Random thought of the day

If you were to build large structures in space or on the moon that would be constructed from a number of units, perhaps like a number of freight containers that were joined together, it might be difficult to have a solid weld for all the connecting edges. In space there might also be impacts from micrometeors. A simple idea that might work for a pressured living area in space or in moon structures is to line the walls with a foam filled mesh that could automatically block any small leak or fracture that might occur. If a hole through which air under pressure could leak were to form, you could design the foam filled mesh so that the foam compresses under a difference in pressure while the mesh holds the compressed foam in place to seal that leak. The mesh would have to be loosely fitted around the outer wall of the structure so that it could stretch into an appropriate shape to keep the pressurised area sealed. Something like that might work to build a temporary tent or lightly built pressurised structure if it had a solid support to keep it in shape. Something like that might even be suitable in space to surround a working space where an astronaut could still work carrying all their life support systems for a vacuum but not necessarily in a full space suit. Some kind of a mesh/foam like this might also be useful as a filler for temporary repairs. It would be extremely difficult to repair a pressurised cabin in a vacuum if you aimed to weld any faults, splits or gaps to be airtight. The framework needs to be solid but you can plan to use something flexible to keep the walls airtight. It’s probably already been thought of, but that’s my random thought for the day anyway.

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