--- title: "This Roomy, Inflatable Habitat Could One Day Take You to Mars" description: "Aerospace company Sierra Nevada Corporation just built a prototype of an 26-feet-across inflatable space habitat that’s roughly one third the size of the International Space Station in volume. The company signed a contract with NASA back in 2016" date: "2019-08-21" modified: "2019-08-21" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/inflatable-habitat-mars" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Mars" - "Space" tags: - "lunar gateway" - "NASA" - "Space Habitat" - "the digest" --- # This Roomy, Inflatable Habitat Could One Day Take You to Mars ![]() *\Image: Sierra Nevada Corporation\* ## Bouncy Castle Aerospace company Sierra Nevada Corporation just showed off its prototype of a 26-feet-across inflatable space habitat module — roughly one third the size of the International Space Station in volume — at NASA's Johnson Space Center. The company signed a contract with NASA that [dates back to 2016]() under the NextSTEP program, which gave half a dozen companies the resources to develop a space station that could one day orbit the Moon. ![]() *Credit: Sierra Nevada Corporation* The inflatable sphere, lovingly [compared]() to a "giant bouncy house" by the *Houston Chronicle*, could house a team of up to four astronauts during long journeys through space. Three separate stories offer them enough living space to get on with their lives without having to say goodbye to too many of the creature comforts of life back on Earth. And thanks to its inflatable shell, it's small and light enough to be launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. ## Missed Connection "Concepts like these are helping us define and enable new architects and new opportunities... for future activities onward to Mars," said John McCullough, director of Johnson's Exploration Integration and Science Directorate, at a Wednesday news conference. Unfortunately, it's not actually heading to space any time soon. In July, aerospace corporation [Northrop Grumman]() [snatched away]() the NASA contract to build the first habitat module for NASA's planned [Lunar Gateway](). "We would really have liked a chance to compete on that, by the way," Steve Lindsey, vice president of Sierra Nevada's Space Exploration Systems, added. "But it is what it is." **READ MORE:** [Sierra Nevada shows off its large, inflatable space habitat]() \[*Ars Technica*\] **More on space habitats:** *[Here Are The 6 Deep-Space Prototypes NASA Selected For our Future In Space]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()