Bigelow Aerospace is developing new expandable space habitats that could be added to the International Space Station (ISS) as early as September 2015.
The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (Beam) may look like a children's bounce room, but the device has passed NASA's exacting requirements to be used aboard the orbiting outpost. The expandable habitat will be connected to the ISS for a period of two years. During that time, investigators will test how well the Beam is able to withstand the rigors of space, including radiation, acceleration and micrometeorites.
The national space agency awarded a contract, worth $17.8 million, to the private developer to design and manufacture the inflatable space habitat.
The new modules could one day be used to replace the International Space Station or could even be utilized in the first human habitats on the Moon. These inflatable segments can be connected together to form larger habitats, potentially providing the building blocks of future space hotels.
"This could be a very nice module potentially for the crews to go hang out in... It may become a very popular place," Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for human exploration and operations for NASA, said.
The habitat will be launched into space folded up into a space covering five by seven feet. The Canadian-built robotic arm attached to the space station will be used to connect the Beam to the Tranquility node of the ISS. Astronauts will then fill the habitat in a way similar to inflating an air mattress.
The model ready for testing later in 2015 will expand to enclose the same amount of space as a room measuring 10 by 12 feet, roughly the size of an average bedroom. A future version of the inflatable habitat is designed to encompass over 11,650 cubic feet of space.
Bigelow Aerospace is owned by Robert Bigelow, a multimillionaire real estate investor.
SpaceX, a private space developer, will launch the first Beam to the International Space Station for testing. That company was the first commercial company to fly to the ISS, and the habitat will be sent to the orbiting outpost aboard a Falcon 9 booster.
"After the module is berthed to the station's Tranquility node, the station crew will activate a pressurization system to expand the structure to its full size using air stored within the packed module. Astronauts periodically will enter the module to gather performance data and perform inspections. Following the test period, the module will be jettisoned from the station, burning up on re-entry," Bigelow Aerospace officials wrote on their Web site.
In the future, similar habitats could be utilized to create the first factories in space, producing everything from automobiles to pharmaceutical products, developers told the press.
