Illustration of a reusable space tourism cruise shuttle docked with a manned habitat 400 kilometres above the Earth. The habitat is composed of two modules connected in the middle by docking ports. Immediately above the shuttle is a hard-walled habitat similar to the modules that make up the pressurized environments of the International Space Station, while above that is soft-walled inflatable habitat that is collapsed and folded during launch. Once in orbit it is inflated like a balloon and has a pressurized and breathable atmosphere. Both modules provide a comfortable shirt-sleeve, albeit weightless, environment for several astronauts. Such a configuration could one day be amenable to space tourism. Earth image courtesy of the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center. | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / Myers, Walter |
Taille de l’image : | 7247 px × 4832 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
Restrictions : | - |