The Arching Sky is Calling

[dunkelza]

Spacemen Back to Their Trade:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060713/ap_on_sc/private_space_station

Spacecraft successfully inflates in orbit
By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer Wed Jul 12, 10:55 PM ET

Comments

[taellosse]

I'm sure there must be more to it, but "inflatable technology" just doesn't sound very safe to me. There's an aweful lot of random debris in orbit, some of it moving quite fast and quite small. I wonder how well defended against rupture this stuff is.

Still, if it's at least moderately safe, that's fairly cool. Even if I do have visions of blow-up dolls whenever I hear a phrase like "inflatable technology."

[dunkelza]

Actually, the TRANSHAB inflatable technology was developed by NASA in part because it was more resilient, as well as easier to launch. The only reason NASA dropped it was congressional meddling.

Rigid skin craft are really, REALLY easy to puncture. The skin of this thing is built like a bulletproof vest.

[taellosse]

I figured it had to be something like that, and I know rigid hulls are less resilient. Its really just the word "inflatable" conjures thoughts of balloons, which are anything but durable. I'm smart enough to know that's got to be grossly innaccurate, but the image is there nonetheless.