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Well, well, well....
Sounds like a subscale Bigelow hab launched on an EELV (Atlas, Delta or Falcon 9) for use as a storage facility.
Something about this size could also be used as a hab for asteroid missions.
NASASpaceflight.com....
Sounds like a subscale Bigelow hab launched on an EELV (Atlas, Delta or Falcon 9) for use as a storage facility.
Something about this size could also be used as a hab for asteroid missions.
NASASpaceflight.com....
January 14th, 2011
International Space Station Program (ISSP) managers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston held a two-day meeting this week to discuss the prospect of adding a Bigelow Aerospace inflatable module to the ISS. The Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) ran on Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th January.
ISS Inflatable Module:
The purpose of the ISS inflatable module would be a simple, limited capability stowage volume, similar in purpose to the currently on-orbit Japanese Logistics Platform (JLP), which serves as a stowage module for scientific equipment from the Japanese Pressurised Module (JPM) laboratory. The module would be certified to remain on-orbit for two years.
The module would be a collaboration between NASA and Bigelow Aerospace, with NASA HQ providing funding, the ISS National Laboratory Program providing project management, and NASA providing all Government Furnished Equipment (GFE), which includes the Passive Common Berthing Mechanism (PCBM), Flight Releasable Grapple Fixture (FRGF), smoke detector, fan, and emergency lights.
Bigelow would provide the inflatable and inner core structure of the module, and perform all required flight analysis.
“An inflatable module has a rigid center core where the equipment is typically located and where the fabric is stowed for launch. After the module is berthed, it is inflated resulting in a pressurized fabric shell with a cylindrical core structure that houses equipment, etc.†noted L2 info.
In-spite of their soft shell, Bigelow’s inflatable modules are more resistant to Micro Meteoroid Orbital Debris (MMOD) strikes than current metallic-shelled l ISS modules, in part due to Bigelow’s use of multiple layers of Vectran, a material which is twice as strong as Kevlar. In ground tests, MMOD objects that would penetrate ISS modules only penetrated half-way through the skin of Bigelow’s modules.
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International Space Station Program (ISSP) managers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston held a two-day meeting this week to discuss the prospect of adding a Bigelow Aerospace inflatable module to the ISS. The Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM) ran on Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th January.
ISS Inflatable Module:
The purpose of the ISS inflatable module would be a simple, limited capability stowage volume, similar in purpose to the currently on-orbit Japanese Logistics Platform (JLP), which serves as a stowage module for scientific equipment from the Japanese Pressurised Module (JPM) laboratory. The module would be certified to remain on-orbit for two years.
The module would be a collaboration between NASA and Bigelow Aerospace, with NASA HQ providing funding, the ISS National Laboratory Program providing project management, and NASA providing all Government Furnished Equipment (GFE), which includes the Passive Common Berthing Mechanism (PCBM), Flight Releasable Grapple Fixture (FRGF), smoke detector, fan, and emergency lights.
Bigelow would provide the inflatable and inner core structure of the module, and perform all required flight analysis.
“An inflatable module has a rigid center core where the equipment is typically located and where the fabric is stowed for launch. After the module is berthed, it is inflated resulting in a pressurized fabric shell with a cylindrical core structure that houses equipment, etc.†noted L2 info.
In-spite of their soft shell, Bigelow’s inflatable modules are more resistant to Micro Meteoroid Orbital Debris (MMOD) strikes than current metallic-shelled l ISS modules, in part due to Bigelow’s use of multiple layers of Vectran, a material which is twice as strong as Kevlar. In ground tests, MMOD objects that would penetrate ISS modules only penetrated half-way through the skin of Bigelow’s modules.
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