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TheHabitation Module for theInternational Space Station (ISS) was intended to serve as the station's primary living quarters. About the size of a bus, it was designed to include agalley,toilet, shower, sleeping quarters, and medical facilities. Construction of the pressurized hull was completed, but the module was ultimately canceled before launch. If it had been flown, the module would have been berthed toTranquility.
Early ISS planning required a dedicated habitation module in order to support crews larger than three people. However, at the time, a second crew return vehicle was not yet available to supplement the singleSoyuz-TMA spacecraft. Budget constraints, along with schedule delays following theSpace ShuttleColumbia disaster in 2003, led to the module's cancellation. On 14 February 2006, NASA announced that the completed hull would be repurposed for ground-based life support research in preparation for future exploration missions.[1]
Many of the functions intended for the Habitation Module were later incorporated into other modules of the U.S. Orbital Segment. Four sleeping quarters were installed inside theHarmony module in 2007, while theTranquility module, added in 2010, houses a toilet, environmental control systems, life support systems, and exercise equipment. The Russian Orbital Segment also provides crew accommodations, with two sleeping quarters inZvezda and an additional one in theNauka module, added in 2021.
The Habitation Module was to contain four 3.2-cubic-meter (110 cu ft) crew quarters, each offering storage space and an integrated workstation. By comparison, the sleeping quarters inHarmony are smaller at 2.1 cubic meters (74 cu ft) and provide less storage, limited thermal control, and no dedicated workspace.[2]
Although individual bunks are not strictly necessary in microgravity, visiting astronauts typically secure sleeping bags to the wall of a module, experience dating back toSalyut 6 demonstrated the psychological benefits of private quarters during long-duration missions. Privacy is considered an important countermeasure for managing stress in the confined and isolated environment of spaceflight.[2]
During ISS development, NASA also studied the inflatableTransHab module, which would have offered several times more volume than the baseline Habitation Module. The concept was later revived with theBigelow Expandable Activity Module, delivered to the ISS in 2016 aboard aDragon cargo spacecraft for in-orbit testing. Engineers in the United Kingdom have also proposed a "Habitation Extension Module" that could be attached toTranquility.
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