Scientists Design Lightweight SpaceHouse

Scientists Design Lightweight SpaceHouse
A new scientific station in the icy wastes near the Antarctic coast may be based on the design of capsules that orbit the Earth with astronauts inside, the European Space Agency (ESA) says.

Creating housing near the South Pole involves similar difficulties to space travel. Waste has to be retained it cannot be ejected to rot. The building must not only withstand extreme cold, but also ride to the top of the ice as fallen snow accumulates year by year.

The new German Antarctic station, Neumayer-III, has to meet stringent rules to protect the Antarctic environment.

The Alfred Wegener Institute, which is building it, saw the initial design of the "ESA SpaceHouse" in 2001 and wanted one too.

The two bodies did further work on the design and unveiled it at the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research in Bremen.

The idea of designing a SpaceHouse for use on Earth was actually born five years ago, after a huge earthquake wrecked Izmit, Turkey in 1999.

"We started wondering whether some of our advanced technologies for space could provide completely earthquake-safe housing", said Fritz Gampe of ESA's technology transfer programme.

The team tried out carbon-fibre-reinf orced plastic (CFRP) composites. Ultra-light CFRP is used in space to make large self-sustained structures such as antennas and solar panels. On ear