Life on Spaceships
Moral Repair: A Black Exploration of Tech
In this Episode Annanda and Keisha Explore The Big Question of, is it worth the expense to go to Mars given the needs on Earth? And what would it be like to live on Mars or in space? They interview Kai Staats, Director of Research for SAM at the University of Arizona Biosphere 2, to get the space tea.
Inside the Movement to Bring the Arts to Outer Space
Esquire
by Christopher Cokinos
May 16, 2024
This spring, a group of creatives simulated a lunar mission in the Arizona desert. What they found may challenge your understanding of how astronauts should spend their days.
[In] extreme environments like space, we should demand more than just enjoyment. The very things said from and about the moon can be strengthened with artistic technique. How we render the moon will either replicate our worst tendencies on Earth or foster a respect for the timeworn beauty of this companion world. From simulating living in a lunar habitat to talking with astronauts who will fly around the moon next year, I am obsessed with investigating how we can return to the moon to live and work while using the tools that artists know. Because those tools can help make life worth living.
Once again, the Analog Astronaut Conference was a complete success.
This year, as with the prior two years held at Biosphere 2 and the first on-line, brought together a wonderful assembly of space exploration enthusiasts from all walks of life—aerospace engineers and artists, seasoned professionals and hobbyists, medical surgeons, astronomers, researchers, students and astronauts too.
The Biosphere 2 was once again proud to host this annual event. And the SAM staff worked hard to meet incredible construction goals in time for the conference attendees to enjoy their time at the new Mars yard and reduced gravity simulator.
Photos coming soon!
University of Arizona crew of professional artists completes simulated Moon mission
By Mikayla Mace Kelley, University of Arizona Communications
March 27, 2024
‘Those first couple steps were magical,’ says a dancer who explored the ways of understanding and sharing the experience of space travel and exploration through art. UA professor and SAM crew member of Imagination 1 Elizabeth George leaped into the air and lingered. When her feet finally touched down, she pushed up and spun three times before returning gently to Earth.
Such ballon – a term in dance meaning light-footedness – would normally be impossible on Earth, she said, especially while donning a roughly 20-pound, pressurized spacesuit. Her near weightlessness was the product of engineering that allowed her to feel what it might be like to pirouette on the moon.
Crew Imagination I has concluded the third mission conducted at the Space Analog for the Moon and Mars (SAM) at Biosphere 2. Just before 10:00 AM Mountain Time, March 15, 2024, the crew released the pressure from the habitat, and when the internal pressure equaled the outside, ambient pressure, the gathered crowd of friends, family, and colleagues, including Lindah Leigh (of the original 1991-93 two year Biosphere 2 mission) welcomed the crew as they opened the hatch and stepped onto the airlock landing.
New channels KVOA and KGUN were on-site to capture the story during the press conference held in the Mars yard adjacent to SAM.
KVOA – Chanel 4
UA artists show how a simulation shows what it’s like going to moon
KGUN – Channel 9
Imagination 1 crew “lands on earth” after 6-day simulated moon mission
All-artist crew to undertake a six-day, simulated moon mission
TUCSON, Ariz. (Feb. 8, 2024)— An all-artist crew, featuring four University of Arizona professional artists—a non-fiction writer, dancer/choreographer, poet and textile artist—will undertake a six-day, simulated moon mission, generating creative work shaped by the limitations and possibilities of life and culture beyond Earth, March 10-15.
These artists will conduct the mission in a recently opened analog-research station, affiliated with the iconic Biosphere 2, a mission that also will be one of the first artist-focused analog space missions globally.
Space Analog for the Moon and Mars
by Aaron Bugaj
In this episode we are joined by Kai Staats. Kai is a veteran developer, designer, filmmaker, and scientist. Kai is the Director of SAM, Space Analog for the Moon and Mars, here at Biosphere 2. SAM is a hi-fidelity, hermetically sealed Mars habitat analog with greenhouse, living quarters, airlock, pressure suits, and a half acre Mars yard. Since 2021 Kai and his team have been constructing SAM, and just last month, SAM hosted it’s first two sealed missions, Inclusion 1 and Inclusion 2.
In this podcast, Kai takes us on his journey to build SAM. Breaking down the inspiration for SAM’s creation, and the research goals for SAM’s future.
Listen to the full interview via Spotify or Apple Podcast
DoubleTap feature hands-on reviews, guidance, opinion, interviews and conversation around accessibility in the tech industry. The interviews and programs help the audience better understand how technology can assist in everyday life. In this episode, host Marc Aflalo interviews Andy Squires, Accessibility Officer for the Inclusion II mission to SAM the second week of May 2023.
Listen here: www.doubletaponair.com/blind-people-in-space/ where Andy’s interview starts at 27:20.
The Space Analog for the Moon & Mars at Biosphere 2 has received $1,500,000 funding from the State of Arizona congress, as the governor passed this bill into law with the close of June 2023.
This incredible initiative was made possible by lobbyist and space enthusiast Brett Mecum and the Senator David Gowan who wrote the bill, introduced SAM Director Kai Staats to both the House and Senate for his presentations, and attended the exit of the first crew to attend SAM on May 2, 2023. Senator Gowan has demonstrated a keen interest in space exploration and recognizes the multi-fold value and international recognition it brings to the University of Arizona and the State of Arizona.
This is a game-changer for SAM, enabling us to move ahead for three years with dedicated funding for construction of the massive indoor Mars yard and upgrade of the SAM facilities.
We cannot thank Senator Gowan, Mr. Mecum, and the Arizona House and Senate for their support of our effort at the University of Arizona Biosphere 2 to help our species become interplanetary while advancing research and education in the sciences.
The funds are being immediately applied to construction of the Mars yard, carrying forward our nearly three years effort to build this leading, world-class research facility.
Thank you!
In preparation for the completion of the second mission at a Space Analog for the Moon and Mars (SAM) by Crew Inclusion II, KVOA reporter Megan Spector arrived at 4:30 am to capture the anticipation of the hours leading up to this event. She reported live from within one of the two pressure suits built by Smith Aerospace Garments while standing in the prototype SAM Mars yard.