Ikea is working with American space experts at NASA to figure out how to make furniture for people in densely populated cities. The Swedish furniture company is sending a team of designers to an astronaut training facility in Utah. The group will be locked inside a ‘spaceship environment’ for three days to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges that spacefarers face working in cramped environments.

The head of the project, Ikea Creative Leader Michael Nikolic, describes the reason behind the strange collaboration in a company press release:

“I think that the essence of this collection will be about appreciating what we have on Earth: human beings, plants clean water and air. But also diversity and a sense of belonging – things that we take for granted on a daily basis. After this journey, it’ll probably feel pretty awesome to come home to my own bed,”

Whether or not the designers will create furniture that is space-themed, or simply inspired by the experience, remains to be seen.

At least now when your attempts at assembling an Ikea space-chair end in epic failure you can blame the fact that the company is literally working with rocket scientists to design it.