Experimental Investigation Of Packaging And Deployment Characteristics Of An Inflatable Toroidal Space Station Configuration

An investigation has been conducted at the Langley Research Center to determine the feasibility of a method for folding, packaging, and deployment of an inflatable 2k-foot-diameter toroidal space station model. The model was tested under atmospheric conditions and in a 60-foot-diameter vacuum sphere at a vacuum pressure of 1 mm Hg. It was found during these tests that the packaging factor of the torus component of the 2k-foot-diameter space station model torus was k.l. This packaging factor was determined by dividing the folded volume of the material by the calculated material volume based on 0.08k-inch material thickness. The torus was folded and packaged to 1.58 percent of the fully inflated volume. This procedure reduced the volume from 2511 cubic feet to 52 cubic feet; it caused no apparent damage to the torus bladder and no permanent creasing, nor did it have any effect on the material permeability in the tests performed. Cords of the filament cage remained tightly bonded to the bladder and did not appear to be damaged. The internal collapsible compartments did not hinder the folding process of the torus and there was no apparent damage to these compartments due to the packaging. Results of the folding and packaging tests indicate that the folding procedures developed can be used for inflatable toroidal shape configurations. Also, the materials utilized in the construction of the torus were adequate in that they complied with the test-program requirements of a durable inflatable material that could readily be packaged into a tight compact unit with minimum damage to the material.

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