Private space company Sierra Space has blown up its first full-scale inflatable space habitat
Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2024 1:54 am
Private space company Sierra Space has blown up its first full-scale inflatable space habitat
Read more here:
https://futurism.com/the-byte/sierra-sp ... s-pressure
Private space company Sierra Space has blown up its first full-scale inflatable space habitat, dubbed the Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) — and it was all part of the plan.
The balloon-like contraption, which measured just over 20 feet tall, held a third of the volume of the International Space Station once fully inflated. During a recent test, engineers at the Colorado-based company kept pumping it with air, reaching a whopping 77 psi — well above NASA's recommended level of 60.8 psi — before it exploded in spectacular fashion.
A video of the test shows the habitat quite literally bursting at its seams in a fraction of a second, successfully concluding the company's "first stress test of a full-size, inflatable space station structure."
"We are driving the reinvention of the space station that will shape a new era of humanity’s exploration and discovery in Low Earth Orbit and beyond," said Sierra CEO Tom Vice in a statement.
Read more here:
https://futurism.com/the-byte/sierra-sp ... s-pressure
Private space company Sierra Space has blown up its first full-scale inflatable space habitat, dubbed the Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) — and it was all part of the plan.
The balloon-like contraption, which measured just over 20 feet tall, held a third of the volume of the International Space Station once fully inflated. During a recent test, engineers at the Colorado-based company kept pumping it with air, reaching a whopping 77 psi — well above NASA's recommended level of 60.8 psi — before it exploded in spectacular fashion.
A video of the test shows the habitat quite literally bursting at its seams in a fraction of a second, successfully concluding the company's "first stress test of a full-size, inflatable space station structure."
"We are driving the reinvention of the space station that will shape a new era of humanity’s exploration and discovery in Low Earth Orbit and beyond," said Sierra CEO Tom Vice in a statement.