Annalisa Dominoni: “Here’s how to live in space”

It is the first time that it happens: that the European capital of culture becoming cross -borderthat it is one, but in reality there are two. Gorizia And Nova Gorica Together. And the international festival èstoriawhich for twenty -one years has been taking place in Gorizia, this year, to underline this important milestone, dedicates interventions to the cities in history, but also in the present and in the future.

“This XXI edition,” explains the director of the Festival, Adriano Ossola“Could only intertwine the peculiarity of the Gorizian history with that of the other cities in the world that will deal with, from Uruk to Gaza, from Babylon to Kiev, from Athens to New York. The program of the event therefore offers opportunities for reflection on the places that are still the true driving force of human civilization, a melting of political designs, urban, social, economic, in which society is looking for a life protected from impending dangers, hunger and calamities, but which need to find constant adaptations to the increasingly faster social and ecological changes “.

And so, from 26 May to 1 June, Illustrious historical and experts on the international scene take stock of what the past has taught us and what the future is ready to show us.

Among the many guests too there is also Annalisa Dominoni, who, otherwise of the future, speaks of moon, planets, housing hypotheses and distant but possible projects. Professor of architecture and design for space at the Polytechnic of Milan, he has developed extraterrestrial habitats projects and designed objects to improve the well -being of astronauts. And it is to her that we asked for these spatial cities, where who knows if we will ever live.

The interview with Annalisa Dominoni

But is living in space a distant idea or a possible thing already today?
«In reality we are already living in space, this is a reality: there is a space station since 1998, which has long been a house for astronauts. This station, after 30 years of honorable service, will be abandoned, but the next project is already under construction. Meanwhile, Thales Alenia Space is working, an Italian excellence in Turin who takes care of the design of the pressurized habitable modules and is building the first station that will orbit around the moon. That will then be the outpost to push us further, to Mars. Having said that, we can imagine the future even in quantum jumps: who knows that progress will make technology, with what speed. It is not said that one step one step at a time, incredible jumps can be made. The spirit of the human being has always been pioneering and I do not imagine that we will stop. To say when we are where it is definitely difficult because there are many issues at stake, starting with geopolitical and economic ones: it will be necessary to understand where resources and funding will want to invest ».

There is an open debate: there are those who say that investing in space is basically a precious investment on Earth and who instead claims that it is a remnant resource to the most daily problems …
“In reality, the international space station was born precisely with the intent to be the first joint laboratory of many nations where to make scientific experiments that can then have important repercussions in our life in every day. Often it is not even known, but many innovations were born in space, starting with the satellite systems that we all use on our smartphones. Space is an extreme place and as such it is a perfect field for testing. There are many processes extreme, also the physiological ones: we saw it with the astronaut Suni Williams who, after 288 days, returned with signs of accelerated aging. Scientists have the opportunity to observe the phenomena that would need more time in a very small period. What space can give us is really a lot ».

Glasses, pasta and tools designed for space

But with her projects, do you work on hypotheses or concrete events?
«Unlike for example, of architects such as Norman Foster or Skidmore Studio, who have developed the Moon Villageby presenting a project for a permanent settlement for the future inhabitants of the moon, I move on a more scientific and practical field: I think about how to increase comfort, the well -being of people, in space as on earth. We work closely with the ESA (European Space Agency) and face very concrete problems and allow ourselves a few pindaric flights ».

What have you focused lately on?
«We move on various floors. For example, we have worked a lot on the water, which in space behaves in a different way and can have different densities and, then, if it becomes solid, we can imagine new tools, new uses, new objects to take advantage of it. The microgravity that changes the behavior of objects can never be overlooked. Obviously we most designed on earth and it takes a great ability of imagination, vision and forecast. We hypothesized some crops of Alga Spirulina, we redesigned 3D printed pasta that contains protein sauces inside, we tested a futuristic object that cooks food by shaking the ingredients, we studied antibacterial and thermoregrating fabrics … and then again, and again ».

The lunar forest a cultivation of microalgae

The lunar forest, a cultivation of microalgae

But, beyond gravity, what are the macro difficulties that must be taken into account?
«Gravity and extreme temperature are primary difficulties. Then you have to consider cosmic radiation, which can be very violent and we also know that if there is no atmosphere, oxygen is missing. Then there are the meteorites and also the space waste that create real rings, almost barriers. It must also be thought that, with the necessary shells in which to protect yourself, we also create a total deprivation of natural stimuli: there is no natural light and with her also the Cicardian rhythms, with risks of depression and a strong feeling of solitude. You feel isolated, but at the same time privacy is missing, because you are in a small and closed environment. And therefore, when projects are made, in addition to the physical limitations, psychological ones must also be taken into account ».

I read that you have done a search for disability: in the sense that space can be inclusive?
“Absolutely. Meanwhile, it must be thought that in the absence of gravity the legs, for example, do not serve as on earth and that we are all disabled anyway. There are other parameters, other physical laws, so much so that we have defined this concept with the expression “The New Normal is the New Environment”, the new normality for a new environment. And then in the ESA a pastronaut, John Mcfall, who is preparing for his first mission, entered the ESA for the first time. He lost his leg for an accident, when he was 18, then graduated in medicine, he made the paralympics and is now ready to fly ».

Source: Vanity Fair

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