It’s the little things in life.

As more and more research is poured into how we humans could seriously go to Mars in the not too distant future, all signs point to the biggest factor of success or failure will not be the machinery that controls air and water, the rocket engines, the flight trajectory calculations, or anything else that involves hard math or blue prints. No, humans are the wild card, and how to keep them running properly is the big challenge.

How to keep a human happy and sane? People with multiple degrees who have spent their lives studying this question will tell you it really comes down to the things that seem, at first glance, very mundane. What is the biggest factor that has made the International Space Station a success?

The fact that it has a window.

Windows were initially considered a frivolous waste of energy…