CTEK Helps Danish Space Architects Plan For Life On The Moon
CTEK battery chargers recently helped power the very first moon analog habitat and are helping space architects design homes for the future.
Danish space architects Sebastian Aristotelis and Karl-Johan Sørensen, from the design company SAGA, are making it their mission to make space habitable for future space travelers.
The duo passionately believes that the design of homes in space will be a vital part of any mission or trip to the moon. Where space travelers live can significantly impact a person’s mental well-being and social sustainability while living and working in the harsh lunar environment.
Between September and November 2020, Sebastian and Karl-Johan embarked on the LUNARK expedition, which saw them live for two months in the very first moon analog habitat in the Arctic.
The LUNARK expedition took place in Greenland, because, just like the moon, Greenland has an extreme climate far away from civilization. The landscape is bare and lifeless, and the sun does not follow a normal circadian rhythm.
While Sebastian and Karl-Johan didn’t need to wear spacesuits, they did have to wear a polar suit to survive the cold. They endured -30°C temperatures, hurricane winds, and even hungry polar bears.
PRO25S Helped Keep Habitat Batteries Charged
Due to the remote location of the expedition, the LUNARK team used a generator, with variable power outputs of up to 5.5 kW. They used this generator to charge 10 lithium (LiFePO4) 12V batteries with a capacity of 10x 100Ah that provided power to the habitat.
The estimated power consumption of the habitat meant that these critical batteries would drain in approximately 24 hours with no charging.
CTEK provided the LUNARK team with five professional-level PRO25S battery chargers, that can efficiently and safely charge 12V Lithium LiFePO4 batteries. With a combined charging amp of around 125A, the PRO25S chargers could charge all batteries fully in 8 hours.
Designed and tested in Sweden, CTEK products can be used in the harshest conditions, so efficiency and performance would not be compromised.
Now safely back from their mission, Sebastian and Karl-Johan say they have learned a lot from their experience.
“This experiment has led to the development of a radically different moon habitat where architecture helps to counteract monotony, claustrophobia, and psychological stress,” said the duo. “We wanted to understand with our own bodies what is truly important when living in isolation under these extreme conditions.”
The pair added, “The CTEK chargers were an important part of our mission and meant that we could undertake our mission without power interruption. They were the perfect solution for our habitat in the extreme climate of the Arctic. We would like to say thank you to CTEK for their support.”
