An inflatable habitat designed for explorers on the moon or Mars is headed for an Antarctic test run, NASA said Wednesday. The habitat is built by ILC Dover and looks like one of those backyard bounce things. It will make it deput on the South Pole early next year. NASA demonstrated the inflatable prototype on Wednesday at ILC Dover's Frederica, Del., facility and deflated and inflated it about ten times. The structure will be deployed in the Antarctic this coming January. The goal: to use just four people and deploy everything in four hours. Working in bulky cold weather gear will also make the deployment more analogous to the challenges facing astronauts clad in cumbersome spacesuits on the moon and eventually on Mars.
The habitat prototype will eventually serve as a multilayered test platform for new technologies such as health monitoring systems, self-healing materials, and protective radiation materials. When not inflated, the habitat can save on space and weight during transportation. This will be very helpful on long trips to the moon and Mars. Lets just hope that this base dosent get hit by an meteor and pop!
The habitat prototype will eventually serve as a multilayered test platform for new technologies such as health monitoring systems, self-healing materials, and protective radiation materials. When not inflated, the habitat can save on space and weight during transportation. This will be very helpful on long trips to the moon and Mars. Lets just hope that this base dosent get hit by an meteor and pop!
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