An ESA-designed house that uses technology designed for space could become the basis of the new German Antarctic station, Neumayer-III. The new station has to meet stringent laws set up to protect the Antarctic environment, which is where the use of space technology comes in.
In 2001 the Alfred Wegener Institute that is responsible for polar and oceanic research, and the German Antarctic station, saw the initial design of the SpaceHouse and decided to join with ESA in developing a conceptual design for a polar house based on the SpaceHouse technologies. The design they came up with was presented at the 28th meeting of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research that took place in Bremen last month.
SpaceHouse
The idea of designing a 'SpaceHouse' for use on Earth was actually born five years ago, just after the large earthquake in Izmit, Turkey in 1999. “We started wondering whether some of our advanced technologies developed for space exploitation could provide completely earthquake-safe housing", says Fritz Gampe, Senior Technology Transfer Officer in ESA's Technology Transfer Programme (TTP).
"The initial objective was to use the same ultra-light CFRP (carbon-fibre-reinforced-plastic) composites that ESA uses onboard its spacecraft for large self-sustained structures, antennas and solar panels, to make a self-supporting lightweight shell-like structure able to withstand severe earthquakes. This approach is in sharp contrast to many contemporary design solutions that use ever more steel and concrete to withstand the induced forces."
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