ALL SCI-FI

[bulldogtrekker]

NASA explores inflatable spacecraft technology
By BROCK VERGAKIS, Associated Press]



Devising a way to one day land astronauts on Mars is a complex problem and NASA scientists think something as simple as a child's toy design may help solve the problem. Safely landing a large spacecraft on the Red planet is just one of many engineering challenges the agency faces as it eyes an ambitious goal of sending humans into deep space later this century.

At NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, engineers have been working to develop an inflatable heat shield that looks a lot like a super-sized version of a stacking ring of doughnuts that infants play with. The engineers believe a lightweight, inflatable heat shield could be deployed to slow the craft to enter a Martian atmosphere much thinner than Earth's.

Such an inflatable heat shield could help a spacecraft reach the high-altitude southern plains of Mars and other areas that would otherwise be inaccessible under existing technology. The experts note that rockets alone can't be used to land a large craft on Mars as can be done on the atmosphereless moon. Parachutes also won't work for a large spacecraft needed to send humans to Mars, they add.

Hence the inflatable rings. The rings would be filled with nitrogen and covered with a thermal blanket.......

LINK:
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/nasa-explores-inflatable-spacecraft-technology

[Bud Brewster]

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Yet another fine post by the late Bulldogtrekker, one of the few members who truly understood what All Sci-Fi was all about.

BDT (Tim Edwards) added posts which inspired both our members and our guests to ponder the science which makes sci-fi exciting.

He is greatly missed . . .
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[mach7]

Project MOOSE in the early '60s was an example of inflatable re-entry. It was a last ditch recovery idea. I imagine it would have been a wild ride down!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOOSE

[Maurice]

[mach7]

MOOSE looks as if it would have worked, but it was an emergency use only deal.

[Gord Green]

BIGELOW AIRSPACE has been promoting a variety of inflatable space craft environments. They even had one installed on the ISS.

Certainly it makes sense in so many ways!
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[mach7]

It does until its holed by a micro meteor,

But then I don't know of any instance of the ISS or SkyLab
getting holed so maybe its not a big problem.

It would save weight and complexity.

[Gord Green]

Also I think "patching" the fabric would be easier than with a ridged metal habitat.

I would Invision that a spray aerosol foam could be used for additional radiation and micro meteorite protection.
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[mach7]

Emergency repair, yes it should be much easier on an inflatable than a hard structure.

A Very good point!