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Six Inflatable Space Structures From Science Fiction
It makes a lot of sense to use inflatable structures in space; it's the cheapest way to enclose a volume from the standpoint of weight (and therefore cost for delivery from Earth).
As far as I know, the first real proposal from scientists to use inflatable structures in space was from Werner Von Braun's 1952 article for Collier's for a flexible nylon wheel-like space station.
(Von Braun's inflatable space station concept)
Science fiction authors made steady contributions to this area both before and after.
Inflatable Roofed Valley (Robert Heinlein)
From Misfit, Heinlein's first published story (1941), a perfect choice to create an enclosed administrative area on a planetoid moved to a new orbit.
The Captain selected a little bowl-shaped depression in the hills, some thousand feet long and half as broad, in which to establish a permanent camp. This was to be roofed over, sealed, and an atmosphere provided..."Is this roof going to be just fifty feet high?"
"No, it will average maybe a hundred. It bellies up in the middle from the air pressure."
"Earth normal?"
"Half Earth normal."
Airtight Tent (Raymond Z. Gallun)
From his 1951 novella Asteroid of Fear, a family tries to set up a temporary shelter on Vesta:
In another minute John Endlich and his wife were setting up an airtight tent, which, when the time came, could be inflated from compressed-air bottles. They worked somewhat awkwardly, for their instruction period had been brief, and they were green; but the job was speedily finished. The first requirement—shelter—was assured.
Inflatable Air Lock (Murray Leinster)
From his 1951 novel Space Tug
The net and the plastic sidewalls were, of course, the method by which a really large airlock was made practical. When this ship was about to take off again, pumps would not labor for hours to pump the air out. The sidewalls would inflate and closely enclose the ship's hull, and so force the air in the lock back into the ship. Then the pumps would work on the air behind the inflated walls—with nets to help them draw the wall-stuff back to let the ship go free. The lock could be used with only fifteen minutes for pumping instead of four hours.
Inflatable Lunar Resort (Philip K. Dick)
From his 1955 novel Solar Lottery:
Corpsmen, dressed in bright vacation colors, were relaxing and enjoying themselves around and in a vast tank of sparkling blue water. Above them a dome of transparent plastic kept the fresh spring-scented air in, and the bleak void of the Lunar landscape out...
Igloo Inflatable Moon Habitat (Arthur C. Clarke)
From his 1961 novel A Fall of Moondust:
...it was now no particular hardship to live in a home that would fold up into a small trunk.This was one of the latest models - a Goodyear Mark XX - and it could sustain six men for an indefinite period, as long as they were supplied with power, water, food and oxygen. The igloo could provide everything else - even entertainment, for it had a built-in microlibrary of books, music and video... In space, boredom could be a killer...
Inflatable Expansion Bubble (Larry Niven)
We were in the expansion bubble when it happened. The bubble had inflatable seats and an inflatable table and was there for exercise and killing time but it also provided a fine view; the surface was perfectly transparent.
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