Patent 8366051 was granted and assigned to Bigelow Aerospace on February, 2013 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An air barrier having a scuff coating is used in connection with the core of a spacecraft to form an inflatable, or expandable, human habitat module. The air barrier is comprised of a number of segments joined together to form a enclosure that has at least one opening. The joined segments are generally gas impermeable, flexible, and have a scuff coating on both sides of the segments.