Blow up structures show promise in space
NASA engineers have completed tests on an experimental inflatable structure that could be used in space as a communications antenna, a solar energy collector, or a telescope mirror.
The tests at the Marshall Centre were aimed at developing reliable methods of testing ultra-light structures. The month-long series of vibration tests is being followed with more tests of the structure at NASA's Langley Research Centre.
The gold, 6.4 metre inflatable ring and its silver, 5 metre inflatable reflector weighs less than 3.6 kilograms. The super-light plastic membrane is one-third as thick as a sheet of paper. This is the sixth inflatable structure tested by Marshall in an effort to test, model, analyse and develop applications for thin film structures.
Compact, thin-walled membranes hold the promise for very large structures in zero gravity. They would weigh a fraction of traditional metal and composite structures and, when deflated, could be packed into a much smaller volume - making them much cheaper to launch.