Sierra Space confirms burst test of its fullscale inflatable module was successful
Sierra Space yesterday confirmed that the pressure test-to-failure of a fullscale inflatable space station module was successful in proving its safety and design.
The pressure shell for Sierra Space’s LIFE™ (Large Integrated Flexible Environment) habitat is made of expandable “softgoods,” or woven fabrics that perform like a rigid structure once inflated. During an Ultimate Burst Pressure (UBP) test, the teams inflate the test article until it fails, which helps determine how strong its softgoods materials would be under extreme stresses in the harsh environment of space. The full-scale unit in this test reached 77 psi before it burst, which well exceeds (+27%) NASA’s recommended level of 60.8 psi (maximum operating pressure of 15.2 psi multiplied by a safety factor of four).
A short video showing the moment the module bursts can be seen here.
The module is for the Orbital Reef commercial space station that Sierra Space is building in partnership with Blue Origin, which is supposed to be the lead company in the project. However, it is Sierra Space that appears to be building and testing hardware. What Blue Origin is doing remains unclear, as has been the case now for five-plus years.
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Sierra Space yesterday confirmed that the pressure test-to-failure of a fullscale inflatable space station module was successful in proving its safety and design.
The pressure shell for Sierra Space’s LIFE™ (Large Integrated Flexible Environment) habitat is made of expandable “softgoods,” or woven fabrics that perform like a rigid structure once inflated. During an Ultimate Burst Pressure (UBP) test, the teams inflate the test article until it fails, which helps determine how strong its softgoods materials would be under extreme stresses in the harsh environment of space. The full-scale unit in this test reached 77 psi before it burst, which well exceeds (+27%) NASA’s recommended level of 60.8 psi (maximum operating pressure of 15.2 psi multiplied by a safety factor of four).
A short video showing the moment the module bursts can be seen here.
The module is for the Orbital Reef commercial space station that Sierra Space is building in partnership with Blue Origin, which is supposed to be the lead company in the project. However, it is Sierra Space that appears to be building and testing hardware. What Blue Origin is doing remains unclear, as has been the case now for five-plus years.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Did NASA demand all the same burst tests on all of its previous modules?
Can’t find any quick references to burst testing any previous modules but a few references to NASA making all new requirements for textile habitats.
They also increased the radiation protection requirements.
77 PSI sounds like a lot, but what happens when a valve fails from the pressure supply tank & 700 PSI is dumped into the module? Isn‘t that what ruined the SLIM lunar lander mission?
So these tests are showing it can take roughly 5 times times 1 atmo (give or take a few pounds),
Are they required to show durability for impacts, show puncture resistance and the ability to patch a leak?
I would think pressure alarms and emergency relief valve( that release pressure into all three axis equally) would prevent a burst in space.
So instead of demanding the very same thing they found safe for the last 40 years they upped the requirements for “safety”.
For permanent habitat I can see upping the safety margins but nothing they are building is supposed to be permanent. Just long term.
Its just like NASA to demand more from private companies than they accept for themselves.
pzatchok: Though I would be the first person to agree with you about NASA’s tendency to over-regulate private companies for no reason, in this case I wonder if these new requirements are the result of data obtained by NASA from the Bigelow BEAM inflatable module that has been attached to ISS now for several years. It could be the data from it has suggested more ground testing and higher limits for inflatable modules were required.
It’s a fairly new technology so it’s prudent to sandbag the numbers, just in case. As with the early days of carbon fiber, there may be failure modes that come as a surprise.
I do believe the BEAM module is 6 inches thick. A dozen layers or more, several self sealing layers and several layers just for blocking radiation. All on top of the several layers of carbon fiber.
Per foot the BEAM module is 5 times heavier than any previous module. And a thousand times safer. The fact that the ISS is leaking like a civ even now I would think they would be clamoring for more like it to replace the modules already in space.
NASA will never accept an operational ‘soft’ module until they have no other choice.