The Deep Space Habitat (DSH) is a series of concepts explored between 2012 and 2018 by NASA for methods to support crewed exploration missions to the Moon, asteroids, and eventually Mars.[1] Some of these concepts were eventually used in the Lunar Gateway program.
Since 2012, numerous iterations of large lunar and Mars transport habitats have been conceived in previous studies to be launched with the Space Launch System (SLS),[2][3] and are intended to also be compatible with the Orion capsule. Variations of the designs would be used for the Lunar Gateway and the Deep Space Transport.[2]
Early preliminary concepts considered 60-day and 500-day mission configurations, composed of International Space Station-derived hardware, the Orion crew capsule and various support craft.[4] The habitat would be equipped with at least one International Docking System Standard (IDSS) docking system. Developing a deep space habitat would allow a crew to live and work safely in space for about one year on missions to explore cislunar space, Mars, and some near-Earth asteroids.
In 2015, NASA funded studies for several types of deep space habitat concepts under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP).[5] Lockheed Martin, the main contractor of the Orion capsule, also produced in 2018 a Deep Space Habitat concept.[6] These concept studies were intended to help NASA decide on a final design for the habitat element for the Lunar Gateway.[7]
MPLM stands for Multi-Purpose Logistics Module[6]