entire design process; and the goal was not to optimize the items on the list of criteria individually without mutual compromise or trade-offs, but rather to optimize the system as a whole. The dominating design objective was to provide a facility to accommodate the six month mission of SPORE. SPORE is to perform identical medical, botanical and marine experiments simultaneously in various centrifugally induced pseudogravita- tional environments in order to determine the space-optimized conditions for health and productivity, by function. These issues of health and productivity must be tempered by the increased costs associated with the creation and maintenance of the higher pseudogravitational environments. The subjects of the botanical and marine experiments were selected based on their [1] high adaptability to new environments; [2] ability to provide a source of sustenance; and (3] anticipated relevance to the establishment and maintenance of a closed-loop ecosystem. For example, specific species of fish were selected based on their adaptability and nutritious value; and it is quite possible that fish are as suited to water in 0.5g as they are in 1,0g (Earth normal gravity). That being the case, similar marine life could be located in a lower, less expensive to produce, pseudogravitational environment with virtually no significant side effects. For this reason, it was decided to design SPORE to accommodate eleven conditions varying from 0g in one-tenth increments to 1.0g, which would act as the standard for the comparison of the experiments. (The importance of the standard is to account for the effects resulting from the 2 rpm rotation necessary to produce the various pseudogravitational forces.) The dominating criteria were health, safety, environmental stability, and comfort. As is the case in the design of any environment, there are five major design parameters: safety requirements, construction methodology, structural stability and integrity, program goals and last but not least, financial considerations. When designing in an alien environment such as LEO, these considerations take on greater significance and can quite literally become a matter of life or death (see Fig. 1). Safety Requirements. The primary purpose of safety requirements is to design for failure and to maximize the chances for human survival in the event of failure. From
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