* J-Pods & Flat-packed Habitats *
Once the technology of interplanetary travel has been figured out, the next problem is the habitats.
General habitat designs for a lunar base or an interplanetary colony are usually grandiose adventures into futurism set in some distant time or are cylindrical, pre-built landing platforms that fit into a rockets cargo bay. The latter requires that a rocket platform remain on the surface for the duration of the mission and would be very confining due to the internal cargo bay diameter and the amount of supplies and equipment needed to be carried.
This series of posts proposes a different design.
The second issue with planetary or lunar colonialism is supply / re-supply. A lander can only carry so much fuel, food, air, water and equipment and there needs to be a method to resupply the celestial base easily and efficiently.
This series of posts also addresses that issue, utilizing a similar design as used in the habitats. They are called J-Pods.
A third issue with early colonial bases is how much weight and space are you willing to utilize for construction purposes.
The first few flights to set up colonial bases will by necessity carry a great amount or air, water and food for the colonists’ survival. Taking up precious cargo space and launch weights with things such as heavy equipment for habitat construction is not an option. If the intention is to “build” a colony mounted on landers or something like the SpaceX Starship then the expense of keeping those platforms on the ground could become prohibitive.
A better design option is habitat construction without the need of heavy machinery and a re-useable re-supply vehicle that makes it easy to offload then returns for more supplies in a timely manner once emptied.
This next series of images addresses these issues.
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