Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

A number of private firms want to see an inflation factor for the future.

What is now being evaluated and tested is the use of “softgoods” to fashion inflatable/expandable airlocks and off-Earth habitats, not only for low Earth orbit, but also to provide comfy housing for future moon and Mars explorers.

Pioneering work

Enter the 21^st century and make note of the pioneering work of Robert Bigelow and his team at Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas, Nevada.

The company fabricated two uncrewed free-flying expandable prototype modules that flew in 2006 and 2007, respectively, under its Genesis program. They are still circling the globe to this day.

Image credit: Lockheed Martin

For more information on inflatable structures in space, go to my new Space.com story – “Blowing up: Inflatable space habitats could be key to exploring the solar system” — at:

https://www.space.com/expandable-space-habitats-moon-mars-private-companies