At NASA’s request, five mechanical engineering students designed and assembled a prototype table and chair for astronauts in space or for places like the moon or Mars.
The furniture could serve many functions in environments where maximum flexibility with a minimum of fuss would be a plus.
“You’re going to have very limited space, so you can’t just send any furniture up,” says Laura Blumenschein, a member of team “Lunar Lounger,” whose capstone project took shape at Rice University’s Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen.
“And then you’ve got the partial gravity,” she adds. (Roughly one-sixth of Earth’s gravity on the moon, one-third on Mars.)
