Big Bubble

Today I did a bit of exploring; I visited the Rutgers Sports Bubble. Now I am sure that you all have seen those big inflated white bubbles used for sports, but do you know how they work. Well until today I always figured that it was two skins that were then inflated, well today I learned that the Rutgers one is not like this. The Rutgers bubble is actually a single skin, its shape is made from the metal wire framework around the outside (which give the bubble the weird patterns that I always figured was just where the different pieces of fabric sown together) and the inside is totally pressurized. When you walk in there is a revolving door that is quite difficult to open (I assume this is due to the pressure differential) then you get in and your ears pop. Totally cool, an enormous enclosed area with a football field in it.

This is the outside of the bubble (note the big R)

This is the view right when you walk in.

There is the big R from the inside.

A little closer in (for a sense of scale the R on the floor is over 10 yards long and at the end you can see two regularly sized doors in the wall)

The R up close, on the sides of the picture you can see the two air ducts that pressurize the bubble (you would only need a small increase over atmospheric pressure. You would only need pressure a little greater than the wieght per square foot of the skin and metal wire, somewhere around one PSI probably).