Using leftover scraps from the International Space Station, engineers at the Marshall Space Flight Center are building a prototype for a deep space station as part of the Deep Space Habitat Project. Essentially, they are in the very early planning stages of creating the optimal living space for humans outside the Earth-Moon system.
First they need to figure out food storage and life support. But they are also considering things such as astronaut comfort and what type of craft would be necessary to service the station. Would it be possible to have a sustainable food source, such as a 3D printer or a greenhouse?
Its first test is if it can handle a 60 day mission and it’s second is to see if it could handle a 500 day mission.
Once, again these are the very early stages, but it could one day lead to a space station orbiting Mars or maybe even further out. There are thousands of books dedicated to humans living out among the stars and this is the next step after the International Space Station.
(h/t Wired)