Inflatable Habitats Technology Development

Abstract

For many years inflatable structures have been theorized for use as satellite dishes, deployable arrays and human habitats. They fall into human-rated and non-human rated structures. As such the structural design requirements and safety redundancy are much different. This paper will discuss the Habitat and Surface Construction Technology that would support the development of Mars greenhouses as well as habitats. This paper will briefly describe the ISS TransHab architectural design and structural testing for the proposed as a habitation module for the International Space Station. It will also discuss inflatable greenhouse design considerations and examples.