Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger has developed an emergency shelter for Mars; in February 2013 she tested the prototype in a simulation in Morocco. (Image: Katja Zanella-Kux).
A Passion For Extreme Living Environments
In her diploma thesis she developed a walking lunar base, during her Ph.D. in Munich at TUM she analyses American, Russian and international space stations. Recently she has developed an emergency shelter for Mars and tested the prototype in a simulation in the Moroccan desert together with her team. Her passion is for extreme living environments – not just in space but also on earth. “I want to find out how to live in extremely small spaces, how resources have to be managed here, while still maintaining or even improving quality of life”, says Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger. These are questions that are also of growing importance for earth’s increasingly dense metropolises.
Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger (center) presents a prototype of her emergency shelter for Mars (Image: Katja Zanella-Kux).
A Walk on The Moon
Constantly dealing with space and its infinite vastness has brought up some longings in the passionate scientist: “I would like to personally have a look at ISS, and I would love to experience zero gravity. And also to take a walk on the moon and inspect the building site for a future research station.” But travelling to Mars would be too far for her: “I am too attached to earthly things and my loved ones to do this. Maybe my son will do it in 30 years time and will send me a post card.”
Dr. Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger (Image: Ernst Kainerstorfer)
Doctorate in Architecture and Structural Engineering, 2010
Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger wrote her dissertation on Architecture for Astronauts (Springer Verlag 2011) at TUM. Since 2005 she is teaching at TU Vienna and has received a Scientific Award of the Federal State of Lower Austria for her research in 2017. She is mother to a son.
