{"id":34420,"date":"2026-08-18T17:10:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T21:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/?p=34420"},"modified":"2026-08-18T14:18:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T18:18:35","slug":"how-to-design-a-space-habitat-that-supports-its-residents-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/2026\/08\/how-to-design-a-space-habitat-that-supports-its-residents-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"How to design a space habitat that supports its residents\u2019 mental health"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Researchers from MIT and other institutions have developed a new interactive online platform called the Human-Environment Connection and Interaction Atlas (HECIA) that is a tool for designing habitats in space and other extreme environments that allow crews to not just survive but thrive.<\/li>\n<li>Users can explore the relationships between aspects of a habitat\u2019s design and an inhabitant\u2019s mental, emotional, and social wellbeing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Cambridge, Mass. &#8212; In extreme environments, habitats are built for survival. Submarines, Antarctic bases, and post disaster dwellings are designed to prioritize health and safety. This is especially the case for habitats in space, where room is at a minimum, contact with Earth is remote, and hazards are numerous.<\/p>\n<p>But as humans plan for longer journeys to the moon and eventually Mars, designing habitats where crews can not only survive but also thrive will be essential to a mission\u2019s success.<\/p>\n<p>Now, engineers at MIT and elsewhere are exploring ways that habitats in extreme environments can support a person\u2019s mental, emotional, and social wellbeing. They have assembled a resource that relates habitat design features with behavioral health outcomes such as stress, anxiety, and feelings of isolation.<\/p>\n<p>Going a step further, the team has visualized these relationships in the form of an interactive\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com\/ls\/click?upn=u001.aGL2w8mpmadAd46sBDLfbLQreLHwavx5A-2B9qLYlQWLM-3DA16D_Gkp23Xx1dLOzV2QBfJJa3MokwkMBG3-2FSyqnR2Qrk1zXNPypPZKPGQamW-2BqllE2xYr9AsZJHe9i2yFUQOD7DeelJsDTfNrLMDvGaU2kN9IBrEkM9JADcc7S-2FCAjXCjmoOUMPVJWPSpZZeSB-2Fld2N4iKwbeSGEPXJskkZ-2FRJ7Kh4mhoXu7gAkdYzBTgCNpdwSFidSO1-2FCWykB0asxCf6CLFUS3WJvLKE0jQboK-2Bm7wOTlqrgfI3lZKROwL-2FKlrocjpfPX9VafT5wp01vvxhYt65GqPJ2v4l4oqJfFVUlF4gFVJSEevq7g9HJeTfoDyyDgkfoMdstL7AyAEu-2BVVgOwrbuOcYLXcelnWSHyHbDXmaNc2HpQaWeyAzd9UtWvQQnGI\">online platform<\/a>. Users can click through to explore connections between design and behavior, such as how a habitat\u2019s layout affects social connection and team cohesion, and how a reconfigurable space can minimize homesickness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe awareness has been there for some time that living in space is difficult,\u201d says Mich Lin, a PhD candidate in\u00a0the Human Systems Lab and the Engineering Systems Lab\u00a0at MIT. \u201cWe\u2019ve come a long way from the human in a tin can. Asour priorities shift toward long-duration exploration missions, making sure a crew is safe, healthy, happy, and productive becomes even more important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The insights that Lin\u2019s team presents, which appear today in the journal\u00a0<em>npj Microgravity<\/em>, were assembled after an extensive literature search and expert interviews. They identified many studies on habitat design and its influence on specific behaviors, such as how levels of lighting affect an astronaut\u2019s quality of sleep. But this is the first time that anyone has brought such information together, visualizing the relationships and risks associated with a habitat\u2019s design and an inhabitant\u2019s wellbeing.<\/p>\n<p>Lin notes\u00a0that the work can be applied to designing <strong>habitats<\/strong> in not only space but also\u00a0\u00a0other extreme, isolated, and confined environments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSubmarines, oil rigs, polar expeditions, and even refugee camps or war zones are incredibly stressful environments,\u201d says Lin, who is the study\u2019s lead author. \u201cWe try to make this work applicable to a lot of scenarios and identify points of intervention in habitat design to reduce stress in those extreme environments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The study\u2019s co-authors include former MIT undergraduate Lu Chen and Professor Katya Arquilla of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Other key contributors to the work include Lauren Blackwell Landon at KBR\/NASA, Jeffrey Montes of the space architecture firm Different Systems, and MIT undergraduate Kara Chou.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Emotional design<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The researchers modeled their new design tool after a risk mapping format used by NASA. When designing a spacecraft or habitat for astronauts in space, the agency maps out the associated risks in the form of \u201cdirected acyclic graphs.\u201d A DAG resembles a large web of relationships that illustrate how certain habitat or mission features can affect certain mission-relevant outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>A typical NASA DAG depicts one-way connections between mission constraints, such as \u201cdistance from Earth,\u201d to an astronaut\u2019s physical health outcome, such as quality of sleep, cardiovascular impacts, cognitive function, and so forth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy mapping risks, we can identify points of intervention to characterize and <strong>mitigate them<\/strong>,\u201d Lin explains. \u201cNASA uses DAGs as a countermeasure to the risky business that is human spaceflight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The researchers looked to create a similar DAG format to map risks associated with habitat design, and less tangible behavioral health outcomes, such as stress, boredom, trust, nostalgia, curiosity, and kinship with crewmates.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201c<\/strong>The connection between habitat and behavioral health has not been made in this format before,\u201d Lin emphasizes. \u201cSo we made those connections for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To do so, the team first identified habitat design factors and behavioral health outcomes that would be specifically relevant for living in extreme environments. The researchers looked to multiple resources across aerospace and human factors fields. To prioritize a human-centered perspective, they referenced the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com\/ls\/click?upn=u001.aGL2w8mpmadAd46sBDLfbC3oAPirWq5IVpwmLTBf2au-2F4XcK3sLdJq-2FI6aRYxc3s8K7KI1MuRlISS7wYV38qtg-3D-3DWywC_Gkp23Xx1dLOzV2QBfJJa3MokwkMBG3-2FSyqnR2Qrk1zXNPypPZKPGQamW-2BqllE2xYr9AsZJHe9i2yFUQOD7DeelJsDTfNrLMDvGaU2kN9IBrEkM9JADcc7S-2FCAjXCjmoOUMPVJWPSpZZeSB-2Fld2N4iKwbeSGEPXJskkZ-2FRJ7Kh4mhoXu7gAkdYzBTgCNpdwSFidSO1-2FCWykB0asxCf6CLFd6kUt2-2BuXN-2FdAZ9GBdqAi4VKDJSP-2Fx-2FK4jU6gztkHQWkpg5cgsiNlssVjy5K3D1FAtKb1btZHUJWnAFd5HRbpmbLSEGdkyp1y50TlzxGuGrv9vWKHVmzMJkBGvapKPFQDCUA-2F1szxpq-2Bj30G-2B6I6kZ-2FyVukLhcXVyvgWy-2BploNJ\">Atlas of the Heart<\/a>,\u201d written by author, social work researcher, and University of Houston Professor Bren\u00e9 Brown. In the book, Brown identifies 87 emotions and experiences that define what makes us human.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom there, we did a down-selection of which emotions would be the most impactful in our scenario of habitat design in extreme environments,\u201d Lin explains.<\/p>\n<p>The team zeroed in on 14 main emotions or experiences that they considered behavioral outcomes that could be influenced by habitats in extreme environments. These include<\/p>\n<p>They then carried out a wide-ranging search through the scientific literature to identify studies relating to habitability in extreme environments. For instance, NASA has carried out extensive research on the effects of lighting on sleep, the resetting of circadian rhythms, and productivity. Other studies have investigated circulation and habitat layout and their effects on privacy, social connection, and crew performance.<\/p>\n<p>Lin and their colleagues assembled connections and conclusions from numerous studies to create a DAG, or a web of habitat design features, and their downstream effects on aspects of mental, emotional, and social wellbeing. They also\u00a0solicited feedback from experts across industry, academia, and NASA to evaluate and strengthen the DAG.<\/p>\n<p>They then developed an online platform, dubbed the\u00a0Human-Environment Connection and Interaction Atlas, or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com\/ls\/click?upn=u001.aGL2w8mpmadAd46sBDLfbLQreLHwavx5A-2B9qLYlQWLM-3DTtW2_Gkp23Xx1dLOzV2QBfJJa3MokwkMBG3-2FSyqnR2Qrk1zXNPypPZKPGQamW-2BqllE2xYr9AsZJHe9i2yFUQOD7DeelJsDTfNrLMDvGaU2kN9IBrEkM9JADcc7S-2FCAjXCjmoOUMPVJWPSpZZeSB-2Fld2N4iKwbeSGEPXJskkZ-2FRJ7Kh4mhoXu7gAkdYzBTgCNpdwSFidSO1-2FCWykB0asxCf6CLFRsY5eKho-2FXFpYLChXCG-2B5kGRqNPYLd0mS4ZnqPeKPKeG7jZsnTf-2FEmFa4wCpb1bTK-2FBqDuccHBVPxKyftHjlqY2PY2gFRiRNIbF0RUS-2FeWVzk4W-2F1Wa8vuWrng9kMT6HDgN8Mk7f3-2BCMxg5jyH6-2FBREHLi5ANgmRoqOS-2F3jL5hX\">HECIA<\/a>, as an interactive tool for habitat designers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Click and connect<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When using the atlas, the team envisions that designers can take either a forward or backward approach. The atlas lays out habitat design elements, and their downstream behavioral connections, in roughly the order in which decisions are made in designing a mission.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, in designing a spacecraft to journey to Mars, a designer might take a forward approach, and first click on a feature associated with an early design stage, such as \u201cdistance from Earth,\u201d knowing that this would be a significant consideration. The atlas would automatically display risks associated with being far from Earth, such as limits to resources such as \u201cfood,\u201d \u201cmedical capability,\u201d and \u201cfamily and friends,\u201d and to behavioral health outcomes such as \u201cnostalgia\/homesickness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A designer could then take a backward approach. If, for instance, they want to prioritize minimizing nostalgia\/homesickness, they could click on the term to reveal design features and ideas that affect and could potentially improve it, such as in this case, \u201cplace attachment,\u201d or feeling emotionally attached to a place. Clicking on this term would in turn reveal upstream elements such as \u201creconfigurability\u201d and \u201cprivacy\u201d \u2014 design elements that could be put in place to encourate place attachment, and reduce homesickness.<\/p>\n<p>For every term that a designer clicks on, Lin and their colleagues provide a summary, based on empirical research, that explains both the term in the context of extreme habitats, and provides examples of design interventions. For instance, a designer who is looking for ideas to minimize social isolation on long-duration missions may click on the term, to reveal a description.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey may read that research has found \u2018access paths, stairs, entrances, contribute to the formation of friendships and social cohesion,\u2019\u201d Lin offers. \u201cSo that would give them an idea of connecting public spaces in the habitat, via the private spaces, so people have to mingle, essentially.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They emphasize that the new platform and the ideas informing it are not a one-size-fits-all for how to design any extreme habitat. That depends on a particular habitat\u2019s specifications and constraints.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRather, this helps you think about connections that might be important, but that aren\u2019t immediately obvious,\u201d Lin says. \u201cAs we envision truly becoming an off-planet species, or creating places we want to live in in space, there is so much potential for us to reimagine habitats that make us happy and productive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This research was supported, in part, by NASA.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers from MIT and other institutions have developed a new interactive online platform called the Human-Environment Connection and Interaction Atlas (HECIA) that is a tool for designing habitats in space and other extreme environments that allow crews to not just survive but thrive. Users can explore the relationships between aspects of a habitat\u2019s design and&hellip;&nbsp;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":34421,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"no","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[846,845,338,348],"tags":[123,850,851,191,848,852,849,196,847],"class_list":["post-34420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-habitat","category-space","category-stress-2","category-technology-2","tag-anxiety","tag-autonomy","tag-curiosity","tag-fatigue","tag-habitats","tag-kinship","tag-mitigation","tag-nostalgia","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34422,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34420\/revisions\/34422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}