Habitat
Contents
Introduction
The Habitat is a space simulation facility. Its primary purpose is to simulate the living and working environment of the OCESS Astronauts while they execute the mission. There have been three Habitats.
The Habitat is often referred to simply as 'The Hab'.
History
The Hawking
The original Habitat was called The Hawking, named after famous physicist Steven Hawking.
The original Habitat was first built in the Early '90s, and was designed to be collapsible. It constituted three primary rooms: the Interlock, the bathroom and the Longhouse. The original Interlock was made from Wooden Walls, hinged together so that they could fold up, while the Longhouse was a half-cylinder, framed with curved piping, and having a canvas overlaid on top. Additionally, the Habitat had an Airlock.
The Habitat was set up in school gyms for at least one mission before it found its long-term home at the old Ottawa Technical High School. In the late '90s, OCESS moved to the Bronson Street Media Centre as the School Board was going to shut down the Ottawa Technical High School. The Habitat moved with Spacesim, but the old Airlock would not fit into the limited space. A new, crawl-through airlock was built for this facility.
Why the Habitat was Forced to Change
Spacesim continued undisturbed at the Media Centre until the Spring of 2001. During this year, the Board decided to reclaim the Media Centre, and discourage Spacesim from continuing. One method of discouragement was random fire inspections. The Board successfully deemed the Old Habitat a Fire Hazard, dispite the fact that a mission commander attempted to light the canvas on fire with a lighter in front of him. The OCESS managed to reclaim its old space at the Old Ottawa Technical High School, now known as the 440 Albert Street Administrative Centre, but at the cost of constructing a new Habitat to meet Board specifications.
The New Habitat would require to meet all building and safety codes, have official blueprints, and moreover have these blueprints stamped by a Professional Engineer. Additionally electrical work had to be approved by a certified electrician.
The Hawking II
The Hawking II was referred to as The New Habitat during construction, shortly thereafter named The Hawking II, and finally officially named The Brahe during the 2002-2003 year. Since then, this name does not appear to have stuck, and it is simply called The Hab.
The Hawking II was designed by Alex Ghosh, Ross Green, and Nikolas Zuchowicz, with strong influences from David Owen, who was then a recent alumnus. It was originally designed to be modular, with each room receiving its power through the Interlock, effectively "plugging in", so that the modules could be arranged in any orientation. The Interlock was designed to handle five sub-modules, and was supposed to have power and access doors for that many. Unfortunately, due to space constraints and electrical concerns, such a configuration became unfeasible, and the Habitat was locked into its current setup and hardwired.
The Original Plans called for an Interlock, Hotlab, Bathroom, Longhouse, and Airlock. Construction took place during the Fall of 2001 and the Winter of 2002. The Longhouse was the first module to be finished, and was used for that year's Mission Alpha. The Hotlab was not constructed in time for The new Habitat's first mission, and instead was constructed during the 2002-2003 year.
Originally envisioned as having an aluminum sheet-metal structure, drywall was selected as the material of choice for cost and safety concerns. The Drywall was easier and cheaper to repair, completely immune to fire and emergency exits could be created anywhere as required.
The Hawking III
Main article: Hawking III
The Hawking III is the third Hab built in the Hawking series and was constructed as a result of OCESS moving to a new room. The Hawking III is smaller than the previous Hab, and is roughly square in shape. In addition to having a smaller footprint, its ceiling is significantly lower than that of the previous Hab, costing the astronauts valuable storagespace while giving the interior a cramped feel and making the new Hab a more realistic approximation of space travel. The Hawking III is the first Hab to be constructed by professionals contracted by the OCDSB. The Hawking III was built and completed during the 2008-2009 school year, and was first used for the 2009 mission, Genesis 2009.
It is built mostly of drywall panels and metal studs, with one of the rooms (Control Room) being paneled in plywood. It is double-layered, with an inner and outer panel of either drywall or plywood and an internal space of approximately four inches --- the depth of a 2x4 plank.
Rooms
In The Hawking the Interlock served as living space and command centre for the Astronauts, containing their kitchen and control units. Additionally, the Airlock was off of the Interlock. The Longhouse was primarily used as a Laboratory, but was often used for sleeping space. The Longhouse connected the Bathroom to the Interlock.
Within the The Hawking II, the Longhouse was dedicated to living space, while the scientific aspects have been split into a new Hotlab. Originally planned to be the Hotlab, the room connecting Interlock and Longhouse became the Bathroom. The new Hotlab was closer to the Planetary Surface allowing samples to be easily passed within. The only evidence of the old Hotlab within the Bathroom is some structural reinforcement around the location where a docking port for Robbie was supposed to go. In 2007-08, the Hotlab, considered to be too big, was taken down, and construction on a smaller Hotlab began.
In The Hawking III, The Interlock of habitats past split into two separate rooms: the Control Room, the command centre, and the Interlock, now the kitchen and communal area. The Hotlab was thankfully granted more room than before.
Environmental Simulation
The Habitat was simulated using software known as CMES. It keeps track of the temperature and pressure of all rooms, as well as the status on the doors and airlocks (open/closed). It now uses a different combination of programs developed by Dr. Jim Magwood to accomplish the same function. Most notable among these is EECOM for environmental and door monitoring.
The Habitat can be observed by Mission Control through a series of cameras, as well as an extention of the Simulation Software.
Electrical System
The Habitat receives its power through the Interlock. There is a small power cabinet on the back wall.
Simulation Habitat
See main article Simulation: habitat
Within the confines of the simulation, the habitat is a large structure. It is made of laminated aluminium and foam to absord radiation and meteor impacts. This description is not to be mistook for reality, as the Hab is actually constructed of metal studs and drywall.
Cameras
Hawking I: Not much is known about the camera structure.
Hawking II: The Cameras were run off a dedicated system designed to run the Corel Camera systems. The Computer designated to preform this vital task was named Stonehenge, with the monitor being the Eye of Stonehenge. In the Hawking II the entire habitat was viewable from any TV, and there were four televisions wired into this network. Stonehenge was located in Mission Control allowing the questionable members of mission control to switch the astronauts camera views and disappear. The Astronauts were assigned two Televisions, one in the Longhouse (Doyle) and one in the Interlock. MC had two. The Simis used an entirely separate camera system based off light switches in the Simi Area.
Hawking III: The current camera system is up in the air, as of right now each television is wired directly into a camera. There is a prototype switching system being build by Lt. Paul. There are four televisions in Mission Control (Names here) one to each of Longhouse, Interconnect and two to C&C. The Astros have two televisions of their own: Pumpkin and (Name) Pumpkin is a small orange television used to view MC and (Name) has the prototype switch and views either the Airlock or the Hotlab.
