Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Soviet Union established Mirny Station on the coast of East Antarctica during 1957. This station was one of several permanent structures built by nations participating in the International Geophysical Year. Temperatures at this location could drop below minus eighty degrees Celsius.
NASA trained astronauts inside an underwater habitat located off the Florida Keys. This facility allowed crews to practice spacewalk tasks while submerged in water. Researchers conducted studies on coral reefs alongside their isolation experiments within this environment.
China operates the Tiangong space station with multiple modules attached together. Beijing de-orbited its Tiangong-2 unit in 2019 after years of service. These stations provide controlled environments where humans can survive without atmospheric protection.
The goal remains establishing self-sustaining communities beyond Earth's atmosphere. Design teams focus on creating habitats that withstand radiation and temperature extremes. Resource utilization concepts aim to extract water ice from lunar craters.
NanoRacks finalized a contract with NASA to develop Independence-1 by converting spent rocket tanks into habitable living areas. Their proposal involves using existing hardware rather than building entirely new structures from scratch. The company won NextSTEP Phase II award funding to advance the concept.