Construction

Following the Analog Astronaut Conference, the entire team took a well deserve break, a week without hammer, drill, construction adhesive, or paint in hand. Kai Staats was then in Washington D.C. to present to and participate in the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference while John Z. and Luna constructed a prototype sleeping pod.

In preparation for the installation of a new corrugated steel roof over the indoor Mars yard at SAM, Luna and Kai spent two days on a scissor lift (photo at top) removing the remaining aluminum framework that held the articulating roof panels across the two ridges. Next week the contractor arrives to install the new roof. With just three weeks remaining in construction at SAM until October, it is our intent to install insulation in the workshop (20 foot shipping container) and a mini-split air conditioning unit in the crew quarters (40 foot shipping container), and continue our work toward the hermetic seal of the expanded habitat.

Stay tuned for more!

By Luna Powell

Given feedback from Kai, Sean Gellenbeck, and Anastasiya Stepanova whom have collectively attended four habitat analogs (MDRS, HI-SEAS, SIRIUS, Devon Island), we determined that the team members staying in SAM will benefit from their own private space to sleep, decompress, and work. This may seem obvious, but there are analogs (and real-life environments) in which private space is not afforded such as lava tube and submarine analogs, and the International Space Station.

We narrowed our brainstorming and initial designs to an enclosed sleeping module. While Kai was attending conferences around the U.S. mid May to early June, John Z and I turned our attention to creating an enclosed, private sleeping quarters prototype for future SAM crew members. We drew it out, purchased the materials, and built the prototype.

The idea was simple: an enclosed, insulated, sturdy, module with personal storage, bed, ventilation, and plenty of privacy. There will be 4 placed at the end of the 40ft shipping container, stacked and arranged with a sufficient amount of storage space as well as a place to sit on top, to create a vertical component to the shared common space for reading, resting, or working with a laptop.

Using ecoboard, backerboard, 2x4s, insulation foam, a substantial application of construction adhesive, and a bit of trial and error, the prototype took shape. The box itself sits around 87″ long, 33″ wide, and 47″ tall granting the person inside plenty of room to lie down, sit up, move front to back and sleep comfortably.

The team still has a plethora of ideas about how to set up a fan system, close off the opening, insert shelving, and much more. But with the close of construction for the summer, these ideas will have to be addressed in October when everyone returns.

In the final days before the Analog Astronaut Conference 2022, hosted at Biosphere 2, the SAM construction and fabrication team worked tirelessly, from sunrise to sunset to get as much of SAM ready as possible for the more than 100 attendees. While most of the effort was on the task list for Phase II, some undertakings were temporary, a light treatment of a room or space to provide visitors a glimpse of what will come.

After several weeks research, locating vendors, confirming inventory, tracking and motivating shipment, Dick and Linda Staats (Kai’s parents) delivered 320 sq-ft of all natural, VOC-free cork flooring to SAM at Biosphere 2 … and just in time to install with the close of Phase II construction before the Analog Astronaut Conference 2022.

John Z., Kai, Luna, Anastasiya, and John Adams worked to install the backer board and cork tiles over the course of four days, assuring each step was conducted with integrity. Each product selected, from the glue between the backer board and original aluminum rails of the 40′ shipping container, the backer board itself, and the cork (which was simply set down, not glued) were selected for their low- or no-VOC characteristics. Visiting teams to SAM will breathe easy in an environment far healthier than the average American home, and not far from what very well could be a Martian habitat.

What’s more, the flooring is simply beautiful, warm, and welcoming.

After more than 30 years the Test Module is once again living!

Thank you Dr. Giacomelli for your patient guidance to the assembly and operation of our new research system, and to Bill Nichols for your careful management of the transplant and fertilizer adjustments. Already, we can see the lettuce growing!

As in the spring of 2021, we are in another race to the finish with just 10 days until the Analog Astronaut Conference hosted by Biosphere 2. We have completed all major Phase II construction and are now moving to the interior space, installing flooring, shelving, kitchen and bathroom appliances, lights and a small SIMOC-enabled sensor array.

The effort is intense, 15-18 hours a day, with John Z., Luna, Bill, and Kai while Greg and Grant complete the effort to integrate a sensor array into the new SIMOC ‘Live’ interface. It’s an exciting, exhausting time!

The short list of TODOs includes:
– complete the exterior priming of SAM AIR and the adjacent wall
– lay the sub-floor and cork flooring in the 40′ container
– build 2 racks with shelving in the 20′ container
– move the CO2 scrubber into the 20′ container and build a workbench on the second rack
– complete the hydroponics and get the lettuce transported
– build a soil bed and transplant the Cascabel tomatoes
– complete the TM east wall electrical wiring
– install (without plumbing, for now) the toilet, shower, and sink
– install the skylight-window in the 40′ container
– sand and prime the airlock floor
– roll-out carpet in the walk zones
– continue landscaping under Luna’s leadership
– install the stainless steel kitchen appliances

Thank you James for providing us with the expert work of Charlie and Steven from the University of Arizona Facilities Metal Shop. They performed a minor miracle with their work today, both ends of the 20′ shipping container / SAM workshop now one step closer to being pressure ready.

We are becoming regulars are Superior Steel, Tucson, where every shape and size of factory steel can be found. It is a commodity that we take for granted, as we use steel products each and every day. Yet the tremendous volume of steel manufactured, distributed, purchased, and fabricated is astounding. Learning to work with steel is both a science and an art. At SAM we are working to build a research facility that will serve for a generation, and at the same time explore fabrication techniques that inform our understanding of how to live in a pressurized vessel.

Four hydroponics racks have arrived to Biosphere 2! These systems distributed by Hort Americas are designed for research in that they are durable, agile, and smaller than commercial racks. While we await the water pumps, plumbing assembly, and lights we got to work. New to the team William Nichols is working with us to install, test, and maintain this grow system under the expert guidance of Dr. Gene Giacomelli of the University of Arizona CEAC facility. With 200 heads of lettuce already sprouting in an incubator, we are eager to transfer the partially mature plants to SAM for the first official crop in our new, permanent system.

As the systems came with casters appropriate for a research lab or industrial floor, not the one-in-twelve slope of our stainless steel tub, we took the four bases to the University of Arizona Facilities Metal Shop and secured a 3/8″ nut to the bottom. High quality swivel feet enable us to maintain a strong, stable base over the unusual floor.

With the removal of the massive refrigeration unit from the forward end of the 40 foot shipping container, the process began to determine how, exactly, to seal it up again. As with the steel plate fabricated to replace two windows on the Test Module, a larger, much heavier plate now provides a bolt-on pressure seal for the end of the 40 foot shipping container.

At 81″ x 89″ the size of the plate dictated two 1/4″ thick sheets welded along a seam or a single sheet of 3/16″ which is considerably heavier. We opted for the later, and discovered just how hard it is to manipulate that much steel. With the Test Module plate no two holes were equally spaced and yet, with careful measurements we were able to get the bottom and top rows of holes perfectly set without any adjustments. With this new plate the threaded inserts were factory set and we applied the same careful measurements, double checking with even the diagonals less than an eight of an inch over 100.

We drilled an 1/8th inch pilot, then 1/4″, 3/8″, 1/2″, and a few 5/8″ before the bit grew dull and jammed the drill one too many times. Our attempt at sharpening the bit produced a sharp edge, but it dulled too quickly, a typical artifact of sharpened bits used against metal. The attempt to go straight to the final 3/4″ bit was fatal, destroying the transmission in the battery powered drill and then nearly breaking Kai’s wrist with a more powerful corded unit. Clearly, we were not applying the correct tool for the job.

We took the ~500lbs plate to the B2 machine shop and used the stable drill press on the slowest speed. With a new titanium bit and ample cutting oil Kai and Colleen were able to complete all 30 3/4″ holes in less than four hours. However, despite precise measurements the holes were not all aligned. Using a car jack and 2×4 we shifted the plate to align the greatest number of holes possible, and then hand ground the remaining holes into an oblong shape such that the bolts would all enter by hand, without the use of a wrench. This assured no cross-threading and in the end, a solid fit.

This is a clear example of the old adage, “Perfect is the enemy of good enough” for had we simply used the 3/4″ sloppy hole saw (which we tested on the first hole), nearly all of the bolts would have fit on the first go, saving two days extra labor. It remain unclear how the measurements were ill fit, but may be a combination of too many stages of bits compounded by the threaded inserts in the container frame not being perpendicular to the face and set back 1/2″ each, causing the bolts to enter at an obscure angle.

Welcome to Renovation 101!