When a space exploration agency eventually sends some astronauts to a foreign planet to live for a little while, what will their home look like?

It could be something similar to the space capsule being designed at Marshall Space Flight Center in Texas.

Researchers there are using scraps from the ISS to construct a model for the Deep Space Habitat project. As of this point, the project is mostly an exercise for the researchers to explore what the basic necessities of the astronauts would be and how they could be provided for a 60-day trip. Ideas being thrown around for the capsule include a greenhouse for growing food and a separate transport craft to service the home.

Researchers are designing the capsule to be usable on Mars, a large asteroid, or the solar system’s Langrangian points – those points between two large objects – say, the sun and Earth – where the gravitational pull from both objects is equally exerted on a smaller object (the capsule) so that it remains in orbit with the two larger objects. Basically, safely tethered by gravity, but floating in space.

I suggest the real estate agent working on this home really push the “spectacular views” angle.