Inflatable space habitat

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Inflatable station concept during testing (NASA 1961)

Inflatable lunar habitat proposal (NASA 1989)

Inflatable habitats are pressurised modules for use in an outer space environment to support human life. They have frequently been proposed for use in space applications to provide a greater volume of living space for a given mass.

The first serious design and manufacture of an inflatable space habitat was in 1961 with a space station design produced by Goodyear (although this design was never flown).^[1] A proposal released in 1989 by Johnson Space Center's Man Systems Division outlined a 16 metres (52 ft) diameter spherical habitat lunar outpost which was partially buried in the lunar surface.

An inflatable module called Transhab (a portmanteau of Trans Habitation) was proposed for the International Space Station,^[2] and later the private company Bigelow Aerospace revived the design for its own use as a private space hotel.^[3]

1 Construction
2 Ongoing research
3 Advantages
4 Flight experience
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Construction

The construction of an inflatable space habitat is determined by its design objectives. However common elements include interwoven layers of Kevlar and mylar around a flexible air bladder which is used to retain an atmosphere. The shape of the module is maintained by the pressure difference between the internal atmosphere and the outside vacuum. The inflatable Bigelow Aerospace modules have an internal core which provides structural support during its launch into orbit.

An artists rendering of the Transhab inflatable module docked to the ISS.

[edit] Ongoing research

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Currently the main areas of research are being undertaken by Bigelow Aerospace and NASA. NASA is currently studying inflatable lunar bases with the planetary surface habitat and airlock unit^[4] which is in an early prototype phase; later on, the unit is to be tested at the Antarctic in 2008^{[citation needed]}.