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AIAA Space Architecture Technical Committee

By David Nixon IDSA, RIBA posted 08-09-2012 06:09 PM

  
The Space Architecture Technical Committee (SATC) of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the first formal organization of architects and industrial designers working in the aerospace field. The AIAA-SATC arranges aerospace architecture paper sessions at international space conferences, promotes research on aerospace architecture topics, assists students with space architecture projects and provides liaison between aerospace engineering, architecture and industrial design disciplines.

Over fifty years have passed since the birth of human spaceflight. In that time, hundreds of humans have visited Earth orbit as astronauts, politicians or fare-paying tourists. Twelve astronauts have been to the Moon and worked on its surface. A determined step towards the settlement of space has been taken with the International Space Station, the first important piece of architecture beyond Earth. Three nations have human spaceflight programs and several private companies are developing tourist spacecraft and orbiting hotels. AIAA-SATC members are involved in fields such as robotic rover and probe engineering, future space station design, Moon and Mars base design, launch facilities planning and construction, underwater and simulated weightlessness testing, and habitat design for extreme Earth environments. 

To find out more about the AIAA Space Architecture Technical Committee, please visit http://www.spacearchitect.org

February 2, 2013 . . . FOSTER + PARTNERS DESIGN 3-D PRINTED LUNAR BASE . . . The architectural office of Foster + Partners in London is reaching into space with a proposal for a lunar base design. It uses 3-D printing technology to fabricate a load-bearing dome to provide shielding against radiation and micrometeoroids on the lunar surface. Under the dome is an inflatable space habitat. To find out more, visit . . . http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Technology/Building_a_lunar_base_with_3D-printing/

August 31, 2012 . . . BEHAVIOR OF A YO-YO IN WEIGHTLESSNESS . . . A fascinating physics demonstration of what happens when you play around with a yo-yo in weightlessness is given by an astronaut on the International Space Station.
Have a look at . . . 
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=151353241
 
August 21, 2012 . . . ARE WE ALONE? . . . Or to put it another way, how much alien architecture may there be in the universe? Frank Drake, an American astronomer, came up with an equation in 1961 to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way. With new distant planets being discovered practically each day, the variables are changing and the number is . . what? To find out what, you can visit a new interactive feature on the BBC's website and tweak the numbers yourself if you dare . . . http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120821-how-many-alien-worlds-exist 

August 10, 2012 . . . CURIOSITY ON MARS . . . The spectacular landing of the car-sized Curiosity rover on Mars has vanished from the front pages of the world's newspapers but those interested in this fascinating mission can follow Curiosity's adventures on the Martian surface and see new photographs on an almost daily basis at Curiosity's own website . . . http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/

August 1, 2012 . . . AIAA SATC ON FACEBOOK . . . The Space Architecture Technical Committee of the AIAA is now on Facebook at . . . https://www.facebook.com/SpaceArchitect.org
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Theodore Wayne Hall
12-22-2013 03:33 AM

So, you want to be a Space Architect ...
See our brochure at http://www.SpaceArchitect.org/about-sa-org/contact/

Theodore Wayne Hall
08-25-2012 11:59 PM

Our next event will be the Robotic Technology and Space Architecture track at the AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) SPACE 2012 conference, September 11-13, at the Pasadena Convention Center. You can find more information at http://www.spacearchitect.org/pubs/AIAASpace2012/cfp.htm