NASA Announces Development of Automated Smart Habitats

As part of NASA‘s future Moon and manned interplanetary missions, the agency awarded $30 million USD to two Space Technology Research Institutes (STRI) to develop automated Smart Habitats.

The agency also announced that both institutes would be in charge of the Habitats Optimized for Missions of Exploration (HOME) project and the Resilient ExtraTerrestrial Habitat institute (RETHi).

Both STRIs will receive $15 million USD each over a five-year period. However, NASA has not fully divulged the complete details of the project except for their general purposes.

Future Smart Habitats

The HOME program will focus on the development of autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, robotics, and onboard manufacturing for smart habitats.

The HOME team will be comprised of researchers from UC Davis, the University of Colorado Boulder, Carnegie Mellon University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Howard University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Southern California in partnership with Blue Origin, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and United Technology Aerospace Systems.

RETHi will focus on the development of Smart Habitats that utilize AI-powered robots to adapt in strenuous environments and recover from disasters.

The RETHi team is made up of researchers from Purdue University, the University of Connecticut, Harvard University, and the University of Texas at San Antonio.

NASA’s Future Space Missions

NASA’s future space plans include sending astronauts back to the Moon and launching both crewed and uncrewed missions to Mars. At the moment, the U.S. space agency is in the process of developing the most advanced rocket system, the Space Launch System, that would hopefully launch the next American astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft to the Moon.

The astronauts have to test the systems needed to execute the far more challenging missions to other space destinations within our Solar System and beyond. These new Smart Habitats are part of NASA’s plan to develop new technologies and techniques for longer-duration space travel.