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Model of Inflatable Space Station to Launch Feb 16

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the long-term-thinking dept.

alex writes "A Russian rocket will launch a 1/3 scale model of of the Bigelow inflatable space station a week from Friday, according to The Space Fellowship. This prototype will carry a thousand personal objects donated by Bigelow Aerospace employees. If all goes well, another prototype should go up by September, and non-Bigelow-employee enthusiasts might be able to contribute their own garbage--err, personal items--to the project. (Via Futurismic)"

2 of 63 comments (clear)

  1. Replace "February 16th" with "June 16th" by benhocking · · Score: 4, Informative

    According to TFA.

    --
    Ben Hocking
    Need a professional organizer?
  2. Re:Would it work in the (near) vacuum of space? by david.given · · Score: 3, Informative

    Will the goo harden in orbit, or does it need an oxidizing agent?

    Vacuum has amazing evaporative power --- some substance with a volatile solvent in it should work fine. Exposed to vacuum, the solvent will evaporate off in practically no time. Plain PVA glue would most likely work, although you might need some thickener to reduce the flow rate.

    I don't know what the Bigelow hab is using; from the very limited information available, I don't think they're going for this approach. I suspect they're just using an ordinary tough skin.

    (The Apollo spacesuits had cooling systems that worked by evaporating water. The water evaporated so quickly that they had to keep the coolers turned all the way down, or the astronauts got far too cold...)