This Is How SpaceX Starship Life Support System Works
Thursday, August 17, 2023 | Chimniii Desk
Key Highlights
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- While it may seem absurd to some that Starship could transport between 100 and 200 people into space, it's much easier to see how this could be accomplished.
- The most important takeaway from this is that SpaceX is currently investing heavily in developing the best life support systems possible for Starship.
- These containers, on the other hand, would be stored within Starship's centralised storage or in a separate area that is not accessible to the general crew.
- They are both, however, shining examples of what humans can accomplish with limited space and insatiable needs.
- Fortunately, Starships have ample space for nearly everything they require, including private cabins, common areas, centralised storage, solar storm shelters, and viewing galleries.
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Elon Musk's potential is virtually limitless. From his battery-powered cars to trucks that travel at nearly the speed of light, to ultra-fast internet connections, Elon Musk has pushed the boundaries of human possibility on a daily basis.
Elon Musk also founded SpaceX, another colossal company. This galaxy-tour company has a lot up its sleeve. One of these remarkable feats is the starship's installation of life support. Join us as we explore the SpaceX Starship and the latest technological advancements made to this work of art.
The Starship is one of SpaceX's most remarkable inventions. The space edifice is designed to carry not only satellites, but also a total of 100 people per flight, a figure that is most likely to increase with each flight.
The entire spaceship exudes an air of elegance and style that is typically associated with Elon Musk. According to SpaceX's official user guide for Starship, the crew configuration includes private cabins, expansive common areas, centralised storage, solar storm shelters, and a viewing gallery.
There is quite a bit of useful information contained within that brief section. Most importantly, SpaceX will operate Starship with a dedicated crew configuration. This means that things could get much crazier than anticipated.
This massive spaceship's payload volume is a whopping 1100 cubic metres. While it may seem absurd to some that Starship could transport between 100 and 200 people into space, it's much easier to see how this could be accomplished.
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One way to accomplish this extraordinary feat is through changes to the catalogue of rooms and configurations. Private cabins are included in this configuration change.
At first glance, the private cabins appeared to be a no-go zone for Starship, given that the closest we've come is SpaceX's Dragon 2 capsule. Even then, a Dragon 2 has a pressurised volume of only 9.3 cubic metres, or less than 0.85% of Starship's total capacity.
Therefore, even with the 9.3 cubic metre total capacity of a Dragon 2 capsule, Starship would use only 465 to 700 cubic metres of its payload volume.
Thus, 42–64 percent of Starship's volume is devoted to pressurised payloads; 36–58 percent of the remaining volume is devoted to open spaces. Additionally, additional shelters such as bathrooms, storage, and life support must be considered.
When discussing cabin space, many factors are overlooked, and it is critical to include the restroom and other necessary areas. Restrooms are an obvious requirement; if you're going to spend weeks in space, you're not going to wait until you touch down to use the restroom.
As a result, it is unknown whether there will be communal bathrooms and hallways or individual room bathrooms. We do know, however, that they must all be connected and flow to waste management and water reclamation facilities where water can be filtered and reused and waste can be disposed of.
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Additionally, Elon would have to include sufficient food in the Starship's storage. Again, you may wonder if this would take the form of a central food bank or cafeteria, or if everyone would receive rations during their stay on Starship.
It could go either way, given the amount of space left vacant by private cabins. Numerous items would be carried aboard the mammoth-sized starship. Life support is one of these expedient measures. How do you believe the general life support machine would fit into, or even function in, this space marvel? To begin, we must comprehend the critical nature of life support machines.
This is due to certain contingencies that the majority of space companies overlook. However, not SpaceX. Indeed, as evidenced by a June 4 Twitter post by a Twitter user, the company was attempting to hire starship medical engineers months ago.
Two job listings were shown in this tweet: one for a Starship medical engineer and another for a radiation effects engineer.
SpaceX described the former as developing operations, medical systems, protocols, and technology for use aboard Starship. With regards to the radiation effects engineer position, the company described it as one that involves the analysis, design, and testing of sample systems that are intended to prevent varying radiation levels.
Additionally, SpaceX mentioned collaborating with other development teams to integrate protection and other features. While neither of these posts specifically mentions the interior of Starship, they are both incredibly revealing.
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The most important takeaway from this is that SpaceX is currently investing heavily in developing the best life support systems possible for Starship. Apart from rooms and the like, life support will most likely be the most prevalent use of pressurised space.
Consider air regulation, water supply, oxygen supply, waste disposal, temperature control, pressure regulation, and even food rationing; there is a great deal involved in what is commonly referred to as breathing.
You concur with our assessment that life support is more complicated than we can adequately describe. Hundreds, if not thousands, of individual components and small items that work together to keep the crew alive.
Additionally, it will consume an enormous amount of power, which means that even more of the usable space aboard Starship will likely be restricted to the essentials; after all, Starship will provide an entirely pressurised volume, top-of-the-line waste disposal, and water purification, among other things.
As such, this is likely to consume a significant portion of the vehicle's total volume. Spacecraft, on the other hand, typically rely on refillable oxygen tanks that are pressurised to contain high concentrations of breathable air. There is an increasing case for on-board oxygen generation.
Due to the fact that Starships will house hundreds of people in open spaces for weeks, if not months at a time, there will be a lot of wasted air. The average person consumes 660 litres of oxygen per day, which means SpaceX would require a significant amount of onboard oxygen or a large generator.
Fortunately, the technology used to generate oxygen on the ISS is relatively compact and easily usable via a process called electrolysis. Electrolysis is a chemical reaction that separates water into hydrogen and oxygen.
Since the space station has been producing oxygen for years, it may be capable of meeting a large amount of demand. Fortunately, electrolysis would also assist Starship with a few additional support tasks, including reclamation, waste disposal, and fuel management.
Additionally, astronauts can create water and methane by combining newly acquired hydrogen with the carbon dioxide emitted by each crewmate. As we all know, this water can be purified and used for human consumption, while the methane could be used to power the Starship.
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However, this process is not without flaws and has not yet been perfected. There is still a sizable gap between consumption and generation. This means that SpaceX would still need to reserve a portion of its onboard volume for oxygen, water, and similar containers.
These containers, on the other hand, would be stored within Starship's centralised storage or in a separate area that is not accessible to the general crew. The centralised storage could be used for personal belongings, additional oxygen supplies, and water sources, among other things.
The centralised storage area would also function as a gathering space for the onboard crewmates, with several common areas available. These common areas are likely to be organised similarly to those found on cruise ships, which frequently contain multiple neighbourhoods.
While this is not a required component of a standard analogy, it makes sense. Cruise ships are also enormous, have similar life support systems except for oxygen production, and have a finite amount of cargo space.
Both would include private cabins, expansive common areas, shelters, and public viewing galleries. Additionally, they both have a self-contained craft with limited workspace. That is why, on Starship, large rooms will likely be connected to smaller neighbourhoods via common areas.
As with a cruise ship, a few levels would be set aside for electrolysis, oxygen supply, and water supply. It's truly strange how many parallels can be drawn between Starship and a cruise ship.
They are both, however, shining examples of what humans can accomplish with limited space and insatiable needs. Fortunately, Starships have ample space for nearly everything they require, including private cabins, common areas, centralised storage, solar storm shelters, and viewing galleries.
This ship embodies everything a modern spaceship should be and more. And it can only be created by Elon Musk, the greatest genius of them all.
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