NASA plans to begin testing inflatable habitats in Antarctica in January to help determine whether such structures could serve as bases on the Moon and Mars. Tests in ideal condiruins resulted in the deployment of a prototype habitat in four minutes
NASA is going to Antarctica in search of harsh conditions. Even though January is summer in Antarctica, the environment is still challenging. As a sort of bonus, working in bulky cold weather gear to deploy the habitat will be roughly comparable to deploying one in a bulky spacesuit.
NASA is not the only organization pursuing inflatable habitats. As reported in this blog, Bigelow Aerospace is also pursuing the concept. BA currently has two test inflatable structures in Earth orbit, and both have performed exceedingly well. BA is looking to using inflatable modules to construct space stations and orbiting hotels as well as surface habitats on alien worlds.
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