Habitas Program

The Habitas program was a program carried out by the ESA to determine the feasibility of space colonization or habitation.

History
The Habitas program was in development since around 1975 but only really began in 1977 when astronauts were placed in a mock-spacebase in the Atacama desert for 6 months. In 1978 astronauts carried out similar tests in Antarctica for another 6 months.

Habitas 1
The lunar program began in 1981 when several modules for a space base were sent into space in a Navona Rocket and were ferried from the space module to the moon. The base was built in several stages from 1981-82.

Habitas 2
In 1983 the Ferrari designed-and-built Lunar Car was shipped to the moon, allowing for better transportation of the astronauts. The first oxygen-supply tanks were also shipped allowing the astronauts to breathe air.

Habitas 3
THe third Habitas mission of 1983 was the first one that had astronauts living in the spacebase. Astronauts lived in the station for 17 days before returning home.

Habitas 4-8
Subsequent Habitas missions (1986-1991) were also short due to the not-so-practical oxygen tank system. In 1995 a specially made chemical oxygen generator was installed in the base by Habitas 8 allowing for prolonged stays on the moon. In the late 1990s there were also plans for eventually placing a base on Venus. When a Vesta spaceship was able to reach Mars it seemed more feasible for astronauts to land on the red planet.

Habitas 9
The Habitas 9 mission was carried out from 2001-2002. The first stage was similar to pre-Habitas 1 tests. In 2002 a Bernini Rocket carried out modules of the base to Mars. Astronauts remained here for 4 weeks before returning to earth.

Habitas 10
Habitas 10 has been the most recent stay in Mars. Astronauts lived in the mars base for 6 weeks in 2007.

Habitas 11
Habitas 11 has been the longest-duration mission in this program. Astronauts left Fortuna Space Center in March 15, 2009 and remained on the moon for 6 months, 11 days. This is presently the longest habitation in outer space.