Hotel Tycoon Pushes Inflatable Space Stations

heptapod writes "Reclusive millionaire and motel tycoon Robert Bigelow has announced launching inflatable space stations through his personal aerospace firm. He's working off of NASA's TransHab designs and hopes to get launch one as early as November 2005! I'm sure after someone wins the X Prize they'll need someplace to stay the night. I wonder if each inflatable station module won't come with complimentary bibles."

Gideon's in Spaaaaaceeee...

[NecroPuppy]

I wonder if each inflatable station module won't come with complimentary bibles.

But will the bibles be inflatable as well?

Re:Gideon's in Spaaaaaceeee...

[achurch]

But will the bibles be inflatable as well?

At first glance, I could have sworn that said "babies" . . .

Re:Gideon's in Spaaaaaceeee...

[nyekulturniy]

I've been on another board with a member of the Gideon Society. Their purpose is to provide transients (hotels, military, prisons, and such) with a copy of the Bible. It costs about $5 US for a hardcover Bible and $1.50 US for a New Testament. Each Bible lasts 6 years on the average and is read 400 to 500 times.

The Gideons are funded by contributions from local churches. There is no mandate for a motel to carry a Gideon Bible; the Marriots, for example, put their own Bibles and a copy of the Book of Morm

Re:Gideon's in Spaaaaaceeee...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm scared of two things:

Clowns, and

Grownup adult humans with a literal belief in fairytales
But that's me. I'm kinda weird that way.

Re:Gideon's in Spaaaaaceeee...

[Anonymous Coward]

Zealotry != (strong) religious faith. You may find it hard to understand, but others don't always want what you've got. That's why I keep my strong religious convictions to myself, and don't cram them down others throats, unlike many others.

Re:Gideon's in Spaaaaaceeee...

[NonSequor]

Don't tell people about your religion. Give them a reason to ask about your religion.

Re:Gideon's in Spaaaaaceeee...

[amber_of_luxor]

What are you talking about? Most mathematical and scientific breakthoughs throughout history happened due to the work of Christians.

Which explains why Chinese Science was more advanced than Western Science was till roughly 1800.

And also explains why Islamic Scholars preserved the Greek and Roman classics.

And also explains why Algebra has its foundations in the work done by Islamic scholars.[OK, a specific Islamic scholar, if you want to quibble.]

Traditionally, it has been organized Christianity that has opposed scientific progress in the west.

Even Blaise Pascal spent a part of his life as a priest.

There is no correlation between being a priest, and being a Christian. From roughly 500 CE to roughly 1800 CE, the Holy Roman Catholic Church was the dominant institution in the west. It was the institution that provided education. The net result is that one became a priest, in order to study, or to gain political power. Spiritual conviction had nothing to do with the decision.

And in passing, I'll note that spiritual conviction still is a minor consideration for those who do become priests.

The fact is that irregardless of scientific progress, Non-believers will always hold a backlash towards Christianity

Perhaps if Christians would actually practice the teachings of their holy book, there might be less backlash against them. But when they pick and choose what they want to practice, and believe, then why should they get any respect?

The reason we Christians condemn this [stem cell research] is because it is murder in our eyes.

a: That is objecting to something, purely because of the source of the thing.

b: Why don't Christians practice the only diet that the First Testament states does not violate the Aseret ha-Debrot?

It [cell stem research] has the moral equivalent as, say, a person in need of a heart transplant going up to you and telling you, "I need your heart to live, so I'll be taking yours."

a: By that reasoning,organ transplants should be illegal to perform.

b: The First Testament also talks about taking a needed body part from an individual, for the use of another individual --- a body part that the second person needed, in order to live.

OTOH, consistency has never been a strong point with christians, of any sect, religion, creed, dogma, or theology.

Amber

Re:Gideon's in Spaaaaaceeee...

[soft_guy]

One time I was with a hooker who, laughing, put all of the condom wrappers (not used condoms - just the wrappers) in the Gideon bible. I thought that was pretty funny too.

Re:Gideon's in Spaaaaaceeee...

[wcrowe]

What would be more useful, and impressive, is independently verifiable evidence that is predicted by a simple and logical theory.

Faith is the most important component of belief. If there was independently verifiable evidence, there would be no need for faith.

Re:Gideon's in Spaaaaaceeee...

[mdwh2]

Well if you are going to be a truly logical person you cannot discredit the theory that God exists because there is not logical proof that God doesn't exist as well. They are plenty of mathematical problems that cannot be proven but they seem to be true, because no one has found a way to disprove it. By saying I don't believe in God because there is no 100% proof that God exists. Is like saying I believe there has to be God 100% because of these small reasons.

Yes, but all that applies to unicorns too - but I don't see people arguing for existance of unicorns. In fact, it applies to an infinite number of things, anything that we could conceive, but can't disprove.

The poster didn't say he believed God didn't exist, but rather implied that he simply didn't believe in God.

Not believing on the basis of a lack of evidence is perfectly reasonable, unless you're willing to believe in absolutely anything and everything that hasn't been disproved.

But because I believe that I am in a real universe so must I assume it is real because I cannot disprove that I am not.

But you can't disprove that you're a brain in a jar, so why don't you believe that too?

Inflatable Church

[maestro371]

Who needs bibles when you could put one of these [inflatablechurch.com] up there?

Re:Inflatable Church

[sosume]

that link actually made me rotfl for half an hour or so :D

Re:Inflatable Church

[Smidge204]

It comes from England, eh? I wonder if it's patented... Monty Python would have prior art!

(If you have to think about that, you're not a real geek!)
=Smidge=

Space stations from balloons not a bad idea

[Rei]

Really, it's not such a bad idea. If they can stop micrometeorites as well as a metal frame, that's what really matters. I can't see a good reason why rigidity should be important across the whole station - only at key points, such as docking ports, and perhaps a hollow frame to mount inflatable modules on.

There's another real advantage to this method that hasn't been mentioned yet: radiation shielding. If you build your station out of plastic instead of aluminum, you'll get far better radiation shielding (it's the hydrogen atoms that do the best job!). Furthermore, aluminum is a kind of nasty metal to use in extreme circumstances because as it warps, it stiffens and eventually will break (metal fatigue). I don't know the sort of stresses that a station is subject to, but I'd imagine that at least the day/night temperature changes provide some stress.

Now they just need to get Dr. Schlock involved... he'll know what to do. :)

Materials.

[Christopher Thomas]

There's another real advantage to this method that hasn't been mentioned yet: radiation shielding. If you build your station out of plastic instead of aluminum, you'll get far better radiation shielding (it's the hydrogen atoms that do the best job!).

Depends on the type of radiation being shielded against. High-Z is better for gamma shielding (and shielding against secondary x-rays from other types of radiation, though using low-Z reduces the amount of this). You also have a bulk disadvantage with low-Z materials (though in space, it's weight and not bulk that matters, so you're stuck no matter what).

Furthermore, aluminum is a kind of nasty metal to use in extreme circumstances because as it warps, it stiffens and eventually will break (metal fatigue).

Aluminum itself has very low fatigue strength, but in practice aluminum alloys with better characteristics are used. Google for "duraluminum", an alloy commonly used for aircraft, for one example.

For space uses, the cost of launch dominates over the cost of materials, so you can afford to use as expensive an alloy or composite as you like in the structure. Materials problems typically occur due to design oversight (e.g. carbon composites being etched away by the atmosphere), as opposed to cheap materials being used.

Inflatable stations are still an interesting idea, though. If I recall correctly, the "Cosmos" solar sail was going to be inflatable, to save on mass (a rigid craft would have to be sturdy enough to survive launch, requiring extra mass).

Re:Materials.

[Rei]

But we're talking about a space station in earth orbit - which means that we're dealing with mostly high-energy protons and electrons (unless it's a *really* far out orbit). Even far from Earth, you still want to avoid high-z materials, at least if you can trust NASA's shielding designs thusfar for a Mars mission; they're almost exclusively reliant on hydrogen in different forms (plastics, LH, water, etc). Bremsstrahlung effects are just too dangerous. Of course, there are other interesting options for d

Re:Inflatable Church

[pixelpusher220]

if the label has "Made by Firestone", I'm out...

Hrmm

[acehole]

It'd be worrying if you saw a sign before leaving with

"bring a bike pump.... your life may depend on it!"

Re:Hrmm

[CdBee]

What good is a bike pump in a vacuum?

Re:Hrmm

[turgid]

Maybe they could recycle digestive and other waste gasses to top-up the supply to keep the structure inflated.

Re:Hrmm

[Motherfucking Shit]

Pity you can't get modded +1 Pedantic but in space, you need a oxygen supply to light your farts.

In space, you need an oxygen supply to breathe. If you're alive to fart, I'd say you've met the requirements for combustion. +1 Semantics, headed your way :)

Re:Hrmm

[G-funk]

There'd be no decomposition in a vacuum, simply drying out and (comparitively) rapid mummification or something very similar to it.

Re:Hrmm

[Captain_Chaos]

Obviously, you'd use it from the inside.

One possible use...

[StressGuy]

You can jam it into the hole that air is leaking out of :)

I wonder how many stars this hotel is gonna be...

[Tajas]

Well, a 5 star hotel is considered the cream of the crop but what about a hotel full of stars? Now that I got your attention, inflateable hotels? What about all space debris floating around up there? I read that there's over 2000 pieces of space junk floating around up there. What would happen if one piece of space debris hit an inflateable part of this hotel? That would definitely be a damper in my vacation plans.

Re:I wonder how many stars this hotel is gonna be.

[twr21]

Space debris could be very catastrophic, but the chances of being hit by it are still miniscule (compared to say a launch failure or being killed on the way to the launch pad).

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:I wonder how many stars this hotel is gonna be.

[Lehk228]

I am confident that this inflatable space station will use some type of self-sealing layering making it more resiliant than a metal space station.

Re:I wonder how many stars this hotel is gonna be.

[Firethorn]

Just because it's "inflatable" doesn't mean that it can't take a hit. You're not talking about a penny rubber ballon here. Even a rigid structure doesn't take hits well at the velocities encountered in space. And you'd actually have less chance of a breach with low impact collisions with a non-rigid structure. And the 2000 number awfully low, I think that's the activly tracked stuff.

By not having to send up a rigid structure, you can save on weight and space, resulting in considerable savings, as you can send up a larger structure with less assembly in space required.

Besides, by the time you inflate one of these to 1 atmosphere, the pressure difference between that and outside you'll have a very rigid structure. From looking at the articles, parts of the structure are rigid, providing points for preset 'utilities'. The expandable portions would be to provide space.

Re:I wonder how many stars this hotel is gonna be.

[richie2000]

The expandable portions would be to provide space.

Providing space? That must be like shipping ice to the north pole. ;-P

Re:I wonder how many stars this hotel is gonna be.

[Daemonik]

Suppose instead of two thin membranes with air in the middle this 'bubble' were actually several layers of membranes inflated with a gel capable of sealing any minor impacts. Multiple layers would help to slow the velocity of any object that can penetrate the initial membranes while the gel could congeal around the hole creating a seal. We know the military is working on 'fluid' armor that goes rigid on impact as well.

Such a scenario might actually be safer than the 'tin can' approach as the 'bubble' could heal itself.

I would also be curious if a lead powder suspension could be used in such a gel that could possibly serve as radiation shielding.

Re:I wonder how many stars this hotel is gonna be.

[hutkey]

What about all space debris floating around up there?

may be some will think, these hotels are space debris

Re:I wonder how many stars this hotel is gonna be.

[Anonymous Coward]

2000 pieces of space junk? That's about the same amount as the pieces of junk I have under my bed. Spread out around the entire planet, they would be far apart.

Re:I wonder how many stars this hotel is gonna be.

[Lord_Dweomer]

"What about all space debris floating around up there?"

Obviously you hire some space garbagemen [animenfo.com] to clean it up.

Re:I wonder how many stars this hotel is gonna be.

[wickedj]

"Well, a 5 star hotel is considered the cream of the crop but what about a hotel full of stars?" In other news, Motel 6 has changed their slogan from "We'll leave the light on for you." to "My God, it's full of stars!"

Gideon Bibles

[Kymermosst]

Hotels do not place bibles in the rooms, the Gideons [gideons.org] do.

So you'd have to wait for them to visit the place and put some bibles there first.

Re:Gideon Bibles

[Anonymous Writer]

Actually the government [insidethex.co.uk] does...

She starts pulling open the drawers next to the hotel beds as the boys exchange looks, and finally pulls out a Bible.

SUSANNE: Hotel Bible, who do you think put this here?

LANGLY: The government?

SUSANNE: One in every hotel room in America, it's the perfect vessel for electronic surveillance. No one ever questions its presence.

Re:Gideon Bibles

[WoodenRobot]

Obligatory Bill Hicks quote:

"Who are the f**king Gideons? Ever met one? No. Ever seen one? No. What are they? Ninjas? Where are they from? Gidea?"

Re:Gideon Bibles

[Phekko]

Ah yes, but the Gideons only donate the bibles, the hotel owner gets to haul it up there.

This story's about inflatable space stations!

[Thud457]

"It is pretty funny, though, the lengths some people go to in an attempt to "get the word out" on their religion."

Yeah, next thing you know, some jackass will start leaving Knoppix liveCDs in the rooms!

Obligitory Red Drawf quote:

[T-Kir]

Rimmer: Kryten, unpack Rachel and get out the puncture repair kit. I AM ALIVE!

BANG!

:)

X-Prize == sub-orbital

[jeroen94704]

The x-prize is for a sub-orbital shot only. So they won't need a place to stay for a while yet.

Of course, once the proposed yearly x-prize competitions get going (races for height, shortest turnaround etc), it may only be a few years before a private party is able to launch people into actual orbit. Then it will be cool if someone has an of-the-shelf inflatable habitat ready for use.

Re:X-Prize == sub-orbital

[delong]

it may only be a few years before a private party is able to launch people into actual orbit.

Someone [jpaerospace.com] is already working on it.

Re:X-Prize == sub-orbital

[cosmo7]

although the Americans have learnt some of the tricks the Russians have found and are catching up.

For example, the USA spent trillions of dollars developing an urban legend that could work in zero-gravity, while the Russians simply used a pencil.

Nut job?

[Matrix2110]

"...also funds the National Institute for Discovery Science, which investigates unexplained phenomena. It is particularly concerned with reports of cattle mutilations associated with UFO-type activity (such as strange lights in the sky). In 1996, Bigelow bought a Utah ranch from a couple who claimed that it had been dogged for years by "anomalous phenomena"; the businessman then installed scientific researchers and surveillance equipment to document activity."

OK then, I am going to trust this guy with my life in a hostile environment. Right.

I will wait until the mark X model is tested. Thank you very much.

Re:Nut job?

[sql*kitten]

OK then, I am going to trust this guy with my life in a hostile environment. Right.

Why not? It's basic scientific method: cattle are being mutilated, no-one knows who's doing it, let's watch and see if it happens again. It's not like he bought the ranch and turned it into a landing field for UFOs is it?

Re:Nut job?

[Rorschach1]

I was once contacted by someone from this organization, and they didn't strike me as nutjobs. I work at Vandenberg Air Force Base, where we launch rockets and occasionally cause weird lights in the sky, especially during twilight launches.

These folks simply called to verify that reports of lights in the sky they'd received did indeed correspond to our launches. As far as I could tell, they were simply interested in investigating and explaining claims.

Now, maybe they do have nutjobs there, but investigat

Re:Nut job?

[kfg]

yes, cow mutiliation is real

And you can see it at your local McDonald's any time you want.

KFG

expensive arse bibles

[LordMyren]

them's some expensive arse space bibles!

current going rate of $10,000 a pound, I believe the shuttles had? maybe minus an order of magnitude.

Re:expensive arse bibles

[turgid]

Maybe they could use e-Bibles with small, lightweight PDAs to read them with.

hotel or motel?

[Anonymous Coward]

you need to make up your mind. A hotel is where you stay when you take your family on vacation, a motel is where you take the hooker you just picked up. If he's a motel tycoon, then I'm bringing my own sheets for the bed when I go on one of those inflatable stations.

Forget space stations

[dysprosia]

Truly, we need space inflatable jumping castles. Inflatable space stations? Bah!

Yeah,

[King_of_Prussia]

but the lack of gravity might put a slight damper on your plans there.

Re:Yeah,

[adpowers]

What are you talking about? Microgravity would allow you to bounce around on all the walls. You could jump up, rotate, and then bounce off the 'ceiling.' Try doing that in an earth based bounce pit.

Inflatable space station?

[cordsie]

I don't think this is worthy of an X-Prize so much as a Darwin award.

still a long way to go

[brucehoult]

While the X-Prize is a great thing -- and I'm personally crossing the Pacific this weekend to watch SS1's flight on Monday -- the current and upcoming generation of private spacecraft are still a very long way from being able to visit an orbiting hotel.

The good news though is that some companies do have a business plan for how to get from here to there in incremental, low risk, steps, and while making a profit along the way. XCOR, for example, has such a plan, financing later development with suborbital tourist flights and a few small satellite launches and sounding rocket replacement flights.

Scaled Composites may well have such a plan, though they haven't said yet what it is. But a story in today's Dominion Post (Wellington, NZ) originally from the Washington Post) [washingtonpost.com] (free registration required) quotes Burt Rutan as saying that suborbital flights are likely to start at US$30k - US$50k and drop to US$8k - US$12k in a second generation vehicle. That's a) a lot lower than the US$98k Space Adventures is planning to sell XCORs initial flights for, and b) indication that Scaled do in fact have an ongoing plan (d'oh).

Jokes aside

[tmortn]

Folks there are plenty of jokes about an inflatable structure but they need not be so fragile as one might think. After all bullet proof vests are largely kevlar.

Transhab had to deal with the problem of micrometerite impacts same as any manned space structure. Not to mention once you deal with much besides a micrometeorite it dosn't matter what the building material is.

On the positive side this could be a serious boost to private space ventures. This guy wants a 3/4 hab up next year ? Falcon V can boost 4000kg+ to Stations orbit for 12 million if all goes well.

http://www.spacex.com/index.html?section=falcon& co ntent=http%3A//www.spacex.com/falcon_overview.php

If they make this work then in short order they could have a station with more inhabitable volume than ISS for a fraction of the cost.

Re:Jokes aside

[aallan]

If they make this work then in short order they could have a station with more inhabitable volume than ISS for a fraction of the cost.

That's great, but how are you going to get people to your new station?

To put people into space you have to send them up on a man rated launcher. The only people with those right now are NASA [nasa.gov], RKA (Russia) and CNSA [cnsa.gov.cn] (China). There are no private launchers capable of putting people into orbit and won't be for a considerable amount of time.

Al.

Re:Jokes aside

[savuporo]

"To put people into space you have to send them up on a man rated launcher. The only people with those right now are NASA, "

You may or may not have been noticed, but NASA does not have the capability of putting humans on orbit in 2004. Its doubtful that they will have this capability in 2005.

Even worse, US government organizations, like NASA, are not allowed to purchase a seat for their astronauts on Soyuz, and i doubt that Shenzou seats are for sale at the moment.

Re:Jokes aside

[Smallpond]

Really, all jokes aside.

I hate to burst your bubble, but I think you're full of hot air. Costs will balloon, profits will float away, and resources will be stretched too tight. Greenspan is predicting renewed inflation, which will cause investors to gasp for breath. I expect this project to be strung along until it hits a snag, then its finished.

A copy of the announcement

[Anonymous Writer]

I just read the announcement and here is a copy...

MySQL said: 'Too many connections'

Embarassing...

[xsupergr0verx]

I saw the headline "Hotel Tycoon Pushes Inflatable Space Stations" and thought it was about a video game (Railroad Tycoon-esque) with hotels where you could build inflatable space hotels too.

Disappointment runs rampant!

it could work...

[Anonymous Coward]

Never underestimate the power of gas filled bags. The Mars rovers even use them!

Space, for the most part is an empty environment. Once in space, the aerodynamics of the craft don't matter much. We have very strong synthetic fibers, make huge kevlar-like inflated bubbles. Big enough to dissipate the energy, or deflect the object. Use honeycomb like layers, and it could probably be made from replaceable pieces, in the (I'm thinking, unlikely) event of a puncture.

It would have to be assembled in space, and even large enough to encompase the craft to get to, and for use on the planet surface.

If your going to go anywhere REALLY far away....wear a bubble!

X prize winners don't go into orbit

[Nick Barnes]

I'm sure after someone wins the X Prize they'll need someplace to stay the night.

After someone wins the X prize they will be back on the ground very soon, because the X prize is just for 100km altitude, not entering orbit. Entering orbit is very much harder (8 km/s delta-V instead of about 1 km/s). I dare say there will be follow-on competitions (such as the X Prize Cup) but it'll be quite a while before a privately-developed launcher makes it to orbit.

Cheap is good.....

[gmby]

Hmmm.....

Sounds more like a space Youth Hostel!

Bring a sleep sack and a TOWEL!

Lair

[dmiller]

...equipped with obvious and conveniently located self-destruct button.

Might make sense

[Julian Morrison]

Inflatable soft structures might not be such a dumb idea. A stray counter-orbiting bolt that would blow a hole the size of a dinner plate into ISS, would punch two small neat bolt-shaped holes through a soft structure and keep going. Rubber cement, a couple patches, repressurize from storage tanks, problem solved.

Re:Might make sense

[JosKarith]

Would it not make sense to make these 2-layer and fill them with an expanding foam - like the stuff they do cavity wall insulation with. That way the structure would be both rigid, and have good impact absorbtion qualities.
Hell, if a rubberized foam could be used there's a chance an impacting item wouldn't actually do so much damage. Of course if it's counter-orbiting even battleship plate's gonna seem fairly flimsy...

Nope

[Julian Morrison]

Hard vacuum is only one negative atmosphere of relative pressure, 14.7 psi. A small leak would be loud but manageable. Explosive decompression could only happen through a large hole.

Obligatory

[Associate]

SpaceShipOne has just entered LEO. Wait a minute. You're not Mike Melville!

No, I'm not. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Hey, do you know where I can find a subway? I sure am hungry.

To stay with the theme

[__aahlyu4518]

People have got to do something at those space-stations right? Here's an idea :

Robert Bigelo : inflatable Gigolo

First my girlfriend....

[Anonymous Coward]

...now this! This whole inflatable tech is really taking off!

No subject worthy

[SamBeckett]

Reclusive millionaire and motel tycoon Robert Bigelow.....

Male jigalo? [imdb.com]

Sue me, it rhymes.

Since we all know what the only profitabe

[R.Caley]

Will every room come with an inflatable partner to try zero-g sex?

And will they ship two, or prvide a hermaphoradite to save launch mass?

Inflatable Space Ships

[colonist]

Inflatable space stations will go nicely with inflatable space ships:

• Blimps... In... Space... - Slashdot [slashdot.org]
• Airship groomed for flight to edge of space - MSNBC [msn.com]

Is air the answer to space?

Anyone else think...

[dj245]

That "Hotel Tycoon" was a new video game that happened to feature space stations as the final game-winning goal?

Contract with the Gideon Bible

[adzoox]

"I wonder if each inflatable station module won't come with complimentary bibles."

Actually hotels sign contracts for the Gideon Bible. I would imagine Budget Suites/Bigelow Properties is under this contract.

The author of the slashdot post may not enjoy reading the Bible, the editor that didn't remove the blatant phishing comment may not enjoy reading the Bible, but there are those of us who do read. Even if it is for diversity rather than spiriutual growth.

I mean honestly, you are either going to have to take some reading material or a gameboy - you're not going to be able to go out on the beach for a stroll or to get a picture with Mickey.

Re:Contract with the Gideon Bible

[0123456]

"there are those of us who do read. Even if it is for diversity rather than spiriutual growth"

I read the Bible for the sex and violence, myself.

Radiation?

[mikrorechner]

Ok, people wrote that hull breaches caused by rubbish in orbit are not an issue, but what about radiation? I would think you need more than a layer of kevlar for shielding against that...

Re:Radiation?

[Baron_Yam]

It's really bugging me that I can't remember ANY of the details, but I recall reading about a revolutionary new polymer with molecules that lined up to give a thin sheet the same effective radiation blocking ability as a much thicker sheet of lead. Obviously, this would be a major boon to space travel where weight vs radiation shielding tradeoffs are (reluctantly) made at every step. If anyone out there knows what the hell I'm talking about and has a link, PLEASE post it and preserve my sanity...

DEMRON

[zentinal]

I believe that you're referring to RST's (Radiation Shield Technology) product Demron [radshield.com]. It is not a film, it is a fabric, not quite the film that you referred to, but the closest I could find.

Re:Radiation?

[Baron_Yam]

HERE IS THE LINK! [bbc.co.uk]

Sunuvabitch, but where I couldn't find it the last time I looked, this time it came up as Google hit #1.

Claims for Demron unsupported

[MZdoctor]

As others have already pointed out, the stuff you are referring to is Demron, manufactured by RST. When I first heard of it a year or so ago I found their claim regarding its extraordinary X-ray absorbing capability very hard to believe in the light of well-established physical model of the absorption of EM radiation by matter. The report published by Lawrence Livermore Lab. was funded by RST and the author did not respond to my request for a scientific explanation.

Until the results have been independentl

Re:Radiation?

[Ribald]

This thing will almost certainly be in low-earth orbit (LEO). That keeps it inside the Van Allen Belt, which do the majority of radiation shielding for us.

As I recall (I'm mostly an airplane guy, though I Am a Rocket Scientist), outside the Belt, radiation shielding isn't assured, anyway--it would make the craft far too heavy to launch. The trans-lunar Apollo missions, for example--if a solar flare came along at a bad time, those guys were toast. Sure, they could orient the craft to put as much of it be

One word:

[unorthod0x]

POP!

Rich Guy Accomplishments

[pipingguy]

Branson just crossed the channel in a car and GHWB just jumped out of a plane, so I guess the other billionaires are feeling somewhat inadequate.

I say let's see more of this, perhaps as a new reality TV show. Except with middle managers and annointed CEOs doing the dangerous stuff with outsourced safety checking.

Hotel Room Bibles

[NitsujTPU]

Uhmm, those bibles in hotel rooms aren't complimentary... you're supposed to leave them when you leave.

VIII. Thou shalt not steal.

Did you READ it, or just steal it?

Bigelow = genius

[J05H]

Mr. Bigelow is brilliant. Maybe not as an aerospace engineer (he pays others for that), but as a man of vision and implimentation. Bigelow Aerospace has been working quietly for several years now, and it looks like they are finally ready to roll out some product. The Genesis pathfinder looks to be a very interesting testbed.

I've been looking over the Bigelow patents on USPTO site. Check out "inflatable satelite", "...thermal management" and "spacecraft sleeping berth" for some of the things they have been working on. The most revolutionary item so far seems to be building an inflatable Transhab-type module, but putting the solid core to the edge of the inflated cylinder. The core has two sets of fold-out floor panels that form two floors, plus the core has a vac-safe section. If there is a puncture, the crew can seal it up and evacuate into another section of their station.

Bigelow on USPTO.gov [uspto.gov]

start saving those frequent-flyer miles,
Josh

"Bubbles in the Sky" (Poul Anderson?)

[garyebickford]

Bubbles in the Sky is the name of a SF novel written in the 1950's or 1960's by (I think, but don't really know) Poul Andersen. In this book, the large number of workers (both genders) required to build the first space station etc. were housed in inflatables. Some of them finagled ways to stay up and continue working after their tour was over. Over the next year or three, they gradually developed their own oxygen generation capability etc. and closer to self-sufficieny in various ways. They even had their own radio station.

The inflatables were made of a multi-layer plastic that healed itself rapidly - if you sliced it with a knife (not easy, but doable), you could watch it "zip" itself back together. (This might be doable using a form of nanotech molecular design.) So, if a micrometeor struck, it would punch holes in several layers, but the cells where air was lost would collapse together, effectively sealing themselves while they healed.

As these squatters became more self-reliant, officialdom tried to get rid of them, of course. In case someone wants to read the book, I'll not reveal what happens.

I've looked online for this book but haven't had any success.

Inflatable Golden Arches

[Dark Bard]

The hotel guests will go to their window to see the staggering view of the earth. Instead they are greeted with a stunning view of the inflatable McDonalds that just went up across from the hotel. Hey at least weight won't be a problem until they come home.

Risk of Puncture?

[CodeBuster]

With all of the space junk floating around up there (nuts, bolts, bits of paint, shards of metal, etc...) his inflatable space station would be Swiss cheese in a matter of days. Just ask NASA how many times the IIS has been hit (the modules are protected by layers of Kevlar to guard against just these types of impacts).

Who needs Bibles?

[The Analog Kid]

When you can bring an inflatable church [inflatablechurch.com] along too.

Re:Living in a bubble

[MBAFK]

The NASA Transhab design uses "multiple layers, which consist of Mylar, Kevlar, Nextel and foam rubber, provide better protection from micrometeorites than a metal shell."

Source [space.com]

There is quite a bit of info out there about the Transhabs, NASA are taking this quite seriously.

Re:Living in a bubble

[Motherfucking Shit]

The NASA Transhab design uses "multiple layers, which consist of Mylar, Kevlar,

Nextel and foam rubber, provide better protection from micrometeorites than a metal shell."

Not to mention, all space hotels built of this material would have built in galaxy-to-galaxy walkie talkie coverage!

Re:Living in a bubble

[MBAFK]

My understanding is that the modules have a metal docking collar at one end as shown in these two pictures:

Pic 1 [gatech.edu]
Pic 2 [marcopolo-education.org]

Re:inflate them with what?

[Firethorn]

The article suggested nitrogen. We already haul compressed air up into orbit. You'd simply have a gas cylinder to provide the pressure.

Re:inflate them with what?

[Mwongozi]

I would imagine that, in the low pressure of space (it's not quite a vacuum), even a tiny amount of gas would inflate it quite effectively.

Of course, they still have to fill the thing with air to breathe, so I'm sure they can manage to carry up a little bit more to actually inflate it.

Re:inflate them with what?

[blair1q]

They'll take a really deep breath before they leave the atmosphere.

Ah, the atmosphere.

In related news...

[Anonymous Writer]

NASA has decided that astronaut food rations will now include a large supply of beans.

Re:Fancy daydreaming

[Teancum]

I think you totally miss just who Bigelow Aerospace really is. This is not some fly-by-night company with no experience in the aerospace industry, but a real competitor who has been fighting NASA and FAA bureaucracy for many years. The only reason they aren't competing for the X-Prize is because they simply don't care to at the moment.

They have stayed in the background for some time now, and if they are making a move, it is something that you should pay very strong attention to. It also means that sever