Antarctic Living: A Space House for an Icy Land

[kai_25]

A new research station at the bottom of the world may give future Antarctica researchers some special treats, like the ability to live above ground and look out a window. <br /><br />German scientists are adapting a habitat designed by the European Space Agency (ESA) to replace the shifting, disappearing and aging Neumayer II Research Station, a pair of metal tubes buried amongst the snow of the Ekstrom Ice Shelf in Antarctica's Atka Bay. <br /><br />ESA's insect-like SpaceHouse habitat is designed to be nearly earthquake-proof to deal with shifting ice floes. It borrows materials and energy technologies originally developed for the agency's space missions. <br /><br />"We initially started with earthquakes," said SpaceHouse designer Fritz Gampe, a senior technology transfer officer with ESA's technology transfer design. "One of the critical points, is that the lower floor plus the legs form a rigid structure with the outer shell."<br /><br />Gampe told SPACE.com that ESA officials worked with the Alfred Wegener-Institute for Polar and Oceanic Research (AWI), which manages the Neumayer II station, on the initial circular design. The final version is still being drafted, he said.<br /><br />Covered in snow on an ice shelf about 656 feet (200 meters) thick, the Neumayer II station will be retired in 2007. The outpost is composed primarily of two, 295-foot (90-meter) cylinders that provide living, working and storage space.<br /><br />AWI researchers said snowdrifts have threatened to smother the station in recent years -- its two entry stairwells are all that appear above the icy surface -- and shifting ice has moved it from its intended location. <br /><br />The German government reportedly plans to allot 26 million Euros for the station's replacement, Neumayer III.<br /><br />A new icehouse<br /><br />ESA's original designs for a SpaceHouse-based Neumayer III call for a tough outer shell of extremely lightweight carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), used in spacecraft solar arrays

 

[newtonian]

kai_25 - Have they considered using windmills for power?<br /><br />I understand winds are very strong in Antarctica - especially along the coast. If I remember correctly, 100 mph is not rare on the coast.

 

[alokmohan]

Will they reseach on many subjects or it is a touring place?