TransHab was a program pursued by NASA in the late 1990s to develop the technology for expandable habitats inflated by air in space. TransHab was intended as a replacement for the existing rigid International Space Station crew Habitation Module. When deflated, inflatable modules provide an 'easier to launch' compact form. When fully inflated, TransHab would expand to in diameter (compare to the diameter of the Columbus ISS Module).
History
The name of the project is a contraction of Transit Habitat reflecting the original intention to design an interplanetary vehicle to transfer humans to Mars.
Considerable controversy arose during the TransHab development effort due to delays and increased costs of the ISS program. In 1999, the National Space Society issued a policy statement recommending that NASA continue R&D of inflatable technologies while ceasing development of a TransHab ISS module. Finally in 2000, despite objections from the White House, House Resolution 1654 was signed into law banning NASA from conducting further research and development of TransHab. An option to lease an inflatable habitat module from private industry was included in the bill.
The private company Bigelow Aerospace purchased the rights to the patents developed by NASA, but ceased operations in 2020. It pursued a similar scheme for a private space station design. The company has launched the Genesis I, Genesis II, and BEAM pathfinder spacecraft, with plans for additional experimental craft culminating in their BA 330 production model and the Bigelow Commercial Space Station.
Technology
thumb|upright|Cut-away view of the TransHab multi-layer, space debris and micrometeoroid ballistic-shield.
The TransHab design called for a hybrid structure that combines the packaging and mass efficiencies of an inflatable structure with the advantages of a load-bearing hard structure. a material commonly used as insulation under the hoods of many cars, spaced between several-inches-thick layers of open cell foam, similar to foam used for chair cushions on Earth. The Nextel and foam layers cause a particle to shatter as it hits, losing more and more of its energy as it penetrates deeper. a material commonly used in the food-packing industry. The innermost layer, forming the inside wall of the module, was Nomex cloth, a fireproof material that also protected the bladder from scuffs and scratches.
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:The Pressurized Tunnel Area was intended to provide a passageway between TransHab and any vehicle to which it is attached. The original tunnel design had two standard International Space Station hatches and housed critical equipment required during module expansion, such as avionics and power equipment.