An inflatable space station explodes here

Company Space Sierra Operates on an inflatable space station module. As announced on Monday, January 22, construction work could be completed on schedule 2030 Fly into space.

the Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) It was subjected to a series of “explosion tests” in which air was deliberately pumped into the hull until it failed and eventually exploded like a balloon. As the company said in a statement Space.com website He writes that the explosion was powerful.”164 pieces of dynamite” king.

The explosion itself is in the video From minute 5:55 To see.

In this test, the results exceeded NASA's safety requirements by 27 percent. He was under pressure 77 psi (pounds per square inch) instead of what 5.3 bar corresponds.

Life is 6.2 metres High and diameter 8.3 metresSpace Sierra said. 3 of these units can be space sized International Space Station ISS Transgression. But larger releases are already planned.

An inflatable module for a space station will have an obvious advantage: Very compact It can be placed in orbit before being inflated to its final size. Challenges are primarily external influences e.g Micrometeorites And radiationwhich should be repelled or protected by construction.

➤ Read more: The planned ISS crash costs $1 billion

LIFE isn't the only inflatable module for space stations. Bigelow Aerospace He has it though B 330Similar development unit. NASA is also involved TransHab He built an early concept of an inflatable living module for astronauts on their way to Mars.

Tropical coral reefs

The LIFE module was developed for the concept Tropical coral reefs The space station has evolved. This is a project by Sierra Space and Jeff Bezos. BlueOrigin. The concept was presented in October 2021 and aims to create a multi-use commercial space complex in low Earth orbit (LEO).

It is one of several proposals whose development is partly funded by NASA. The goal is to develop a successor to the International Space Station.