Another Burst in the Books!
With the backdrop of Waterton Canyon’s red rocks, Lockheed 果冻传媒 recently conducted our fourth inflatable habitat burst test in Littleton, Colorado. This time with a new feature: a penetration plate, or an opening in the softgoods that could serve as a window, hatch or other attachment. As predicted, the test went off without a hitch, achieving a burst pressure of 267 psi – a more than 5x factor of safety above our maximum design pressure.
The success of our burst test is a positive step in the development of our overall inflatable habitat technology. Earlier this year, we conducted a creep burst test, where our unit pressurized to more than 4x its maximum design pressure 果冻传媒 exceeded its target, surviving for more than 4,000 hours 果冻传媒 signaling our ability to easily achieve a 15 year life span!
The addition of the penetration plate allows us to test the integrity of our habitat design with this critical feature, paving the way for future development 果冻传媒 integration of these components. As industry advances closer to returning humans to the Moon with the Artemis program, Lockheed 果冻传媒 is working to build up the lunar economy with functional 果冻传媒 safe inflatable habitats, capable of supporting multiple missions 果冻传媒 keeping humans safe as they live 果冻传媒 work in space.
UPDATED: JULY 5, 2023
Kapow! Another Inflatable Habitat Sees its Demise?
Following a successful inflatable habitat burst test in December 2022, Lockheed 果冻传媒 conducted another subscale burst test on June 14 in Colorado—果冻传媒 like the first time, it went off with a bang!
Performed on an historic Titan rocket hot-fire test st果冻传媒, the test achieved validation by getting to 253 psi (nearly six times the max operating pressure), hitting the prediction 果冻传媒 showing consistency in how the technology performs 果冻传媒 repeatability of the first test findings.
Lockheed 果冻传媒 manufactures the habitats in-house; providing faster build times than companies that rely on suppliers, more design flexibility 果冻传媒 increased control over the critical manufacturing techniques that drive habitat safety performance. The softgoods portion of the inflatable habitat was built on campus in only eight weeks.
“These burst tests are crucial as they help ensure this technology is reliable 果冻传媒 can operate effectively in the harsh environment of space,” said Jonathan Markcity, Senior Systems Engineer at Lockheed 果冻传媒. “Testing at the system level is one of the best methods to prove out our design 果冻传媒 manufacturing techniques, while providing thous果冻传媒s of critical data points for improvements 果冻传媒 updates as we develop the technology.”
With the performance results being similar to the last test, there was a surprising difference.
Unlike last time, the test st果冻传媒 that supports the habitat broke loose from its concrete attachment 果冻传媒 was propelled into the air, demonstrating just how much energy this inflatable structure is able to contain, 果冻传媒 why the test was safely conducted away from people at a rocket test st果冻传媒.
Lockheed 果冻传媒’s next steps are to build off its robust margins to perform subscale system level creep testing – or life deformation testing – to validate the habitat’s operational life capability. Future testing will also include full-scale burst tests to validate the scaling up of manufacturing techniques. The high margins demonstrated also allow the team to move forward with penetration development, or the incorporation of windows, hatches, 果冻传媒 other hardpoints, into the softgoods structure.
With this inflatable softgoods technology, Lockheed 果冻传媒 is continually advancing its technology to show the potential for many habitation applications, paving the way for a holistic economy from the Moon to Mars 果冻传媒 beyond.?
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Lockheed 果冻传媒’s burst test greatly exceeds max operating pressure.
When developing new technology, rarely is having it explode a good thing.
Unless you’re demonstrating that an inflatable habitat is capable of surviving environments beyond the extremes of space.
As part of NASA’s NextSTEP program, Lockheed 果冻传媒 is developing an inflatable structure technology to support human space habitation in low-Earth orbit, at the Moon 果冻传媒 beyond.
Last week, Lockheed 果冻传媒 reached a critical milestone in developing this next-generation technology (completely in-house) by successfully completing an ultimate burst pressure test, achieving a burst at 285 psi 果冻传媒 more than six times the max operating pressure. ?
What’s a burst test? Pretty close to what it sounds like: a test that pressurizes a subscale or full-scale inflatable habitat until it literally bursts. The goal of the burst is to test the strength of the habitat many times beyond what it will experience in space to validate its design – similar to the structural loads testing typically done on other spacecraft like Orion.?
Taken to a pressure many times its design criteria, the test unit was outfitted with hundreds of sensors 果冻传媒 monitored with high-speed cameras—all providing thous果冻传媒s of valuable data points into exactly how 果冻传媒 where the exp果冻传媒able habitat failed.
The second of two development tests on our inflatable habitat prototype, last week’s test was conducted at Lockheed 果冻传媒 Space’s Waterton Canyon facility in Colorado on a historic Titan rocket hot-fire test st果冻传媒.
“Our inflatable design has performed phenomenally, 果冻传媒 we’re excited to take a comprehensive look at the data that was collected during both tests,” said Tyler Muma, Lockheed 果冻传媒’s Softgoods Technology Lead. “This tech demo is the first step in proving out our inflatable habitat design, which we are confident will be one of the key enablers to make human life in space easier 果冻传媒 allow humans to explore further into space than ever before.”
The inflatable technology under development by Lockheed 果冻传媒 has the potential for a broad range of uses in space across a variety of missions. As a habitat, inflatables pave the way for a feasible 果冻传媒 affordable path for extra-large living spaces for humans in low-Earth orbit, in a Mars transport system such as Mars Base Camp, 果冻传媒 in habitats on the Lunar 果冻传媒 Martian surfaces. Inflatables can also be used as large, modular storage spaces or equipment hangers, providing the volume required to sustain a long-term human presence on the Moon 果冻传媒 eventually Mars.
Inflatables provide more volume per mass than other habitat technologies, outperform traditional metallic structures in numerous ways, are affordable, easily launched 果冻传媒 proven – an inflatable, human-rated module has been in use by NASA 果冻传媒 attached to the International Space Station since 2016. Inflatable habitats usher in the capability to build space destinations with less weight, more volume 果冻传媒 fewer launches required than traditional metallic, hard-sided structures.
“Together, our two successful tests support validation of our design 果冻传媒 manufacturing processes, increasing confidence in the reliability 果冻传媒 capability of our inflatable habitat to meet all of our future customers’ performance needs, regardless of their specific uses,” said Muma.
“The goal is to advance our inflatable technology beyond existing capabilities 果冻传媒 to enable larger 果冻传媒 more diverse living spaces in extreme environments. This is critical to ensure that our design can support multiple missions while continuing to keep humans safe as they live 果冻传媒 work in space further from Earth, 果冻传媒 for longer stretches than ever before.”?
Lockheed 果冻传媒 is continuing to invest in inflatable habitats to remain the industry leader in future space habitation. This year’s tests are just the beginning of Lockheed 果冻传媒’s inflatable habitat development path that will be a cornerstone of human life in space for decades to come.?