The engineered structures and closed ecological systems designed to support space habitation. These are the "houses" and "towns" of the final frontier, ranging from hardened modules on other worlds to giant rotating cylinders in the void. A habitat isn't just a shelter; it's a full-life-support machine that must create a semblance of Earth-normal conditions—air, water, pressure, temperature, radiation shielding, and psychological space—in the most hostile environment known. The engineering goal is to build a bubble of biosphere that doesn’t pop.
Example: The classic NASA design for a lunar base using inflatable modules, the Stanford Torus rotating space station concept from the 1970s, and the Martian "hab" from The Martian are all Space Habitats. They are the physical infrastructure that makes the dream of Space Habitation possible, turning deadly vacuums and barren regolith into somewhere you could theoretically call "home."
by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 3, 2026
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