- From 20 October – 5 November 2025 (3 Weeks, 6 Classes, 9 Hours)
- Every Monday and Wednesday at 1–2:30 p.m. Eastern U.S. Time (all sessions will be recorded and available for replay; course notes will be available for download)
- This unique course is at the leading edge of system-design-integration for human missions
- All students will receive an AIAA Certificate of Completion at the end of the course

This course explores the design, planning, and operational challenges of establishing human habitation on Mars. Experts in space architecture will discuss the unique constraints and opportunities of designing a Martian habitat, including mission planning, environmental hazards, and long-term sustainability strategies.
Topics covered include:
- The impacts of Mars’ environment (gravity, radiation, dust, atmosphere) on habitat design
- Transportation logistics and mission architectures for crew arrival and settlement growth
- Subsystem integration, focusing on Environmental Control & Life Support Systems (ECLSS), Crew Systems, and Health Maintenance
- The human factors of long-duration missions, habitability principles, and countermeasures
- Concepts for surface station layouts, modular approaches, and future expansion
- Strategies for resource utilization, resupply, and infrastructure maintenance
This course combines engineering and architecture perspectives to provide a comprehensive approach to Mars habitation design.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Gain an in-depths understanding of the key drivers shaping Martian habitation systems.
- Discover space architecture design strategies for the Martian environment
- Translate space architecture fundamental design drivers into system engineering practices.
AUDIENCE
This course is for decision makers, program managers,
chief engineers and architects working on space missions involving humans or
are interested in that field.
COURSE FEES (Sign-In
To Register)
- AIAA
Member Price: $695 USD
-
Non-Member Price: $895 USD
-
AIAA Student Member Price: $395 USD
OUTLINE
Class 1 (20 October):
Mars Environmental Challenges and Design
Implications
Instructors: Brand Griffin, Georgi Petrov
- Overview of Mars’ environmental conditions and their impact on habitat design
- Challenges & countermeasures for radiation, temperature, dust storms, and reduced gravity
- Key architectural considerations for surface structures and long-term habitability
Class 2 (22 October):
Habitability & Human Adaptation to Mars
Instructors: Sandra Haeuplik-Meusburger, Sheryl Bishop
- Fundamental habitability principles and their application to Mars
- Physical, Social and Psychological Challenges
- Lessons from Crew health, psychology, and performance on long-duration missions
- Lessons from analogue missions and spaceflight
- Adaptation strategies for Martian habitats
Class 3 (27 October):
Historical Precedents and Mars Mission
Planning
Instructors: TBD
- Lessons learned from past and current off-Earth habitation concepts
- Examples of Mars habitation concepts, from early studies to recent mission proposals
- Comparing orbital stations to planetary surface habitats – challenges and solutions
Class 4 (29 October):
Designing a Mars Habitat: Site Selection
& Planning
Instructors: Olga Bannova, Georgi Petrov
- Key factors for selecting a Martian settlement location
- Surface layout and habitat architecture – planning for modularity and future expansion
- Concepts of Operations (ConOps) / Developing self-sufficient and adaptive habitats
Class 5 (3 November):
Architectural Concepts for Future Mars
Settlements
Instructors: Melodie Yashar, TBD
- Special future-facing topics and concepts
Class 6 (5 November):
Final Q&A and Open Discussion
All instructors
Mr. Brand Griffin is the Program Manager for a Single-Person Spacecraft at Genesis Engineering Solutions. Before joining Genesis, he supported NASA’s Advanced Concepts Office at the Marshall Spaceflight Center where he participated in the analysis and design of lunar bases and deep space habitats. Formerly, he worked with Boeing as the lead configurator for Space Station Freedom and Habitation Module Manager. Among his innovative designs are an open-cockpit lunar hopper, a wheeled-landing pressurized rover, a horizontal lunar lander, and the Skylab II deep space habitat. His next generation space suit was on display for 10 years at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. Mr. Griffin has authored over 35 technical publications and numerous articles in books and periodicals. He was co-chair of the System Architecture and Mission Design Department at International Space University and was on the faculties of Tulane University, Rice University, and the University of Washington.
Dr. Sandra Häuplik-Meusburger is a Senior Lecturer at the TU Wien, Institute for Design and Building Construction. She is an accredited researcher in the field of Habitats in Isolated Confined Environments (ICE) and has worked and collaborated on several aerospace design projects. She is author of the book Architecture for Astronauts – An Activity-based Approach and Space Architecture Education for Engineers and Architects (with co-author Olga Bannova )by Springer Her new book Space Habitats and Habitability (with co-author Sheryl Bishop) summarizes relevant socio-spatial aspects for future space habitation. She is a corresponding member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and the current chair of the AIAA Space Architecture Technical Committee (SATC).
Dr. Olga Bannova is a Research Professor, Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston. She is also the current chair of the AIAA Space Architecture Technical Committee (SATC) and Director, Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA) and its Master of Science in Space Architecture program educating students for 15 years. She is the author of the book Human habitats beyond the planet Earth, led the IAA position paper The role of space architecture, and co-author with Sandra of the Space Architecture Education for Engineers and Architects, where they explain space architecture design strategy and major aspects of planning and designing to enable human space exploration. She is a corresponding member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and a secretary of the ASCE Aerospace Division Executive Committee. Research studies and grants include: DSG Habitability, Lunar Base, Deployable Airlock Studies, and lunar surface architectures (Boeing), 2 NASA’s Minimum Functionality Habitation Element studies (Boeing and ILC Dover), SpaceHab’s Lunar Exploration System, Commercial Launch Facility in West Texas (TAC), Houston Spaceport (HAS).
Sheryl L. Bishop, PhD is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas Medical Branch School of Nursing and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences since 1992. She has also served as faculty since 1996 at the International Space University, Strasbourg, France. As an internationally recognized behavioral researcher in extreme environments, for the last 30 years Dr. Bishop has investigated human performance and group dynamics in teams in extreme, unusual environments, involving deep cavers, mountain climbers, desert survival groups, polar expeditioners, Antarctic winter-over groups and various simulations of isolated, confined environments for space, including a number of missions at remote habitats (e.g., Mars Desert Research Station, Utah, HiSEAS in Hawaii and the FMARS and Mars Project on Devon Island, Canada). She has been a grant reviewer for the European Space Agency’s Concordia Station, the Canadian Space Agency’s Life Science Directorate, the Australian Antarctic Science Division, and the Czech Science Foundation. She has over 60 publications (including contribution to NASA’s Historical Series on Psychology in Space) and over 50 scholarly presentations in both the medical and psychological fields. She is frequently sought out as a content expert by various media and has participated in multiple television documentaries on space and extreme environments by Discovery Channel, BBC and 60 Minutes. Her most recent book, Space Habits and Habitability: Designing for Isolated and Confined Environments on Earth and Space, with space architect Dr. Sandra Hauplik-Meusburger, was released June 2021.
Mr. Georgi Petrov is a practicing architect, structural engineer and space architect. He is a Senior Associate Principal in the structures group at the New York office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, where he works on high-rises and long span structures around the world. He is the leader of SOM’s space architecture endeavors, with work exhibited at the 21st Architecture Biennale in Venice and the 23rd Triennale Milano International Exhibition. A founding Partner of Synthesis International, he has nearly two decades of experience in the field of space architecture and design for extreme environments. He is an adjunct professor at New York University and a visiting lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he teaches Design of Tall Buildings. He was the engineer of crew 22 of the Mars Desert Research Station. Georgi is vice-chair of the AIAA’s Space Architecture Technical Committee and will be the chair of the committee for a term 2024-2026. He holds a M.S. in structural engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a M.Arch from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Ms. Melodie Yashar is the Founder of New Worlds Registry, a 501(c)(3). Notable projects of hers include Mars Ice House and Mars X-House, both first prize winners in design within NASA’s Centennial Challenge for a 3D-Printed Habitat on Mars, as well as design and construction of the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. In 2020 Melodie joined ICON, a construction technologies company focused on large scale additive manufacturing for Earth and in space. At ICON, Melodie oversaw the architectural direction of ICON’s built work as well as the performance of ICON’s building systems. Collaborating across technology and construction teams, her department supported the design and construction of dignified and resilient terrestrial housing solutions in addition to supporting the development of ICON’s off-world construction systems. In previous roles Melodie was a Senior Research Associate with the Human Systems Integration Division at NASA Ames via San Jose State University Research Foundation (SJSURF), a co-founder of Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch+), a research group developing human-supporting designs for space exploration, as well as a Professor within the Architecture department of Pratt Institute. Melodie teaches undergraduate and graduate design studios at Art Center College of Design. Melodie obtained a Master of Architecture from Columbia University and a Master of Human-Computer Interaction for Robotics from the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon.
Classroom Hours / CEUs: 9 classroom hours, 0.9 CEU/PDH
Course Delivery and Materials
- The course lectures will be delivered via Zoom.
- All sessions will be available on-demand within 1-2 days of the lecture. Once available, you can stream the replay video anytime, 24/7. All slides will be available for download after each lecture.
- No part of these materials may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted, unless for course participants. All rights reserved.
- Between lectures, the instructors will be available via email for technical questions and comments.
Cancellation Policy: A refund less a $50.00 cancellation fee will be assessed for all cancellations made in writing prior to 7 days before the start of the event. After that time, no refunds will be provided.
Contact: Please contact Lisa Le or Customer Service if you have questions about the course or group discounts (for 5+ participants).