Designing a Sleep Cabin for Life in an Orbital Home

A sleeping bag is only the beginning

A photograph of an astronaut secured inside a sleeping bag makes orbital sleep look like a problem of restraint. Keeping a person from drifting is easy to see. Less visible are the surrounding decisions about lighting, noise, ventilation, privacy and the timing of work. A sleep compartment is therefore a small but demanding part of a habitat's overall architecture.

The Canadian Space Agency explains that sleeping quarters in microgravity do not require the familiar terrestrial arrangement of a horizontal bed. NASA's account of station sleep practices describes private quarters, scheduling and adjustable lighting among the relevant considerations. These are useful starting points for understanding a cabin. They are not a prescription for treating sleep difficulties on Earth, and they do not establish that any attractive futuristic bedroom would work in flight.