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Inflatable habitats.



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 9th 11, 07:56 AM posted to sci.space.station
Brian Gaff
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Default Inflatable habitats.

Now I don't know about you, but all these designs and talk of space lofts
and inflatable habitats, worries me a little. I'd not want to live in one.
It just seems to be so much more vulnerable than normal hardware.

Brian

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  #2  
Old June 9th 11, 03:48 PM posted to sci.space.station
Alan Erskine[_3_]
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Default Inflatable habitats.

On 9/06/2011 4:56 PM, Brian Gaff wrote:
Now I don't know about you, but all these designs and talk of space lofts
and inflatable habitats, worries me a little. I'd not want to live in one.
It just seems to be so much more vulnerable than normal hardware.

Brian


Why?
  #3  
Old June 10th 11, 07:02 AM posted to sci.space.station
Alan Erskine[_3_]
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Default Inflatable habitats.

On 10/06/2011 3:01 PM, Brian Gaff wrote:
Well, one assumes that the rigidity of the structure depends on it being
inflated, or at least the supports being rigid due to them being inflated.
Also, I think its so counter intuitive as to be a hard task to persuade
people its actually safe!

In solid modules, one can build micro meteorite protection on the outside,
and I've yet to see a convincing design. OK see is the wrong word, but you
know what I mean.

Brian


It's inflated with foam, not just with air/gas. Look at Bigelow's ideas
and the TransHab idea it's based on. Quite rigid and by all accounts,
actually safer than a metal structure due to the thicker walls.

Radiation protection is apparently also better with a TransHab-style module.
  #4  
Old June 10th 11, 08:26 AM posted to sci.space.station
Jorge R. Frank
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Default Inflatable habitats.

On 9/06/2011 4:56 PM, Brian Gaff wrote:
Now I don't know about you, but all these designs and talk of space lofts
and inflatable habitats, worries me a little. I'd not want to live in
one.
It just seems to be so much more vulnerable than normal hardware.


Hypervelocity impact tests at NASA show that inflatable modules handle
MMOD impacts better than conventional aluminum modules.
  #7  
Old June 11th 11, 10:17 AM
jewelryab jewelryab is offline
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Default

I figured we'd be driving other people crazy with our silly remarks. I guess the shoe is on the other foot now, eh? Still, dreab likes both Dog Soldiers and the young ones, so that's something.
  #9  
Old June 21st 11, 04:34 AM
neilzero neilzero is offline
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Posts: 22
Unhappy

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Findley View Post
In article m,
says...

Material designs such as Kevlar are also better at protection than this
aluminium shells.

But yeah, n "inflatable" module inspires less confidence at the
emotional level, even though logically, it is better.


Note that bicycle tires are inflated to 100psi, while an inflatable hab
would be inflated to only 14.7psi. So the actually pressure isn't THAt
great.


Inflatable pressure vessels aren't that hard to design and build. After
all, what's an EVA suit if not a small inflatable pressure vessel? The
big reason they use such low pressure is due to maximize mobility of the
suit (both range of motion and the force needed to attain that motion).

The nice thing about an inflatable station module is that you inflate it
once, and after that, there are no moving parts like you find in EVA
suit joints. The joints are the hardest part of an EVA suit, especially
the gloves.

Jeff
--
" Solids are a branch of fireworks, not rocketry. :-) :-) ", Henry
Spencer 1/28/2011
The bicycle tire comparison does not inspire confidence. The tire has, perhaps, 80 square inches of inner surface trying to burst the tire = 8000 pounds total pressure. A large inflatable habitat might have a billion square inches of pressurized inner surface = 14,700,000,000 pounds of pressure trying to burst my habitat. My guess is a billion square inches is the upper limit for inflatable habitats, unless you can handle 4 psi, 98% oxygen. Neil
  #10  
Old November 25th 11, 07:30 AM
Brian69 Brian69 is offline
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Gaff View Post
Now I don't know about you, but all these designs and talk of space lofts
and inflatable habitats, worries me a little. I'd not want to live in one.
It just seems to be so much more vulnerable than normal hardware.

Brian

--
Brian Gaff -
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
NASA's exploration mission is to send humans to the Moon and Mars, in which the purpose is to learn how to live and work safely in those harsh environments. A critical aspect of living in an extreme environment is habitation, and within that habitation element there are key systems which monitor the habitation environment to provide a safe and comfortable living and working space for humans. Expandable habitats are one of the options currently being considered due to their potential mass and volume efficiencies. This paper discusses a joint project between the National Science Foundation (NSF), ILC Dover, and NASA in which an expandable habitat was deployed in the extreme environment of Antarctica to better understand the performance and operations over a one-year period. This project was conducted through the Innovative Partnership Program (IPP) where the NSF provided the location at McMurdo Station in Antarctica and support at the location, ILC Dover provided the inflatable habitat, and NASA provided the instrumentation and data system for monitoring the habitat. The outcome of this project provided lessons learned in the implementation of an inflatable habitat and the systems that support that habitat. These lessons learned will be used to improve current habitation capabilities and systems to meet the objectives of exploration missions to the moon and Mars.
 




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