nasa tests inflatable habitats

NASA tests inflatable habitats

Ralph Buttigieg

Sydney, NSW

Australia

The polar regions are probably the closest environments to Mars we

have on Earth. So Antarctica is a good place to test inflatable

habitats:

An inflatable habitat designed for explorers on the moon or Mars is

headed for an Antarctic test run, NASA said Wednesday.

The habitat - built by ILC Dover and resembling an inflatable

backyard bounce for children - will make its South Pole debut early

next year. NASA demonstrated the inflatable prototype on Wednesday

at ILC Dover's Frederica, Del., facility.

"We deflated [and inflated] it in about ten minutes," said Larry

Toups, habitat lead for NASA's Constellation Program Lunar Surface

Systems Office, in an interview.

Toups and several other habitat designers from NASA's Johnson Space

Center and ILC Dover will attempt to deploy the structure in the

Antarctic this coming January. Their goal: to use just four people

and deploy everything in four hours. Working in bulky cold weather

gear will also make the deployment more analogous to the challenges

facing astronauts clad in cumbersome spacesuits on the moon.

The habitat prototype will eventually serve as a multilayered test

platform for new technologies such as health monitoring systems,

self-healing materials, and protective radiation materials. When

not inflated, the habitat can save on space and weight during

transportation. It's just one of several models, including another