Biglow structures

Interesting. Was not aware of Biglow structures till these post. A really good idea.

Let's say you are talking of a cylinder of dia 20M; a stand alone cylinder or section of a toroidal structure. The hoop load at a pressure of 1 Kgf/cmsq will be 20,00 / 2 = 1000 Kgf / cm width. It should not be too difficult to make a chain linked design for this load.

There are major advantages in breaking up the individual functions like load carrying capacity, pressure sealing, radiation sealing etc. especially for the initial space endevours. Deployable structures will help to make the system modular and reducing overall cost. It should be possible to make even very large structures.

Agree that it will be a good idea to maintain say 0.1g to start with to bring down the wear and tear in the Hab.

Selvaraj

In reply to posts by Brad and Matt:

From: Matt Gallimore
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 5:45 AM

From: Brad Walsh
Sent: Monday, August 21, 2006 1:02:58 PM

"1) Once the ISS is completed, what are the chances a private group could
rent space to house workers who are building a privately-owned hab?

Zero.

Ok... Almost zero.

No.

Zero.

"2) What role would the inflatable Bigelow habs play?

The Bigelow stations may have a really big role. They might be ideal for governments wanting orbital facilities without huge development costs. There will be some private market ownership as well. But governments might be their larger market.

"What would it take to make them serve as units for a toroid-structure? How many would be required
for a structure large enough for a tolerable 1/2 G spin?

It is doubtful the original design has much weight bearing capability. The interior could probably be coated with something to give it that ability.

Instead of 0.5 g, how about 0.10g? That would be accomplished with a 150 ft (46 m) diameter unit spinning at 2 rpm. That might only require one (really large) inflatable. You could launch all the internal scaffolding and parts in other containers. These would then slide into the inflatable structure. Attach the airlock section to the inflatable and add air. The station can then be assembled in zero g. After finishing the main internal structures, a few small ion engines could begin the spin up.