Manmade Bubbles to Multitask in Space

[Oleg]

Manmade Bubbles to Multitask in Space
Tracy Staedter, Discovery News


Dec. 11, 2006 — Blowing bubbles may sound like child's play, but researchers are investigating the use of inflatable structures for use as interplanetary imagers and space habitats.

The structures, being developed at Massachusetts-based Physical Sciences, would begin similar to their toy counterparts — as a filmy liquid stretched out across a ring. But the similarities end there.

The raw materials would be launched as a compact, and therefore inexpensive, payload of liquid and gas. In theory, pumped air would blow the film into a bubble and ultraviolet light from the sun would cure the surface into a shell. Once blown into shape in space, the bubble could span several hundred feet.

Deployed to a planet's surface, a bubble could provide a habitat for people. Floating in space, it could operate as an orbiting space station, an interstellar spacecraft, or even as a new kind of telescope.

"The nice thing about bubbles is that they are driven by surface tension and they are always spherical and always smooth," said Prakash Joshi, manager of advanced systems technologies at Physical Sciences and a co-investigator on the research.

The technology may not find its way into orbit for a couple of decades or more, but the idea is not so far-fetched. In Beijing, contractors are already at work building China's new National Swimming Center for the 2008 Olympics. The exterior will appear to be made of thousands of giant soap bubbles.

And attempts at launching inflatable structures in space have already had success. For example, the California-based aerospace company L'Garde has flown 150 deployable objects, including a 46-foot microwave antenna that was flown on the space shuttle.

But a bubble-inspired building on Earth and an inflatable antenna in space are still a far cry from the vision shared by Joshi and his team.

Currently, they are focusing on using the bubbles to make a space-born imager that could take images of the Earth or space.A bubble imager may sound counterintuitive, but it would work like this: If you intersect a small bubble with a large bubble, you can produce a concave or convex surface — precisely the kind needed to make a mirror for a telescope.

Joshi believes that if his team could coat such a surface with metal, it would be shiny enough to reflect light.

So far, the researchers have succeeded in creating bubble more than 2 feet in diameter. It was produced in a vacuum, similar to the conditions in space, and made from a polymer liquid that cures under ultraviolet light.

"As a basic idea, it's very elegant," said Corin Segal, an associate professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville and an expert in propulsion and combustion. But, he says, "The challenges here are multiple."

"They describe materials that are 200 to 300 times heavier than the material they have as a goal. The other issue is to make these structrues at the large dimensions, then packing everything together and converting it into a payload and launching it," he said.

Although there are some hurdles to overcome, Proshi said the system could be available as a prototype in five to ten years.


Physical Sciences, Inc.

Space Bubble
This laboratory bubble was made in a vacuum similar to the conditions in space. In the future, the technology could be used to design inflatable bubbles that could be deployed in space to serve as telescopes or even habitats for people.


Physical Sciences, Inc.

Olympic Future
China's National Swimming Center — currently in construction — will have an exterior that will appear to be made of thousands of giant soap bubbles. A similar technology is being developed by Massachusetts-based Physical Sciences for use in space.


http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/12/11/bubble_tec.html?category=technology&guid=20061211153030

Здесь на русском:
http://news.cosmoport.com/2006/12/14/2.htm

[RadioactiveRainbow]

Я не знаю, что это такое на нижней фотке, но я хочу такое же

[Дмитрий Виницкий]

А по мне, так сиськи могли бы быть побольше!

[Oleg]

А по существу?

[Дмитрий Виницкий]

А по существу, это может иметь какие-то перспективы, но пока похоже просто на освоение гранта, вроде известного исследования по размачиванию печенья в чае

[AlexB14]

Я не знаю, что это такое на нижней фотке, но я хочу такое же

А по мне, так сиськи могли бы быть побольше!

А я грешным делом подумал что RadioactiveRainbow про маечку говорит.