International Space Settlement Design Competition: Industry experience for students

When Star Trek first beamed into our living rooms through television channels a few decades back, it cast a vision of a future for humankind. That vision was about having a settlement in space. Gradually yet steadily the space research is getting closer to realising that vision. Almost 70 years have passed since the first broadcast, and while we have not yet established a colony in space, we have made a permanent settlement of sorts there - the International Space Station (ISS). Now, astronauts from several countries take turns to stay there as part of the ISS crew, with rockets from NASA or Russia ferrying loads of essential supplies to them.

Space settlement, or, rather space colonisation, has been a long cherished desire for mankind.

The most recent exploration towards finding a habitable environment in space was the NASA rover exploration on Mars. The intent was to find traces of atmospheric elements that could support life on the Red Planet the same way life is supported on Earth.So, what is the reason behind this idea of space colonisation? For long, scientists have envisioned that the resources on Earth will not support mankind for a very long time. There are no places left on Earth for us to colonise and establish settlements in. The only other options left are under the sea or in outer space.

Scientifically, space is an easier option compared to an underwater colony. There is no atmospheric pressure in outer space, while the pressure increases as one goes deeper underwater. It's easier to build something in vacuum than have a manmade structure deal with high underwater pressure.The idea of finding solution inestablishing space settlement is now not only limited to the space scientists and engineers. Even school students are being encouraged to come up with innovative ideas on space settlement design ideas through regional and international competitions. The International Space Settlement DesignCompetition (ISSDC) is one such initiative that encourages students to conceptualize, conceive and design futuristic space settlements set into the future.

The competition is essentially an industry simulation exercise for students. Participants are divided into teams that work as companies with segregated departments to put students in shoes of space industry professionals.The competition aims at inspiring the young generation towards opting STEM careers.The competition is held at the national and regional levels with the finals being held at the Kennedy Space Center in the US.The International Space Settlement Design Competition consists of two rounds - the qualifying round and the finals. Students can participate in both the rounds either individually or in small or large groups.As part of the competition, the students are tasked to build a proposal for a space settlement set 50 years into the future in response to a request to build one in a scenario where mankind has already expanded into outer space.

In designing and establishing the space settlements, the students have to take into account factors, such as the design and structure of the conceived settlement, the infrastructure being made available, the settlement's relative similarities with the living conditions on Earth (especially the indoor aesthetics), and lastly, the technological and mechanical aspects related to robots and machines in use there.

So does the international space design competition require only the technical skills of the students to design space settlements? No. It also looks for other analytical and leadership skills in the students.

The participating teams have to design the space settlement considering a host of feasibility factors. The students have to conceptualize and design a workable, sustainable and financially viable space settlement in a fictional futuristic scenario, which teaches them about collaborative work in a large scale engineering team, where every individual plays a vital part towards building a large scale infrastructure.

As such, besides looking into the technical aspects of the space settlement design, they also have to don the role of a CFO as well as an auditor to check whether the financial aspects of the space settlement are in sync with the overall vision. This also includes aspects of business development to get a detailed analysis of the commercial opportunities, and the research, manufacturing and maintenance costs of the space settlement. The team is supervised by an adult advisor from the industry who acts as a CEO.

The competition had its origins as the international space design competition in the USA as part of a student outreach programme in the early 1990s. The learning potential for students participating in the international space settlement design competition is immense.Over the years it has attracted students from across the globe, letting them hone their managerial and technical skills, and work on simulated space settlement design scenarios with scientists and engineers from NASA.

When the time comes for mankind to actually set up a settlement in space, perhaps in 2065, maybe some scientist or engineer working on the project would reflect how he had worked on a simulated model and concept during his schooling years as part of the international space settlement design competition, in 2020.