NASA has successfully inflated the world’s most expensive balloon on the International Space Station.
Okay, maybe calling it a balloon is selling it just a little bit short—because the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (or BEAM) is far more than that. It’s a $17.8 million expandable habitat for astronauts that might just revolutionize the future of space living. Contracted by NASA, this prototype room was built by Bigelow Aerospace. It folds up neatly to about one-fifth of its inflated size, meaning it takes up less space than a rigid metal room would, and it’s significantly lighter—thereby making it cheaper and easier to transport into space.
However, just because it’s easier to carry into space doesn’t necessarily mean everything that followed went just as smoothly. In fact, the first attempt at inflating BEAM—on Thursday (May 26)—did not quite go to plan. NASA detected unexpectedly high pressures inside BEAM and stopped their attempt after two hours—although later it was determined to likely have been a result of the fabric of the module sticking together.
A second attempt
According to Space.com, the second attempt at inflation began Saturday at 9:04 am EST (1304 GMT), taking seven and a half hours to complete—an intentionally slow process, for safety’s sake. NASA astronaut Jeff Williams, who led the operations to expand the module, opened the valve to the module 25 times, releasing air into BEAM in short bursts and allowing it to stabilize and expand in between. Throughout the inflation, loud popping noises could occasionally be heard, although that was a good thing, since it meant BEAM was expanding as planned.
“It sounds sort of like popcorn in a frying pan starts up,” said Jeff Williams.
Now that it’s fully-inflated, BEAM contains some 565 cubic feet (16 cubic meters) of living space—although astronauts won’t be floating inside of it just yet. NASA and Bigelow still need to complete about a week’s worth of leak checks before humans are allowed in it.
“This first test of an expandable module will allow investigators to gauge how well the habitat performs and, specifically, how well it protects against solar radiation, space debris and the temperature extremes of space,” said NASA officials said in a statement.
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Image credit: Bigelow Aerospace
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