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To: tricky_k_1972

This picture is probably not technically feasible: if it's inflatable and not extremely rigid, I don't see that you would really want to dock anything to it. Consider what would happen if the docking vessel came in just a little too fast: just like any other balloon, the walls would expand as they absorbed the impact. What would that do to the integrity of the module, not to mention anything that happened to be stuck to the walls?

The "proper" approach would be to mount these guys to a rigid hub of some sort, and to dock to that instead. I don't think you'd want any inflatables along the "structural axes."

8 posted on 05/25/2004 12:59:13 PM PDT by r9etb
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To: r9etb
The center core would be rigid as shown in the Transhab. The expanded shell would not be load bearing to the attached propulsion/environmental module nor the docked Soyuz.

It's re-inventing the wheel but give Burt some moola and he'll make it happen.

Wish I could peek at his plans for SpaceShip2!!!

12 posted on 05/25/2004 7:23:01 PM PDT by Young Werther
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