Like a balloon that you inflate until it bursts, the American space company Sierra Space has one of its inflatable space station modules tested to the breaking point. This was done on a NASA testbed Large Flexible Environment (LIFE) pumped full of air until its shell could no longer bear the pressure.
More than necessary
At the so-called Ultimate burst pressure test the LIFE module has been shown to withstand a pressure of 192 psi, converted 13.23 bars. For a better evaluation: This pressure reigns at a water depth of 134 meters. In all cases, the result exceeded the safety requirement of 182.4 psi or 12.57 bar. Sierra Space is therefore proud.
Dwellings in orbit
“The LIFE-Habitat is one of Sierra Space’s most innovative products, enabling people to live safely and comfortably found new civilizations in space“, explains Neeraj Gupta of Sierra Space. In the future, the company plans to make inflatable modules available as accommodation for astronauts in Earth orbit. They are to be installed, for example, on the “Orbital Reef” space station from Blue Origin.