# Space Freaks - Bigelow Module - Next Big Thing or Who Dragged This In? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 30, 2016, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-freaks-bigelow-module-next-big-thing-or-who-dragged-this-in/750616 "2016-03-30T06:29:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-freaks-bigelow-module-next-big-thing-or-who-dragged-this-in/750616/1 "2016-03-30T06:29:57Z")
I get dizzy trying to track the ins and outs and absolute inanities of commercial space flights. Now, one of the more “Out There” creations has actually been given ISS time: Meet the [Bigelow Expandable Activity Module](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_Expandable_Activity_Module), the inflatable life raft writ large. Mr. Bigelow made his money in Real Estate and hotels. He has come up with an inflatable “room” which he envisions as hotel rooms in space. Forget the “four minutes of weightlessness” - spend your Honeymoon orbiting Mars! Is this as insane as it looks or is it actually possible to create a radiation-proof, space-junk-proof, meteorite-proof room the size of a Prius and pop it open in space? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-freaks-bigelow-module-next-big-thing-or-who-dragged-this-in/750616/2 "2016-03-30T06:44:57Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Is this as insane as it looks or is it actually possible to create a radiation-proof, space-junk-proof, meteorite-proof room the size of a Prius and pop it open in space? I doubt it’s particularly impervious to any of those risks, but then neither is a tin can, very much. Space is a bit dangerous, ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-freaks-bigelow-module-next-big-thing-or-who-dragged-this-in/750616/3 "2016-03-30T07:19:26Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Is this as insane as it looks or is it actually possible to create a radiation-proof, space-junk-proof, meteorite-proof room the size of a Prius and pop it open in space? As far as I can tell, there’s nothing crazy about it. Bigelow didn’t invent the technology, it bought the patents for the [TransHab system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransHab) from NASA after Congress made them stop developing it themselves. It might help to think of it less as “inflatable life raft” and more “multi-layer kevlar body armour”. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-freaks-bigelow-module-next-big-thing-or-who-dragged-this-in/750616/4 "2016-03-30T12:32:08Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > As far as I can tell, there’s nothing crazy about it. Bigelow didn’t invent the technology, it bought the patents for the [TransHab system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransHab) from NASA after Congress made them stop developing it themselves. > > It might help to think of it less as “inflatable life raft” and more “multi-layer kevlar body armour”. Exactly. After a quick coffee-hasn’t-hit-my-brain-yet morning googling, here’s a description of the layers used by the [earlier Transhab design](http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/station/transhab/): > [@NASA](#): > > Multi-Layer Inflatable Shell – TransHab’s inflatable shell consists of multiple layers of blanket insulation, protection from orbital and meteoroid debris, optimized restraint layer and a redundant bladder with a protective layer. > > With almost two dozen layers, TransHab’s foot-thick inflatable shell is a marvel of innovative design. The layers are fashioned to break up particles of space debris and tiny meteorites that may hit the shell with a speed seven times as fast as a bullet. The outer layers protect multiple inner bladders, made of a material that holds in the module’s air. The shell also provides insulation from temperatures in space that can range from plus 121 degrees Celsius (plus 250 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Sun to minus 128 degrees Celsius (minus 200 degrees Fahrenheit) in the shade. > > The key to the debris protection is successive layers of Nextel, a material commonly used as insulation under the hoods of many cars, spaced between several-inches-thick layers of open cell foam, similar to foam used for chair cushions on Earth. The Nextel and foam layers cause a particle to shatter as it hits, losing more and more of its energy as it penetrates deeper. > > Many layers into the shell is a layer of superstrong woven Kevlar that holds the module’s shape. The air is held inside by three bladders of Combitherm, a material commonly used in the food-packing industry. The innermost layer, forming the inside wall of the module, is Nomex cloth, a fireproof material that also protects the bladder from scuffs and scratches. There’s another website of indeterminate authority [here](http://pages.erau.edu/~ericksol/projects/issa/transhab.html#TransHab%E2%80%99s%20Material%20and%20Design)which goes into more detail on the properties of every layer. If it’s correct, there’s actually additional kevlar layers backing each of the air bladders and the Nomex layer. In comparison, the current ISS modules have walls consisting of only 1/4 inch of aluminum plus a layer or two of Kevlar (IIRC). I know I’d rather have the Transhab material between me any any bullets or micrometeorites… ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-freaks-bigelow-module-next-big-thing-or-who-dragged-this-in/750616/5 "2016-03-30T13:56:10Z")
[Obligatory Link.](https://youtu.be/ou-PlTO4MQ8?list=PLzbK-gcax6tkZI-gER5oWxY9tnGIHLgSz&t=52) ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-freaks-bigelow-module-next-big-thing-or-who-dragged-this-in/750616/6 "2016-03-30T15:40:59Z")
Sounds like the inflatable habitats from Seveneves, but more durable. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-freaks-bigelow-module-next-big-thing-or-who-dragged-this-in/750616/7 "2016-03-30T19:37:16Z")
Our true space expert \*\*Stranger on a Train \*\*will stop by here eventually. Until then … His personal pet hobbyhorse idea for space habitat is a large inflatable. So that part of Bigelow’s approach is not \*prima facie \*insane. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-freaks-bigelow-module-next-big-thing-or-who-dragged-this-in/750616/8 "2016-03-30T19:47:35Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > . > > It might help to think of it less as “inflatable life raft” and more “multi-layer kevlar body armour”. Or “extra extra large space suit” ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-freaks-bigelow-module-next-big-thing-or-who-dragged-this-in/750616/9 "2016-03-31T08:15:07Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Or “extra extra large space suit” Ha ha. Yes. > [@lazybratsche](#): > > In comparison, the current ISS modules have walls consisting of only 1/4 inch of aluminum plus a layer or two of Kevlar (IIRC). I know I’d rather have the Transhab material between me any any bullets or micrometeorites… In fairness, the ISS has been occupied for over 15 years without serious incident (I’m pretty sure we’d have heard if anyone died). It’s protected by a variety of [Whipple shields,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipple_shield) which is my favourite name for anything space-related. Whipple shield. Whipple, whipple, whipple. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-freaks-bigelow-module-next-big-thing-or-who-dragged-this-in/750616/10 "2016-04-08T19:14:13Z")
Inflatable habitats are a good way to get past the problem of limits on launch vehicle payload envelopes or the extreme difficulty of constructing large non-modular structures in space. Note that the hull of the BE330 isn’t just a single layer like a balloon, or even a few different layers of material as in a pressure suit; the hull inflatees by pressure and expansion of material within the wall, so it is tens of centimeters in thickness. This provides both good insulation against thermal radiation and greater distance for particle that spallate on the outer surface to be absorbed; in fact I’ve seen some concepts for “inflatables” which fill the interstitial space with water and/or human waste which actually provides a pretty good barrier against charged particle radiation. Ultimately, if and when we decide to construct very large, O’Neill-type habitats in orbital space, it probably makes sense to use an inflatable shell that is then filled in with ice or silicate material from space resources to create a shell. I’ve proposed such a design myself that could be scaled up to the limits of the material strength of carbon fiber or other reinforcing material laid within a matrix of water ice/short fiber silicates, filled with water up to a 30 meter or greater depth, and with ‘islands’ basically offering terrestrial conditions of temperature, atmosphereic pressure, background radiation, et cetera. Trying to fabricate metallic structures the way we build ocean ships or skyscrapers is probably not workable in freefall for numerous reasons, and hauling up refined metals, much less construction forms and structural members is just too costly to do on a large scale. Stranger