NASA blew up this inflatable space station structure on purpose

NASA and Sierra Space blew up another space habitat in June, and everyone is smiling about it. That’s because the full-size inflatable structure in this “ultimate burst pressure” test only failed after exceeding NASA’s recommended x4 safety levels by 22 percent.

Sierra Space’s inflatable structure, known as a Large Integrated Flexible Environment, or LIFE, had its last stress test in January. LIFE is built from “basket-weaved Vectran fabrics” that strengthen once inflated. It’s intended to be used as a component in the Orbital Reef space station project involving NASA, Blue Origin, and Sierra Space.

“This second burst test will get us the design, repeatability, and architecture as we go towards our certification of the pressure shell of the LIFE habitat,” Sierra Space’s program manager for soft goods, Beth Licavoli, said before the test.

This second test model, called LIFE 285, stood over 20 feet tall and is about the size of “an average family home.” Compared to the previous test model, this has larger and lighter “blanking plates” on the walls, which Licavoli says allow the model to expand and have larger windows.

The latest stress test reached 74psi before bursting, enough to verify “scalability for 10 cubic-meter and up to 1,400 cubic-meter structures.” Next year, Sierra Space plans to test its first 500-cubic-meter space station technology.