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Vegas' Bigelow Aerospace to launch first space station

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  • #1

    Vegas' Bigelow Aerospace to launch first space station

    [Update: The launch was a success. See post #40]

    On June 16, Bigelow Aerospace will launch its first test space station from an ICBM silo in Dombarovsky, Russia. This is the first of more than a half-dozen test space stations that Bigelow will be launching over the next 5 years.

    For the uninitiated, BA's space stations are inflatable. The space stations have shells about 1 foot thick that are made of numerous layers of fabric. Once the station is in space, it is inflated. By comparison, the International Space Station has a hard metal shell. BA's stations will have much more living volume than that of the International Space Station and will be much safer from space debris.

    This is another of the American private space endeavors that I think are exciting to watch. The amount invested so far is about $70 million, a small fraction of what it would cost for NASA to do similar stuff.

    Inflation Factor: Bigelow Readies Test Module
    http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/05097_bigelow_prep.html
    A test of an inflatable Earth orbiting module is slated for liftoff early next year, bankrolled by a go-it-alone, do-it-yourself entrepreneur keen on providing commercial space habitats for research and manufacturing, among other duties.

    Bigelow Aerospace
    http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/index.htm
    Bigelow Aerospace Homepage
    Attached Files
    Last edited by DanS; July 12, 2006, 12:09.
    I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891
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  • #2
    The interior of a space station module, once inflated. Very roomy.
    Attached Files
    I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

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    • #3
      A picture of mission control in North Las Vegas, on the opposite side of I15 from the airport.
      Attached Files
      Last edited by DanS; June 2, 2006, 12:16.
      I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

      Comment

      • #4
        Another view of mission control.
        Attached Files
        I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

        Comment

        • #5
          Anybody in Vegas taking odds on whether or not the rocket blows up?

          Looks cool. It would be great if it wasn't just NASA (and other such agencies) pioneering in space. The more the merrier.

          -Arrian
          grog want tank...Grog Want Tank... GROG WANT TANK!

          The trick isn't to break some eggs to make an omelette, it's convincing the eggs to break themselves in order to aspire to omelettehood.

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          • #6
            Well hopefully it works as planned. I would love to see the inflatables succeed. How big is the first one?

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            • #7
              The private sector probably can do this stuff at least an order of magnitude less expensively than can NASA. If the market for space activities is fairly elastic, perhaps this will mean that much more activity occurs in space when the private approach is taken.

              FYI, the first level Bayesian estimate of the chance of the rocket blowing up is 14%. The Dnepr has successfully launched on all of its previous 5 tries.
              I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

              Comment

              • #8
                Originally posted by Harry Tuttle
                Well hopefully it works as planned. I would love to see the inflatables succeed. How big is the first one?
                The first test module is about 12% the volume of the full-sized module: 15 feet (5 meters) in length and 6.2 feet (1.9 meters) in diameter, expanding to twice the diameter once in orbit. So roughly 60 cubic meters in volume in comparison to 500 cubic meters for the full-sized module (330 cubic meters of which is usable).

                By comparison, a full-sized International Space Station module has a diameter of 4 meters and length of 11 meters. So roughly 140 cubic meters.
                Last edited by DanS; June 2, 2006, 12:49.
                I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                Comment

                • #9
                  But what about the debris? It does rather sound like it could punch right through this thing.
                  "The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists."
                  -Joan Robinson

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                  • #10
                    Racquetball in space. I'm sure the area will be big enough.

                    How does the procedure work? Do they have the gas canisters and supports inside the inflatable before it's inflated?

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                    • #11
                      Actually, the fabric shell is much stronger than a metal shell. The fabric is made from many layers of Vectran, which is apparently about twice as strong as Kevlar. Vectran fabric was used for the airbags for the landings of the rovers on Mars, f.e.

                      Also, the fabric shell is much lighter than a metal shell, and they layer on the fabric so that all told it's about a foot thick. Lastly, they can weave water tubes into the fabric for radiation protecton outside the Van Allen belts, when necessary, for heat distribution, and insulation. Metal shells offer little radiation protection and thermal management.
                      Last edited by DanS; June 2, 2006, 14:26.
                      I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Harry Tuttle
                        Racquetball in space. I'm sure the area will be big enough.

                        How does the procedure work? Do they have the gas canisters and supports inside the inflatable before it's inflated?
                        In short, that's how it works. The module deploys from a metal canister, which doubles as the inner support strut. Gas canisters are used to pressurize the module as it deploys.

                        It's a really nifty idea that was first imagined by NASA in its Transhab program in the '90s. They imagined it too late to use on the ISS. So Bigelow has an "easy" opportunity to leap-frog the ISS.

                        You can imagine truly large inflatable structures. Skylab, launched on the Saturn V, had a diameter of 6.5 meters and length of 36 meters, so we can imagine an inflated module diameter of at least 13 meters and 36 meters length. Almost 5,000 cubic meters of volume in just one module!
                        Last edited by DanS; June 2, 2006, 14:37.
                        I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891

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                        • #13
                          F*cking sweet!

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by DanS
                            really nifty
                            This description would seem to fit the entire program.

                            I remember we were talking about this earlier. It'll be very interesting to follow now that it's starting to go into operation, thanks for the heads up.

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                            • #15
                              Bigelow
                              "Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master" - Commissioner Pravin Lal.

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