// Independent Research Initiative · Founded 2026
About Human Space Support
Human Space Support is an independent initiative documenting the human-factors constraints of long-duration spaceflight. The food, the air, the psychology, the bones turning to dust. Built as a public reference. Designed to grow into the analog testing capacity these problems demand.
// 01 / Mission
Why this exists
Every conversation about Mars colonization talks about rockets. Almost none of them talk about what 150 people actually do for 365 days in a closed metal tube. How much food they need. How much water. How their bones degrade. How their psychology fractures. Whether their children can even be born off-Earth.
The rocket problem is an engineering challenge with active billion-dollar programs working on it. The human-factors problem is a sprawling, interdisciplinary, underfunded research area scattered across hundreds of NASA papers, Antarctic analog studies, Soviet-era cosmonaut data, and university labs nobody reads.
Our mission is to consolidate that research into a single, public, freely accessible reference — and to make the parts that don't exist yet impossible to ignore.
If humanity is serious about leaving Earth, somebody has to map this layer first.
// 02 / Scope of Work
What we publish
The Human Space Support framework currently covers four major work areas:
Area 01
The Twelve Systems Framework
A structured map of the twelve interconnected human-factors systems that determine whether a long-duration crew survives — food, air, water, psychology, physical decline, awakening, anti-decay, the 150 human test, continuity, decisions, skills, and cascade effects.
Area 02
The Scenario Engine
An interactive computational model that runs the math live across all twelve systems for any crew size, mission duration, and habitat configuration. Designed as both a public education tool and a first-pass planning reference.
Area 03
The Reference Library
Documented case files of long-duration astronauts, historical spaceflight incidents, published hard-limits data, and the scientific literature underlying every claim on this site.
Area 04
The Open Problems Index
A numbered, citable list of the unsolved questions in long-duration human spaceflight that need active research — assembled to direct attention from researchers, engineers, students, and funders.
The foundational research already exists. NASA, ESA, JAXA, Roscosmos, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and the broader academic community have produced decades of remarkable work on long-duration human spaceflight. Human Space Support draws from that body of research, organizes it into a single accessible reference, and gives the next generation of researchers, engineers, and educators a structured place to build from and hit the ground running.
// 03 / Methodology
How we work
We follow a documented editorial methodology. The goal is to be transparent, citable, and correctable.
Source from public, peer-reviewed material
Every claim traces to NASA technical publications, peer-reviewed spaceflight medicine literature, ISS operational data from public agency releases, Mars analog studies (HI-SEAS, Mars-500, NEEMO, Antarctic stations), or published astronaut accounts.
Show the math
Where we calculate, model, or extrapolate, we publish the assumptions and the formulas. Nothing is presented as black-box truth.
Mark the unknowns
Where the science isn't settled, we say so. Where we're speculating, we label it. Where data simply doesn't exist, we add it to the Open Problems index.
Correct openly
Errors are corrected publicly with credit to the contributor who flagged them. The framework evolves as the science evolves.
Stay independent
Editorial decisions are made on the basis of scientific evidence, not institutional alignment. Financial support from individual donors, philanthropic foundations, and aligned partners is welcome and necessary. No funding source directs content. The firewall between funding and editorial is permanent.
// 04 / Editorial Position
Ambitious realism
Most public coverage of space colonization falls into one of two traps:
Failure Mode 01
Cheerleading
Hype-driven optimism with no constraints attached. "Mars by 2030!" without ever showing the math on what 100 people actually need to survive there.
Failure Mode 02
Doom
Reflexive pessimism with no engineering attached. "We'll never make it" without ever naming the specific failure modes that need solving.
Human Space Support occupies a third position: ambitious realism. The constraints are real and quantifiable. The problems are hard but solvable. What is missing is the public, structured map of where the work needs to happen. That is the gap we exist to fill.
// 05 / Audience
Who this is for
This site is built to be useful whether you are a researcher, a student, or just someone who got curious after watching a launch:
Researchers & Academics
As a starting reference for cross-disciplinary work in spaceflight medicine, life support engineering, and crew psychology.
Engineers & Students
As a problem index pointing toward unsolved questions worth a research career, a thesis topic, or a grant proposal.
Journalists & Educators
As a citable, sourced reference for writing about Mars colonization, ISS operations, and long-duration spaceflight without losing accuracy.
Writers & Designers
As a grounding layer for science fiction, game design, simulations, and any work that needs a credible model of life off-Earth.
Policy & Funders
As a public-facing summary of where the gaps are in long-duration spaceflight readiness — and where targeted research could move the needle.
Curious Minds
For anyone who watched a SpaceX launch and thought: "wait, what happens to the people inside?"
// 06 / Support the Work
Funding the next phase
The current framework (twelve systems, the scenario engine, the reference library, the open problems index) is the public-facing work. The next phase is harder: actually testing the open problems. Closed-system food and waste studies. Habitat-volume psychology trials. Long-duration crew compatibility research. Original analog studies designed to fill the gaps the framework documents.
That phase requires funding. Real funding. Equipment, facilities, personnel, ethics review, ongoing operations. Until that funding exists, Human Space Support documents what's already been published and points at what hasn't. If you're in a position to help make that next phase happen, here's how.
The goal is to move from documenting the open problems to running the studies that close them.
Several paths can accelerate that:
Individual donations
Personal contributions — large or small — directly fund the editorial work, research time, and infrastructure that keeps this initiative running. As the donation pipeline opens, every contributor has a path to be acknowledged in the support roll.
Foundation and philanthropic grants
Foundations and philanthropic funders whose missions align with science literacy, space research, or long-term human futures are the natural first partners for funding original analog studies on the open problems.
Aligned major gifts
Individuals with the means to fund a specific study, sponsor a system page, or back the formal nonprofit transition can have outsized impact at this stage. Custom partnerships are welcomed and acknowledged.
Cite, share, and connect
If financial support isn't available, the highest-leverage non-monetary help is reach. Cite Human Space Support in your reporting, your teaching, or your grant work. Share it with people who fund this kind of research. Connect us with potential partners.
To discuss support, partnership, or aligned funding, write to support@humanspacesupport.org.
// 07 / Long-Term Vision
Where this is going
Human Space Support is in its first version. The progression goes like this. First, model the variables we already understand. Then, expose the variables that need investigation. Then, run the tests that turn unknowns into known limits.
Phase 01 — Active
Model
Build the framework, document what's known, publish the math. This is where the initiative is right now.
Phase 02 — Underway
Expose
Surface the variables nobody has measured. Track the open problems. Pinpoint exactly what needs testing — and why current mission planning can't proceed without it.
Phase 03 — Funded
Test
Commission and run the analog studies. Closed-system food and waste trials. Habitat-volume psychology research. Original data. The phase that depends on funding the initiative is built to attract.
Over time, Human Space Support aims to grow into:
The standard public reference for human-factors research in long-duration spaceflight — cited by journalists, used by educators, consulted by mission planners.
An expanded modeling capability that documents new variables as the science evolves and exposes the gaps that mission planning still has to confront.
A formal nonprofit with the structure to receive research grants, commission original analog studies, and run dedicated testing on the most urgent open problems.
An influence on planning: a reference layer that the next generation of mission designers consults before they sign off on a 100-person, 365-day mission profile.
Each phase depends on the one before it, and each requires more support than the last.
// 08 / Independence Statement
On editorial independence
Human Space Support is independent of NASA, ESA, JAXA, Roscosmos, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and every other space agency, government program, and commercial spaceflight operator. No agency or contractor sets editorial direction. No funding source dictates content. The firewall between funding and editorial decisions is permanent and non-negotiable.
This independence is what makes financial support from individual donors, philanthropic foundations, and aligned partners possible without compromising the work. Every supporter is contributing to research that does not owe anything to anyone.
The initiative does not endorse or oppose any specific mission profile, timeline, or destination. We do not predict when humans will live on Mars. We do not advocate for or against the broader project of space colonization. Those questions are left to readers to decide for themselves, with better information than they had before.
We are not a peer-reviewed research publication. Material on this site should be used as a starting reference and a problem index, not as a final scientific authority.
// 09 / Contact
Reach the editorial team
The Human Space Support editorial team can be reached at contact@humanspacesupport.org.
Support & Funding
Donations, aligned partnerships, and grant inquiries: support@humanspacesupport.org
Corrections
Found an error or an outdated citation? Source notes are updated openly with credit.
Press & Citations
Writing about long-duration spaceflight? We can help with sourcing, technical review, and quotes.
Partnerships
Foundations, research institutions, and aligned organizations interested in formal collaboration.
// The Charter
The work is straightforward.
Map the human side of spaceflight.
Keep mapping it until it's done.
The hardware is being built. The mission profiles are being drawn up. What is still missing is the public, structured, citable map of the human side. The food, the air, the psychology, the math that decides whether a crew comes home.