Blow-Up Space Structures--Accelerating Private Space Enterprise

Inflatable spacecraft and habitats have been a staple of science fiction for decades. The relative vacuum of space allows inflatable structures to achieve uncharacteristic rigidity and structural strength.

After reaching orbit, Genesis 1 expanded from a diameter of about five feet (1.5 meters) to a configuration that is now more than eight feet (2.44 meters) across. In its pressurized, fully expanded status, the module yields 406 cubic feet (11.5 cubic meters) of usable volume and is energized by eight solar arrays — four on each end of the structure.

Genesis 1 remains in excellent shape, along with healthy avionics and is exhibiting good thermal conditions as it orbits Earth, said Robert Bigelow, founder and president of Bigelow Aerospace, as well as owner of the Budget Suites of America Hotel Chain, among other enterprises.

....Bigelow’s next space module, Genesis 2, is now being prepped for shipment to Russia. It is scheduled to be launched via a Dnepr rocket within the first quarter of this year, said Mike Gold, corporate counsel for Bigelow Aerospace in Washington.

....Genesis 2 will carry several new systems — such as reaction wheels for attitude control as well as a distributed, multi-tank inflation system — an improvement on the single-tank design of Genesis 1.

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Go to the link above for more information. For an interesting video dealing with inflatable structures in space, go here.

Inflatable structures can be built on earth and launched uninflated to save space. Once in place--in orbit, on the moon, on Mars, etc.--the habitat or structure can be inflated to its operational size. Quick and dirty, but effective, once radiation vulnerabilities can be worked out.