Non-Axisymmetric Inflatable Pressure Structure (NAIPS) Concept that Enables Mass Efficient Packageable Pressure Vessels with Openings

Doggett, William R.; Jones, Thomas C.; Kenner, Winfred S.; Moore, David F.; Watson, Judith J.; Warren, Joseph E.; Makino, Alberto; Yount, Bryan; Selig, Molly M.; Shariff, Khadijah; Litteken, Douglas A.; Mikulas, Martin M.

doi:10.2514/6.2016-1475

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Research has focused on investigating and characterizing areas of primary concern including: the long-duration behavior of high-strength restraint layer materials [9][10][11] , the integration of hard structure such as windows and hatches into the fabric shell, internal and secondary structures, instrumentation and measurement of strains and loads, and efficient folding and packaging of the multi-layer shell. NASA has also tested many different inflatable geometries and architectures ( Figure 1, images 8 to 11) at sub-and full-scale, fabricated both at NASA and with its industry partners [12][13][14] . Currently, several private companies are involved in NASA's NextSTEP-2 program 15 studying inflatable concepts for deep-space habitats and airlocks ( Figure 1-12), with the potential that an inflatable component or module will be selected to proceed toward a flight article in the 2020's.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of Habitable Softgoods Inflatable Design, Analysis, Testing, and Potential Space Applications

Valle

Litteken

Jones

2019

AIAA Scitech 2019 Forum

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Inflatable space structures have the potential to significantly reduce the required launch volume of large crewed pressure vessels for space exploration missions. Mass savings can also be achieved via the use of high specific strength softgoods materials, and the reduced design penalty from launching the structure in a densely packaged state. Inflatable softgoods structures have been investigated since the late 1950's, and several major development programs at NASA and in industry have helped advance the state-of-the-art in this technology area. This paper discusses the design, analysis, structural testing, and potential applications for inflatable softgoods structures. In particular, this paper will discuss the design of the multi-layer softgoods shell (inner layer, bladder, structural restraint layer, micrometeoroid orbital debris protection layers, thermal insulation layers, and atomic oxygen layer (for low earth orbit) and the results of material and module-level testing that has been conducted over the past two decades at NASA. Finally, the current utilization of expandable spacecraft structures is discussed, as well as potential future applications including airlocks and habitats on the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, and the surface of the Moon and Mars.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of Habitable Softgoods Inflatable Design, Analysis, Testing, and Potential Space Applications

Valle

Litteken

Jones

2019

AIAA Scitech 2019 Forum

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“…Location of inertial load items, ex: internal system masses such as life support, power, stowage, waste, and exercise regions are placed in a parametric manner about the interior of the habitat (Figure 4). [13]. This soft goods airlock estimate includes a softgoods, internal structure and hard ring interface to habitat.…”

Section: Basis Of Estimatementioning

confidence: 99%

NASA's advanced exploration systems Mars transit habitat refinement point of departure design

Simon

Latorella

Martín

et al. 2017

2017 IEEE Aerospace Conference

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This paper describes the recently developed point of departure design for a long duration, reusable Mars Transit Habitat, which was established during a 2016 NASA habitat design refinement activity supporting the definition of NASA's Evolvable Mars Campaign. As part of its development of sustainable human Mars mission concepts achievable in the 2030s, the Evolvable Mars Campaign has identified desired durations and mass/dimensional limits for long duration Mars habitat designs to enable the currently assumed solar electric and chemical transportation architectures. The Advanced Exploration Systems Mars Transit Habitat Refinement Activity brought together habitat subsystem design expertise from across NASA to develop an increased fidelity, consensus design for a transit habitat within these constraints. The resulting design and data (including a mass equipment list) contained in this paper are intended to help teams across the agency and potential commercial, academic, or international partners understand: 1) the current architecture/habitat guidelines and assumptions, 2) performance targets of such a habitat (particularly in mass, volume, and power), 3) the driving technology/capability developments and architectural solutions which are necessary for achieving these targets, and 4) mass reduction opportunities and research/design needs to inform the development of future research and proposals. Data presented includes: an overview of the habitat refinement activity including motivation and process when informative; full documentation of the baseline design guidelines and assumptions; detailed mass and volume breakdowns; a moderately detailed concept of operations; a preliminary interior layout design with rationale; a list of the required capabilities necessary to enable the desired mass; and identification of any worthwhile trades/analyses which could inform future habitat design efforts. As a whole, the data in the paper show that a transit habitat meeting the 43 metric tons launch mass/trans-Mars injection burn limits specified by the Evolvable Mars Campaign is achievable near the desired timeframe with moderate strategic investments including maintainable life support systems, repurposable structures and packaging, and lightweight exercise modalities. It also identifies operational and technological options to reduce this mass to less than 41 metric tons including staging of launch structure/packaging and alternate structural materials.

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“…The Non-Axisymmetric Inflatable Pressure Structure (NAIPS) design, detailed in Doggett et al 1 , provides a geometry that includes several zones of low stress in one principle direction, perpendicular to the primary load paths of the structure (Figure 1). These low principle stresses allow a flexible linear seal to be integrated into the pressure vessel that can replace a typical heritage metallic hatch and its associated interfaces (Figure 2), significantly reducing the mass of the structure and increasing its packageability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-Axisymmetric Inflatable Pressure Structure (NAIPS) Full-Scale Pressure Test

Jones

Doggett

Warren

et al. 2017

4th AIAA Spacecraft Structures Conference

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Non-Axisymmetric Inflatable Pressure Structure (NAIPS) Concept that Enables Mass Efficient Packageable Pressure Vessels with Openings

Cited by 4 publications

References 3 publications

Review of Habitable Softgoods Inflatable Design, Analysis, Testing, and Potential Space Applications

Review of Habitable Softgoods Inflatable Design, Analysis, Testing, and Potential Space Applications

NASA's advanced exploration systems Mars transit habitat refinement point of departure design

Non-Axisymmetric Inflatable Pressure Structure (NAIPS) Full-Scale Pressure Test

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