http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/news/beam_feature.html
http://www.space.com/19290-private-inflatable-space-station-bigelow.html
http://www.gizmag.com/bigelow-beam-iss-nasa-contract/25877/
For more on Whipple Shields see http://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/ares/hvit/basic.cfm, http://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/ares/hvit/sd.cfm or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipple_shield
I am real interested in this inflatable module, eventually we might be able to have entire space stations or space ships made this way, or with most of the structure made this way, which could really lower the weight.
Weight is a big problem for getting this to orbit from Earth surface, the gravity well is useful in day to day life, but it is a real PITA for getting into space.
For more on orbital costs see http://home.earthlink.net/~kstengel226/astro/cost2orbit.html also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_orbital_launch_systems
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