SpaceX is set to deliver a first-of-a-kind inflatable space module carrying special scientific equipment to the International Space Station on a two-day voyage which will begin next Friday, April 8.
The incredible space module was developed by space technology startup Bigelow Aerospace, whose goal is to create habitable space stations that are affordable.
NASA confirmed on Monday that the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will blast off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station into orbit, followed by the aerospace company's own Dragon supply ship minutes later. It will deploy its solar arrays and perform engine burns as the spacecraft seizes its port-of-call.
Bigelow Aerospace's expandable space module - officially called Bigelow Expandable Activity Module --will be carried along as well, and it will be attached to the ISS for testing.
After astronomers inject air into the blow-up spacecraft, it will swell from a bundle 8 feet wide into a compartment almost as big as a garage that can fit one car.
Two days after the launch, the space station's 57-foot robotic arm will grapple the Dragon supply ship, slowly maneuver it to its docking port on side of the Tranquility module. Dragon will then dock to the orbital outpost.
An Incredible Achievement
Although the six-member station crew will only run tests on the inflatable module rather than spend time inside it, experts said its presence on the orbit will be a significant milestone. BEAM will be investigated by astronauts on the ISS over the next two years.
"It'll be the first time human beings will actually step inside this expandable habitat in space," said George Zamka, a retired astronaut who has worked for Bigelow Aerospace. "It'll feel pretty beefy. There won't be this sense of it being like a balloon."
Dr. Julie Robinson, chief scientist of the ISS program, said the launch is something they have been waiting for quite a long time because it has implications to their overall ISS research program.
"It has about 2,000 kg of research equipment and supplies," said Robinson. "The big driver on that amount of mass is that we have about 1,400 kg of the BEAM module which will be tested on ISS -- that's the heavy one."
NASA project and technical integration manager Rajib Dasgupta said will not be easy to puncture. It will have thick walls made out of multiple layers of fabric and Kevlar-like material, something that space junk will not be able to penetrate, he said.
In May, Dragon is expected to return to Earth, bringing back biological samples from astronauts. In 2018, BEAM will be released into space and will be dragged by orbital decay into the Earth's atmosphere.
