The first step in the human expansion into space consists of the construction of a human-tended base on the Moon. Establishment of a lunar base depends upon the development of a structure capable of accomodating human life and activities in a shirt sleeve environment. Design and construction of a structure on the Moon require addressing a host of issues and loads that are not encountered on Earth. A lunar structure is essentially a pressure vessel since the internal pressure is the dominating load. The external pressure is effectively an absolute vacuum and the dead loads from both the material mass and a protective regolith layer are quite small due to low lunar gravity. An inflatable structure made of a thin membrane integrated with an inflated supporting frame is highly efficient in resisting the internal pressure loading and the dead loads. Preliminary design computations for a generic lunar inflatable structure are presented.
Inflatable structures for a lunar base
1995-01-01
Miscellaneous
No indication
English
INFLATABLE STRUCTURES FOR A LUNAR BASE
Online Contents | 1995
|Inflatable structures for a lunar base
AIAA | 1993
|Inflatable structures for a lunar base habitat
NTRS | 1992
|Inflatable structures for a lunar base habitat
AIAA | 1992
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