Airlocks

louis · 2017-04-25 18:28:56

Think we've had some discussion of airlocks before but I'd like to revisit it. It's especially important for the sort of mission I envisage - with several separated habs (accommodation hab, iindustrial hab and farm hab) and for later as the colony grows.

But of course traditional air locks are heavy and probably difficult to manufacture in an early colony.

Are there alternatives?

I think we've discussed:

- Kevlar or similar

- Ice

- A large thick granite slab on rollers.

- Mars concrete.

Any thoughts?

SpaceNut · 2017-04-25 21:22:59

They rely on a smooth sealing surface of metal or glass typically and some sort of compressable materials such as neoprene. Basically a large O-Ring between the 2 surfaces to be sealed. What make is work is a pump to equal the pressure differential for either direction of travel so as to prevent loss of atmosphere.

elderflower · 2017-04-26 03:56:42

Airlock should extend outwards from the hab. This is so that its walls are not under compression due to the external pressure when the air lock is evacuated (as they would be were the airlock to extend inside the hab), but rather are under tension when the airlock is pressurised to Hab pressure with external pressure outside it. It is much easier to design for tensile strength than for compressive as buckling is not then an issue. This will give a lighter structure which may be made from conventional FRP or from carbon fibre. The joint to the hab has to deal with differential loading so must withstand fatigue over a large number of cycles.

elderflower · 2017-04-26 04:02:06

You could have a suit which docks to a hab port so you just enter the suit seal it and the port and undock. reverse procedure for return. It would mean lots of ports in case we need to evacuate and you still need at least one big airlock for a stretcher party, equipment and samples.

louis · 2017-04-26 04:27:12

I'm really interested in the idea of having air locks that can accommodate a small 2 person rover, maybe say 9 feet long. That way, all the people should be able to walk into the airlock and get into the pressurised rover, wearing probably only some kind of basic MCP suit with emergency oxygen face mask at the ready.

Let's say you had a 10 feet by 6 feet opening to the air lock from the outside, how massive would that air lock have to be if it was made from a conventional metal?

louis · 2017-04-26 05:12:11

This link suggests the Space Shuttle airlock system weighed 825lbs.

http://www.asi.org/adb/06/07/04/10/airl … tures.html

That of course is only good enough to get a person through, as I understand it.

SpaceNut · 2017-04-26 16:41:03

The Russian unit is attached to a node port with the complete unit is no way that low of a number for the mass of an air lock.
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/shm.html
Drawing of intended unit

Actual unit does look different...
http://www.spaceref.com/iss/elements/airlock.html

The Joint Airlock was launched on ISS-7A / STS-104 in July 2001 and was attached to the right hand docking port of Node 1. The Joint Airlock is 20 ft. long, 13 ft. in diameter, and weighs 6.5 tons.

Now the commerical airlock was just installed as its not needed to attach the mass of a shuttle so a newer design was created for Space x and Boeing to use.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/progress-u … ce-station

Its the small round looking cap...

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/02 … k-in-2019/

The large, half-cylinder-shaped airlock, about two meters in diameter and 1.8 meters long, would become the first permanent commercial addition to the orbiting laboratory. Ars first reported development of the commercial airlock a year ago, but now the company, Nanoracks, has made substantial progress toward flying the device in 2019. In addition to approval from NASA, the company has reached an agreement with Boeing to manufacture and install a “berthing mechanism” that connects pressurized modules of the space station. Boeing’s investment in the $15 million project is significant, as the aerospace giant already holds the primary contract to operate and maintain the station for NASA. As part of the agreement, Boeing will not only assist with integrating the airlock into the station, it will also help develop a customer base to use the airlock.

Mars_B4_Moon · 2023-12-01 17:05:31

Europe is Working on a Multi-Purpose Habitat for the Moon
https://www.universetoday.com/164584/eu … -the-moon/
With NASA gearing up to send humans back to the Moon in the next few years with the Artemis missions with the goal of establishing a permanent outpost at the lunar south pole, nations are making efforts to contribute to Artemis and a permanent presence on our nearest celestial neighbor. Recently, the Italian Space Agency, formally known as Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), has taken steps to establish the first permanent outpost on the lunar surface, known simply as the Multi-Purpose Habitat (MPH). This endeavor was officially kicked by the ASI signing a contract with the French-based aerospace company, Thales Alenia Space, who specializes in space-based systems, including ground segments and satellites used for both Earth observation and space exploration.

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#1 2017-04-25 18:28:56

Airlocks

#2 2017-04-25 21:22:59

Re: Airlocks

#3 2017-04-26 03:56:42

Re: Airlocks

#4 2017-04-26 04:02:06

Re: Airlocks

#5 2017-04-26 04:27:12

Re: Airlocks

#6 2017-04-26 05:12:11

Re: Airlocks

#7 2017-04-26 16:41:03

Re: Airlocks

#8 2023-12-01 17:05:31

Re: Airlocks

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