Inflatable Spacecraft
Published on Jul 13, 2006 at 1:40 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under space businesses, space exploration.
Yesterday, the Bigelow Aerospace Genesis I spacecraft was launched into orbit using a converted Soviet ICBM (a Dnepr rocket) from the Kosmotras Yasny space launch complex in Russia. This is exciting news, as it marks yet another commercial space venture. More and more private companies are entering space. And, the more private space ventures, the cheaper, safer, and more common that space exploitation will become. A growing number of scientists believe that moving off of our planet, or at least developing a significant off-planet presence is essential to the survival of our species.
The Genesis I spacecraft is a 14 foot by 4 foot cyllindrical craft when launched. Shortly after launch, solar panels deployed. The spacecraft then inflated to double its diameter. That’s right, you heard me right: inflated. This is Bigelow’s plan for future space habitats. The idea is to launch them compactly, and then they will inflate to full size once in orbit. In a few months, a second Genesis spacecraft will fly. This will be another test of the concept, but will have a commercial aspect, too, as Bigelow will allow private individuals to pay to ship small objects into space aboard the craft. Photos will be taken of the objects in space for participants. While this is simply a novelty, it does make a tiny bit of money. That is how private industry works, of course. The more money that can be made through spaceflight, the more spaceflight there will be.
So, why have an inflatable spacecraft? Well, quite simply, Bigelow Aerospace is looking to put larger inflatables into orbit with greater utility. Within a couple of years, they want to launch the Nautilus, a module 45 feet long and 22 feet in diameter when inflated. This provides a very large volume. The idea is that the Nautilus is to be a prototype space station module. Yep. Again, you read that right. They want to put an inflatable space station into orbit. Look at that size: 45 feet long and 22 feet wide. That is positively HUGE by space station standards. And, that is just one module of a space station! Link several together, and you’ve got yourself a pretty good size base of operations. And, these modules would be very spacious compated with the International Space Station modules. Even better, they would be very light, so it would be far less expensive to launch them. But, inflatable?
The idea isn’t new. The world’s first operational communication satellite, Echo IA, launched August 12, 1960, was basically a mylar baloon placed into orbit and inflated. It didn’t really do anything, not like Telstar, which I had an entry about a couple days ago. Echo was simply a mirror that radio signals reflected off of. Eventually, it sprung a leak and deflated. Subsequent Echo satellites didn’t fare so well, either not inflating, or not inflating properly. Still, the idea was sound.
Well, we’ve come a long way since Echo. Bigelow’s ideas are sound. Rather than using simple metallized mylar, the new synthetic materials available are far stronger and more durable. Made of vectran, a material stronger than kevlar, these new generation inflatables may wind up being even more resillient to micrometeor impacts than the traditional metallic space station modules. They are also vastly less expensive, with Nautilus modules having an anticipated price in the neighborhood of $100 million apiece (excluding launch costs, I suppose). And with only about 23,000 kilograms mass, launch costs would be far less than those of similar metallic modules. However, I do wonder about radiation shielding. There is a lot of radiation in space, and I don’t know how this material will do for shielding. I have not studied the radiation properties of vectran, but I can’t help but imagine that it is less protection than a metallic skin. Perhaps some other layers along the inner walls would help. But, even the astronauts onboard the ISS get a pretty hefty radiation dosage. Interestingly, the best shielding seems to be water. Susan Helms, a NASA astronaut aboard the ISS determined that if you put the water stores surrounding the sleeping area, you dramatically reduce radiation exposure. So, perhaps the solution to radiation shielding in the Nautilus modules might be simply to move water stores to the outer part of the station. In fact, if the module spins slowly along its longitudinal axis, then the water would even want to stay there, and it would be easier to manage and pump where you want it.
But what do you do with these space station modules? Bigelow anticipates selling them as orbital labs, modules for other space stations, and even stringing them together to make space hotels. Space tourism can be big business. Already, several multi-millionaires have paid for flights into space aboard Soyuz craft. Virgin Galactic and other startup companies expect to start offering suborbital rides into space within the next few years. The next step would be to have a space hotel, a space resort, or perhaps a space timeshare. Interestingly, the founder of Bigelow Aerospace is Robert Bigelow, owner of Budget Suites of America, a hotel chain!
I eagerly anticipate the results of this Genesis I flight, and I look forward to increased private space endeavors.
-Astroprof
Astroprof’s Page » Flying your business card into space on November 6, 2006 at 4:51 pm: 1
[…] Getting people to pay to send inert stuff into orbit on these test flights isn’t new to Xenotech. This past summer, I had posted about Bigelow Aerospace’s idea of your paying to fly objects into space on its tests of an inflatable spacecraft. Really, I think that this is a great way to generate public interest in space enterprise. And besides, it gets a tiny bit of money coming into the company on what would otherwise be a test flight that did nothing but spend money. Now, I can’t imagine that the income from $10 business cards could come even close to the cost of flight, but it does bring in somethng, and nobody would pay to send a business card at the actual cost of flight! […]
Astroprof’s Page » Inflatable Moonbase on February 26, 2007 at 4:42 pm: 2
[…] NASA is testing an inflatable ground station for consideration of future lunar and planetary missions. The structure, called the “Planetary Surface Habitat and Airlock Unit” is supposed to be a simple structure,easy to set up, and (relatively) roomy inside. The idea is that carrying metallic structures to the Moon or Mars is difficult, and the pieces are heavy and bulky. Heavy, and to a lesser degree bulky, means spending a lot more money. Furthermore, assembly is a major task while wearing a bulky spacesuit, not to mention hazardous. If you cut yourself building something on Earth, you put a bandage on the injury. If you cut your spacesuit in space, you die. But, an inflatable structure would be lightweight and very compact. That would make it less expensive to transport. And, being inflatable, there is minimal assembly. ILC Dover has build and delivered to NASA’s Langley Research Center a prototype of such a structure, as seen in the photo above. The idea of inflatable structures is not unique to NASA. The idea has been around for a while. In fact, the Soviet Union flew an inflatable airlock aboard Voskhold 2 in 1965 in order to perform the first every spacewalk. Bigelow Aerospace last year put an inflatable spacecraft into orbit as a test of a soon to be launched much larger inflatable module. You might think that something inflatable won’t be very strong, but that isn’t so. There is a lot of air pressure pushing outward against the vacuum of space, and this makes the inflatable craft rather rigid. Modern synthetic materials are also very strong and sturdy. Some are even more puncture resistant that the very thin layers of metal used in the Apollo lunar landing craft. When I first heard of inflatable spacecraft, my immediate reaction was to think of balloons and how easy they are to pop. Well, that is nothing at all like these craft. They are tough. […]
Astroprof’s Page » Genesis II in Orbit on July 2, 2007 at 8:53 am: 3
[…] Last week, a Russian Dnepr rocket lifted off carrying an American company’s space station early prototype module. Bigelow Aerospace’s Genesis II seems to be doing quite well. Bigelow has an interesting idea. They are using inflatable modules. The idea is that a collapsed module can be launched on heavy launch vehicles and then inflated in orbit to provide a space station module far larger than could otherwise be economically placed into orbit. This is Bigelow’s second inflatable space spacecraft. I blogged about the first one about a year ago. […]