X-Hab 2018-2019 Innovation Challenge: STARGATE inflatable crew-lock: Final update and safety briefing

Abstract

The XHAB program partners universities with NASA in order to develop solutions to problems facing NASA and allows solutions to be developed independent from trends NASA may have fallen into. In 2019, Oklahoma State University was selected to develop a deployable crew-lock to be used in conjunction with the Gateway module which will be used in the upcoming Moon missions. The solution developed involves two bulkheads connected by a nine inflatable tubes. When the system is activated, the tubes inflate and separate the bulkheads, which have fabric strung between them creating an enclosed space. This enclosed space will allow an environment which NASA technicians can test and develop systems to be used in the actual deployable crew-lock used in the gateway system. Our system that we built will be delivered to NASA Johnson Space Center on June 11 where we will demonstrate its use and instruct the technicians on its inner workings, after which point it will become a permanent training module used for mission design.