Transhab - ILC Dover

ILC Dover participated in the NASA JSC lead Transhab program as technical advisor and component manufacturer on the integrated product team. We provided design & test support as well as materials & process development for the system. ILC Dover also manufactured the tri-layer bladder assembly for the full scale test article.

The Transhab program was a study of large scale inflatable structures that could be used for deployable habitation for human exploration of space. NASA studied applications for Mars transit vehicles as well as space station uses. It was a technology leap in high-stress inflatable structures and built off of previous work conducted by ILC in webbing supported inflatable structures. The full-scale structure was a 27 ft diameter cylinder with toroidal ends and a rigid internal core structure. The internal core was rigid and provided facilities for mounting gear and systems that could be later translated into position for operation. The operational pressure was 14.7 psid and a factor of safety of 4 over ultimate was used in the design of the inflatable structure.

Short sections of the full scale design were hydrostatically tested at NASA JSC to verify structural performance. A full scale unit was also tested in the largest vacuum chamber at JSC.

Transhab Bladder, Bladder & Restraint, and Thermal/MMOD Cover in Vacuum Chamber Test.