NASA Space Habitat HERA

                                                                    Hi Lego Guys!

We are very proud to introduce our new collaborative Lego project, built out of 1837 Lego bricks, between Dr. Emmanuel Urquieta  "Eurquieta": https://ideas.lego.com/profile/Eurquieta/profile        and I "whatsuptoday": https://ideas.lego.com/profile/whatsuptoday/profile , concerning the NASA Hera XI Mission. For those wishing to learn more about this design or the mission in real life, visit our free access eBooklet in English Spanish and French, here: http://whatsuptoday.free.fr/NASA-Hera-XI-Mission/eBooklet/English/NASA-Hera-XI-Mission.html

It would be great if Dr. Emmanuel Urquieta (one of the crew members of this mission and co-author of this Lego project), explains us what it is?
Well, Doc, it’s up to you!

"The Space Habitat HERA is a project designed by Whatsuptoday with advising from Emmanuel Urquieta. This is a replica of the NASA Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) habitat. HERA is managed by the Flight Analogs Project and its objective is to simulate deep space missions. The HERA habitat was originally designed for a project called Desert Research and Technology Studies (D-RATS) and it was operational in the Arizona desert where several analog missions simulating Mars surface exploration were conducted. In 2013 the module was moved to Houston, TX and modified to conduct analog missions simulating deep space exploration. One of the authors of this model was part of the HERA Mission XI in 2016 simulating a 30 day mission to an asteroid.

The habitat is divided in 3 levels:
L1- Has a circular core of 5.9m in diameter where several stations are in place to conduct robotic simulations, medical emergency simulations, geology research and biological research. Two additional modules are connected to the main core, the hygiene module (Serenity Module), and the airlock (Segment A) where Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) is simulated. In the center of the core a lift is in place.
L2- Is called the Badger Exploration Loft and was designed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It has several other stations including the aerobic exercise device, galley, wardroom table, and the electrolysis module.
L3- Includes four separate crew quarters.

On this video, Tess Caswell (another crew member of the Hera XI mission) invites you to visit the interior of the habitat!

Additionally a Multi Mission Surface Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV) is included in this set. During the HERA missions, the MMSEV is used to transfer the 2 mission specialists from the habitat to the surface of the asteroid in order to conduct EVA surface exploration.

Since one of the crew members who spent 30 days in this mission helped to build this model, every single detail has been built in LEGO bricks and this is a fully functional set.

We as a humanity have the goal of going to Mars in the near future, and missions like this one moves us one step closer to achieving that goal. If you are a space enthusiast like we are, you will enjoy this set and maybe will inspire future generations to continue space exploration.

Ad astra"

If you want to view the images of this project in HD + format, this link will take you there: https://www.flickr.com/photos/129688999@N08/albums/72157676747563920

NASA Hera XI Mission at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatsuptoday2016/

Great thanks to:

NASA Johnson Space Center for all the documentation and more!
To the four crew members of the HERA XI mission: Tess Caswell, Emmanuel Urquieta, Kyle Foster & Dan Surber, who authorized us to publish their own original minifigures.

Hope you enjoyed this project, do not hesitate to support it, share it with as many AFOL as possible ;-)
Thank you very much
Whatsuptoday