TransHab

[Carlobrand]

This was an interesting concept for an inflatable habitat, intended for the ISS until Congress killed it. Basic idea, I think, was something that could fit in the cargo bay of a space shuttle and then be expanded out to about twice that diameter to serve as a working space:

https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/station/transhab/

The walls are an engineering marvel. Probably needs to be below the radiation belt, since that was what the ISS was aiming for, but I'm guessing you could design one for a high orbit setting by finding a way to integrate water or hydrogen into the wall design to serve as a shield against high-energy protons. Or, I understand they're thinking up ways to provide shielding as light-weight plastics for the proposed Mars missions; maybe you could spray on a plastic layer after it was deployed.

The Wiki entry on it has a bit more detail:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransHab

And then Atomic Rockets has a TransHab calculator to design one, although I think it's still a work in progress:

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/transhabcalc.php#id--Instructions

In the Trav universe, something like this could be designed as a cutter module, delivered to orbit on a cutter, then expanded out to serve as a station. Or you could design one that fit the cargo bay of a fat trader. Set one up as a base for the construction crew who are building more permanent orbital structures, or as a cheap and temporary base around some airless or hostile-atmosphere world that your scientists are investigating. Set one up on an asteroid as a base camp for mining - they set up quick compared to building a structure, and in that context they could be moved from asteroid to asteroid fairly easily by some tow ship even after they were expanded and occupied.

 

[BlackBat242]

You mean this (built and successfully inflated & in use aboard ISS)?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_Expandable_Activity_Module

Yes, not a permanent fixture... but it is the same concept, just in a "test article/proof of concept" form, rather than jumping straight to one for people to live in (a much wiser course of action to me... follow-on modules can be for long-term use/habitation once it is proved to work)!

 

[Carlobrand]

Yes, that would be the one, though I'm not clear why the bolded bit is relevant. I assume from your comment that there was some controversy over the issue at the time, but I am primarily focused on its utility in the Traveller setting. Those walls are neat and might be useful for other Trav concepts. Would you happen to know if the thing can be deflated for storage, or is it permanent once inflated?

 

[BlackBat242]

The bolded part was part of my (apparently not apparent to readers) point that perhaps part of the reason Congress voted down the earlier incarnation might be that it was considered to be "moving too fast, without adequate testing and development".

The statements from NASA about the Bigelow module indicate that it is definitely a test module, to further develop the technology and design for later full-time occupation-rated versions.

As such, I don't expect that this one has all (or even most) of the planned eventual features... so I don't expect it to be designed for repeated deflations/reinflations.