5 – Space Habitats and the Story of Bigelow

Habitation in space will become a very important topic as we venture out into deep space and eventually to Mars. Turning space from a place to travel through to a place to live will be a prime objective of technology development in the near term. In this episode we’ll explore the history of habitation, from the earliest Skylab and Salyut stations to the modular Mir and ISS designs. Then we’ll talk about Bigelow Aerospace, its NASA roots, and the commercial impact on the industry as it sets its sights on Mars. Audio Links from the show: Disney’s Mars and Beyond Gemini 7/6 Remembered Panel NASA Documentary on Skylab News broadcast on launch of Mir Excerpt from STS-79 Post Flight Briefing Excerpt from STS-89 Post Flight Briefing Interview with David Wolf CSA – Water Recycling on the ISS Moonandback Media – People of NewSpace – Robert Bigelow Part 1 Moonandback Media – People of NewSpace – Robert Bigelow Keynote Speech ULA/Bigelow Press Conference CRS-8 Hosted Webcast CRS-8 Capture Highlights NASA Audio provided under Public Domain. All others used under Fair Use. Other Links for further info Bigelow Aerospace Website Steve Pestana – Spacecraft Habitable Volumes, Mission Duration Air&Space Article that inspired Robert Bigelow TransHab Inflation Test Timelapse TransHab Concept Video WeMartians Theme Song is “RetroFuture” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/