Projections

One cannot claim the importance of the lived experience in ICEs and then write an entire book without exploring the perspective of those who have been there. Thus, we intended to incorporate historical quotes and reflections from a broad gamut of those who have experienced ICE environments. Yet, we felt most of those reflections were incidental and, as such, may have missed important aspects from a more thoughtful consideration. So, while working on the book, we crafted a qualitative survey intended to prompt focused consideration on key aspects of habitability that seem to be important characteristics based on prior anecdotal reports and research observation and we sent it out to people who met the following qualifications: They had occupied a permanent structure (i.e., no tents, recreational vehicles or other temporary, transitional structures) for at least 2 weeks in duration located in a simulated or actual extreme environment that involved confinement and/or isolation. We asked questions about the following aspects: (1) What was most problematical with living in the ICE? (2) What worked? (3) How will extraterrestrial habitats differ from our terrestrial habitats? and (4) How would incorporating desirable elements help adapt to the extreme confinement and isolation conditions in a closed loop habitat? Short guest essays in Sect. 6.3 explores these questions.