Model of Inflatable Space Station to Launch Feb 16

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)"

Comments

Oh, this is actually happening?

[ZSpade]

That's awesome. And here I thought it was just a lot more talk like usual. You know what's funny is how much of a joke these simplistic little devices are going to make the ISS look like an over funded joke. That said, with out the ISS's prior existance, we probably wouldn't have enough data about how space effects humans to even be doing this. Truly amazing. The one thing I would fear, staying in a giant "bubble" like this... One micrometeorite and pop...

Re:Oh, this is actually happening?

[iamlucky13]

First of all, they are hardly simplistic little devices. NASA spent a fair bit of money and several years researching and development of the concept. No doubt Heinlein, Clark, or Asimov also discussed the idea of inflatable modules long before Bigelow heard about them.

NASA's Transhab project was originally intended to utilize inflatable modules for the ISS. Like most aerospace projects, it ran over budget and the program was cancelled before all of the technical challenges like reliable inflation (these are much more complex than a balloon) were solved. Bigelow bought rights on the NASA patents when he started his aerospace company, and has been working on ironing out the remaining design details and figuring how to reliably manufacture them for several years now.

Second, these are not quite as revolutionary as they sound. They do offer significantly more internal volume for the weight, but not a huge amount. I think it's about double for Bigelow's layouts. There is a lot of core framework, life support, etc equipment associated with each module. They also only address the issue of creating interior volume, not fueling, power, temperature control, docking, and all the other major parts of a space station. They also don't offer much benefit for certain ISS modules like Columbus, which has built in experimental stations that can't realistically be inflated and would be difficult at best to install in a SpaceHab module after inflation. However, the technology may later be applied in areas other than habitation. One proposal is replacing the aluminum trusses that support solar panels with inflatable tubes that become sufficiently rigid when pressurized. Third, they may actually be safer than current aluminum modules. The synthetic materials they are made from are even stronger than Kevlar, and layered just like the aluminum/mylar/whatever else currently used. The difference is that these are elastic, so they can be folded up conveniently for launch, and they maintain their outer shape via pressure rather than framing. The same radiation protection would be offered. When a micrometeorites do hit they will probably not be massive enough to penetrate the skin. If one does, you would have a slow leak that could be located and repaired. They aren't inflated to near their ultimate yield strength like balloons are, so a small breach would not immediately grow into a tear that would cause them to "pop."

Check out some of NASA's conceptual drawings for a better idea what these modules are really like.