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This paper presents an analysis of the “Celentano Curve” that depicts a relationship between spacecraft pressurized volume and the duration of a space mission. Since Yuri Gagarin flew in Vostok 1 in 1961, the US, Russia, and China have launched more than 250 human spaceflights.

This study presents a projected crew task timeline and skill mix for the exploration of the lunar surface in the Habot mobile lunar habitat. It takes the approach of defining crew task sets for crews of 8, 6, and 4, crewmembers to carry out proportionate amounts of work, corresponding to how many crewmembers are on the mission. It provides for the division of responsibilities between crewmembers who perform EVA and IVA tasks, and between those who go on an excursion away from the base and those who remain at the base. A particular feature of the model is that the amount of time devoted to science is set as a constant -- an inviolable amount of crew time that normal maintenance and operations work cannot erode. The importance of this capability arises from the International Space Station experience in which sometimes only 100 crew-minutes per day, or even less, has been available for science.

This paper presents a review of the development and evolution of space laboratories. Laboratories in space constitute the unique and necessary working environment in which researchers conduct scientific experiments, engineering tests, and technology development missions. The United States (US) and (former) Soviet Union pioneered space laboratories with the Skylab and Salyut series stations. In the Space Shuttle era, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) SpaceLab, the commercial SpaceHab, and shuttle middeck lockers provided experiment accommodations for a broad range of disciplines. The MIR station provided a suite of laboratories and other facilities. The Space Station Alpha (SSA) will soon provide a multiplicity of laboratories, including the US Lab, the ESA Columbus Module, the “Kibo” Japan Experiment Module, and other facilities. Beyond the SSA, planetary exploration missions to the Moon and Mars will include Space Laboratories.