Rigex : Preliminary Design of a Rigidized Inflatable Get-Away-Special Experiment

As space structures grow in size and complexity, their weight and cost increase considerably. The use of inflatable and rigidizable structures offers drastic improvements in all areas of spacecraft design. The goal of this experiment is to verify and validate ground testing of inflation and rigidization methods for inflatable space structures. The Rigidized Inflatable Get-Away-Special Experiment is an autonomous, self-contained space shuttle experiment that will inflate and rigidize several structures. After inflation, the experiment will perform a structural analysis by exciting the rigidized structures and collecting vibration data. A systems engineering approach is utilized to make design decisions based on a total system and life-cycle perspective.Air Force Inst of Tech Wright-Patterson AFB OH is the author of 'Rigex : Preliminary Design of a Rigidized Inflatable Get-Away-Special Experiment', published 2001 under ISBN 9781423530626 and ISBN 1423530624.