Habitation Module
Encyclopedia
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
was intended to be the Station's main living quarters designed with galley
Galley (kitchen)
The galley is the compartment of a ship, train or aircraft where food is cooked and prepared. It can also refer to a land based kitchen on a naval base or a particular formed household kitchen.-Ship's kitchen:...
, toilet
Toilet
A toilet is a sanitation fixture used primarily for the disposal of human excrement, often found in a small room referred to as a toilet/bathroom/lavatory...
, shower, sleep stations and medical facilities. About the size of a bus, the module was canceled after its pressurized hull was complete. If named and sent into space, the Habitation Module would have been berthed to Node 3, or Tranquility.
In order to accommodate more than three people on the ISS, a lifeboat craft other than a single Soyuz TMA
Soyuz spacecraft
Soyuz , Union) is a series of spacecraft initially designed for the Soviet space programme by the Korolyov Design Bureau in the 1960s, and still in service today...
would be needed and such a Crew Return Vehicle
Crew Return Vehicle
The Crew Return Vehicle , sometimes referred to as the Assured Crew Return Vehicle , is the proposed lifeboat or escape module for the International Space Station...
was not there at that time. Later in the project, budget constraints and delays to the space station due to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred on February 1, 2003, when shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in the death of all seven crew members...
caused it to be definitively canceled. On 14 February 2006 it was decided to recycle the Habitation Module for ground-based Life Support Research for future missions.
With the cancellation of the Habitation Module, sleeping places are now spread throughout the station. There are two in the Russian segment and four in the US segment. It is however not necessary to have a separate 'bunk' in space at all, many visitors just strap their sleeping bag to the wall of a module, get into it and sleep.
At various points in the design of the International Space Station, an inflatable TransHab
Transhab
TransHab was a concept pursued by NASA to develop the technology for expandable habitats inflated by air in space. Specifically, TransHab was intended as a replacement for the already existing rigid International Space Station crew Habitation Module. When deflated, inflatable modules provide an...
module with several times the space of the initial design was considered as an alternative to the Habitation module. Some engineers in Britain have also proposed a Habitation Extension Module
Habitation extension module
The Habitation Extension Modules are proposed British-built modules designed to connect to Node 3 of the International Space Station...
which could be attached to Node 3.
U.S. President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's 2011 budget contains money for extending the ISS and this could allow procuring a spinoff of the Habitation Module or an inflatable one, similar in concept to the TransHab, for the International Space Station.