Psychology of Space Exploration
72 db.^8 This is about like driving a car at 100 kilometers per hour (kph) with the
windows rolled down. By comparison, a living room on Earth would be about 45 db.
This is much too noisy for comfort over long durations. Such noise levels
degrade performance, communication, and satisfaction.^9 Another human factors
issue is spaciousness and privacy. Once the Space Shuttles became the primary
heavy-lift spacecraft for the United States, the size of their cargo bays became
the limiting factor for space hardware. Thus, the U.S. Destiny module on the
International Space Station is 4.3 meters in diameter and 8.5 meters long. All of
the other modules are similar. Fortunately, we are on the verge of having space
modules considerably larger in volume than those that existed on the Soviet
space station Mir or those currently on the International Space Station. These
are inflatable modules, such as NASA’s Transhab^10 and other structures based
on it, that are being privately developed by Bigelow Aerospace in Las Vegas,
Nevada. Bigelow’s Genesis I (launched 12 July 2006) and Genesis II (launched
28 June 2007)^11 are currently in orbit and functioning as planned. NASA can-
celed the Transhab program in 2000, but development work (based on NASA’s
efforts) continues at Bigelow Aerospace, and that is encouraging. The Genesis
modules are both prototype, proof-of-concept structures in flight at the present
time. Both models of Genesis were launched on Russian rockets and then inflated
in space. Having a crowded cabin on a spaceship transporting people to space is
no problem; after all, it is only a 100-mile trip. But living for extended periods
of months with little privacy and cramped quarters, while obviously tolerable (as
on the International Space Station), is not comfortable. The efforts of Bigelow
- H. A. Wichman, “Designing User-Friendly Civilian Spacecraft,” paper 95-604 in
Proceedings of the 6th International Space Conference of Pacific Basin Societies 91 (December
1995), available online at http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/designing_user_friendlycivilian
spacecraft.shtml (accessed 18 June 2007). - Paul A. Bell, Thomas C. Greene, Jeffrey D. Fisher, and Andrew Baum, Environmental
Psychology, 5th ed. (Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace, 2003). - K. Dismukes (curator), “Transhab Concept,” International Space Station History, http://
spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/station/transhab/ (accessed 3 July 2007). - E. Haakonstad, “Genesis II Different from Genesis I,” Out There, http://web.archive.org/
web/20070528014400/http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/out_there/genesis_II_difference.php
(accessed 3 July 2007).