Full Scale Model of the Lunar Gateway I-Hab Module
European Space Agency and Thales Alenia Space · 2020s
A white cylinder the size of a small bus stands in the exhibition, its end hatch open, with a large image of the Moon behind it. This is a full scale reproduction of I-Hab, the International Habitation module that Europe is building for the Lunar Gateway, the small space station that will orbit the Moon as part of the Artemis programme. Inside, you can see how four astronauts would live and work in a space about the size of a large caravan, with sleeping bays, workstations, storage and the ports through which other modules and visiting spacecraft will dock.
The real I-Hab is being built by Thales Alenia Space in Turin for the European Space Agency, with contributions from Japan for the life support systems, and the model here follows the engineering design closely. Look at the sheer density of equipment: every wall is used, there is no floor or ceiling in the earthbound sense, and the layout is organised around handrails rather than furniture. Compare it with the images and models of earlier stations nearby, from Mir to the International Space Station, and you can see how much more compact and automated the lunar outpost will be.
The Cité has always shown space hardware, from Ariane rocket engines to satellites and the Mir mock-up of earlier decades, and the I-Hab model continues that tradition by pointing to the next step, human habitation around the Moon. It is one of the most popular objects in the museum with children, who queue to float through it. If you want to understand what living in deep space will actually involve, a few minutes inside this tube say more than any film.
Did You Know? The Lunar Gateway will orbit the Moon on a highly elongated path that brings it close to the surface once a week and out to seventy thousand kilometres.
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