for how we may actually live in space and it is vastly different from what we’re probably imagining. Instead of just transporting a futuristic looking regular hotel room to space, this is actually a “room” that doesn’t have any furniture or any of the other trappings that we expect from it. Inside the shell (we can barely call it a room), you have a sort of shape-shifting, responsive material that will adapt to what the occupant needs at a certain time.
For example, when it’s sleeping time, the walls will envelop you, which is not so good news if you’re not a fan of closed spaces. In fact, the entire space has a bit of a claustrophobic look to it so it’s not something I’m looking forward to. There are also various buttons and navigation devices that you can use to control what elements and furniture will come out when you need them. The shell also has micropores that will let things like sound, light, scent, and air flow freely through your space.
The hotel room can exist independently as a hexahedron-shaped structure or it can also be put together to form a network of capsules. Living in space outside of space shuttles is still such a conceptual idea that things like this seem light years away for now. But for design companies and for those that are looking into space travel, it’s never too early to plan how we’re going to live and survive outside of Earth.
How many times have you heard “I just want to leave this planet for a while!” in the last two years? Very often, right? @sixnfive gives brings that sentiment to life with a collection of architectural renders called ‘What If?’ which is an ode to one of our greatest strengths – imagination. Imagination is a uniquely human ability to visualize unlimited possibilities starting with a simple question like “what if?” and the people who ask it often are the ones driving innovation. This collection explores the possible future move for mankind and probably what Musk has in mind through three elaborate acts
Act one: The Journey includes the meeting, the bedroom, and the dinner room. It represents our trip and the hope to arrive, but also the attachments of our mundane life, carrying memories of a previous reality. Act two: The settlements shows the Universe Edge, Summer House, and Landing Zone. It expresses our freedom to dream and imagine how our intergalactic holiday homes would look like. Act three: The Encounter, is based on human emotions of loving someone, missing someone and being guided. It is all about looking inward and looking from inside, the vestiges of our presence in an inhabited and quiet place.
It explores the perception of time, loneliness, and expectations but it also represents the hope to arrive. Yes, this is scientifically inaccurate but it expresses the freedom to dream and imagine via these zen visuals. Six N. Five is a contemporary studio working on advertising, editorial, and video commissions while finding time to create experimental work with CGI as a new medium for creative self-expression. Their refined imagination, poetic compositions, edgy minds, and sleek skills make the studio a hit amongst brands like Apple, Cartier, Cassina, Facebook, Givenchy, Ikea, Massimo Dutti, Microsoft, Nike, Samsung, Spotify, and many more!
The idea of venturing into space has been a human dream for a very long time, but it seems like our generation will be the first one to breach that barrier. Making the vastness of space accessible for humans, or at least those humans with the money to afford it, the California-based startup, Orbital Assembly Corporation, has designed a hotel that uses artificial gravity to keep the human’s grounded in the world’s first space hotel!
The concept of Artificial or Rotational Gravity is immensely explored in cult space-inspired movies like Interstellar, The Martian, Halo, Cowboy Bebop, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and even more. As we know it, gravity is caused by the attraction to the Earth, whereas artificial gravity is caused by acceleration or centrifugal force. Orbital Assembly Corporation, the group behind Voyager Station, has announced plans to begin building the hotel in low Earth orbit in 2025and the actual hotel will inhabit people in a near-lunar gravity. If all goes to plan, the interstellar resort project has the potential to be operational as soon as 2027 and will deploy the artificial gravity technology to keep the humans in earthly comfort with an otherworldly view of the Earth.
Speaking of luxury and earthly comforts, the hotel boasts a capacity of 400 people along with amenities like a cinema, a health spa, gyms, themed restaurants, libraries, and even concert venues. I personally expect a slew of space puns and cinema filled with space-themed movies to make the experience more ironic and even surreal. The hotel has 24 modules allocated for habitation, each module measuring 12 meters in diameter and 20 meters long. The total habitable surface is 500 square meters and is spread over three floors, of which 12 modules will be dedicated to hotel rooms and suites. There shall be 3 room types – 126 square meters of a luxury suite, 62 square meters of luxury rooms, and 30 square meters in a standard room.
Taking a step back and looking at the design in its entirety, John Blincow, founder of Gateway Foundation, which runs some of the Voyager’s pods, puts it clearly that, “This will be the next industrial revolution.” The Voyager Station will reportedly circle around the globe every 90 minutes, using the artificial gravity generated by the circle’s rotation. The rotational aspect is imperative as, without gravity, the entire luxury experience of living in space would be uncomfortable. OAC has on its hand plenty of expertise among its ranks, including NASA vets, engineers, and pilots. The company is hoping to start with sending a smaller scale prototype into orbit, 200 feet in diameter, which will spin fast enough to simulate the gravity of Mars. While OAC goes about finalizing its design, I am reaching out to the mechanical geniuses to create a TARS prototype and set its humor setting to 100% as for sure; I ‘do not want to go gentle into that good night’.
“With voyager station, we don’t want to have to develop any new technologies, we want it to be technologies that are already in hand, it’s just that we are applying them in new ways to get a structure and a facility like that,’ said Tom Spilker, CTO of orbital assembly.
“Our planned orbit and elevation for voyager station is 97 deg and 500-550 km,” said orbital assembly on a Twitter post. “This is a sun-synchronous polar orbit that will reduce thermal stress and allow for almost continuous solar power generation. there, orbit degradation and space debris risk will be nominal.”
OAC plans to sell portions of the hotel to permanent stakeholders, including government agencies, making it a great training center or even to private landlords who want a permanent vacation home up in space – attention Airbnb!
OAC is now officially open for private investors to purchase a stake in the company at $0.25 per share, until April 1, 2021.
The Voyager Station’s design is patterned after concepts designed by one of the main orchestrators of NASA’s Apollo program, Wernher von Braun.
Matching almost lunar gravity, the rotating resort will have functional toilets, showers, and allow jogging and jumping in fun and novel ways.
If realized, Voyager would become the biggest human-made structure in space, fully equipped to accommodate up to 400 people.
