  It is widely assumed that human exploration beyond Earth's orbit will require
vehicles capable of providing long-duration habitats that simulate an Earthlike
environment: consistent artificial gravity, breathable atmosphere, and
sufficient living space- while requiring the minimum possible launch mass. This
paper examines how the qualities of digital cellular solids - high-performance,
repairability, reconfigurability, tunable mechanical response - allow the
accomplishment of long-duration habitat objectives at a fraction of the mass
required for traditional structural technologies. To illustrate the impact
digital cellular solids could make as a replacement to conventional habitat
subsystems, we compare recent proposed deep space habitat structural systems
with a digital cellular solids pressure vessel design that consists of a carbon
fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) digital cellular solid cylindrical framework
that is lined with an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) skin.
We use the analytical treatment of a linear specific modulus scaling cellular
solid to find the minimum mass pressure vessel for a structure and find that,
for equivalent habitable volume and appropriate safety factors, the use of
digital cellular solids provides clear methods for producing structures that
are not only repairable and reconfigurable, but also higher performance than
their conventionally-manufactured counterparts.
