Inflatable space stations take off

Read our interview with Robert Bigelow from Bigelow Aerospace: http://www.newscientist.com/channel/o...

Bigelow Aerospace has already sent two prototypes of its inflatable space station into orbit and plans to start leasing its space stations in 2010.

• Category

  Science & Technology

[DamienZshadow]

Wow, this is awesome. Just another new innovation to help extend our reaches further into space. Take off is the most costly and difficult part of any space mission, so making things lighter and smaller is a huge step forward. But what I'm wondering is what the hell is it made out of? Hopefully this 'balloon' can be enough to deflect space debri and piercing particles traveling a neck breaking speeds around in the same orbit they are.

[newscientistvideo]

Apparently these spacecraft are made of several layers of vectran, a material twice as strong as kevlar. Bigelow claims that the flexible shells are more resistant to tiny metorite impacts than hard shells. Pretty amazing!

Sandrine Ceurstemont

NewScientist Editor

[702LTR450]

bigelow is the shit, im trying to get a job there now.

[DamienZshadow]

Wow, way to call me back to a comment I made 5 years ago lol Still, it's very good timing since I believe I may have overheard that this or something similar is currently in the works.

[billy pilgrim]

damm right buddy. smarter spending vs excessive spending will get us to the stars.

[TestTheAcid]

open minded ppl worth killing ppl who are that open that their brains fall out........or it just goes to show there is no space junk and its all intelligent and never gonna cause problems

[noturaveragewatcher]

Not small minded people of course.

[TestTheAcid]

THIS IS COMPLETE BULLSHIT what person in the right mind would go to space in an inflatable????

[Alex Schamenek]

BTW The inflatable module was originated by NASA. It was intended to be a habitation module for the ISS. They scrapped it but Bigelow saw the value. The fabric is made of many layers of various materials, some self healing. It's very sturdy. If I had to choose between the shuttle and Bigelow's Genesis 1, I would take shelter in Genesis 1. Even during a solar storm. If they really did put water between the layers it would offer some protection against gamma and cosmic radiation.

[Alex Schamenek]

We had two of those habitation modules at the ends of two extendable tethers. The entire ship can be spun to provide artificial gravity. The tethers allow the arms to expand depending on the pull of gravity you want. Our craft could go to Mars and provide Mars like gravity on the way and on the way back to Earth it could gradually extend till it provided Earth like gravity, allowing the astronauts to gradually adapt to the gravity they need.

[Alex Schamenek]

Bigelow actually was actually planning on using these in a vehicle that spins. I was on a student team that worked side by side with Bob Bigelow on his space hotel concept 12 years ago. We visited his facility in Vegas. Very very cool. We went inside a model of this inflatable module. I won't detail his hotel concept but you can see ours here.

h++p://arch.uh.edu/programs/gr­aduateprog/spacegradprog/index­.php