Expandable space room starts deployment

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NASA

Image caption

The process of expanding the module began very slowly

Astronauts have begun opening up a new, expandable “room” on the International Space Station (ISS).

The module, which has a deployed volume of 16 cubic metres, is a demonstrator for the type of habitats that may be used to build future orbiting labs.

It is possible “inflatable” rooms could even make for more living space during the many months it would take humans to travel to Mars.

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module will be tested over the next two years.

Astronauts will only rarely go inside, given the room’s experimental nature. And when they do, it will be to have a quick look around and check its integrity. Nothing will be stored in the room.

Most of the time, the hatch to the Beam will remain closed and controllers on the ground will monitor its status through a series of embedded sensors. These will track temperature, pressure, radiation and impacts.

Engineers want to know if the structure is as robust a traditional metal modules.

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NASA

Image caption

Jeff Williams is leading the expansion process

ISS crewman Jeff Williams is opening up the room, introducing air into bladders between the several layers of super-tough polymer that form the Beam’s flexible skin.

It is a slow process. If done too fast it could damage the Beam. At one point, the astronaut heard what he described as a bang. Controllers then commanded him to halt the bladder inflation process to have time to review the situation.

If and when fully expanded, Williams will then have to pressurise the volume within the module itself.

The first interior inspection is scheduled to take place next week.

The Beam has been produced in a partnership between the US space agency (Nasa) and American entrepreneur Robert Bigelow, who built his fortune on the back of a budget hotel chain.

His ambition now is to take that accommodation experience into orbit.

Although the vessel attached to the space station is only a little bigger than a broom cupboard, the businessman has plans for expandable modules that are substantially bigger.

He hopes to rent these out to anyone who wants to use them for science and even tourism – as hotels in space.

Already, Robert Bigelow has a rocket booked for 2020, to take up his BA-330 model, which, as the designation intimates, has a volume of 330 cubic metres (12,000 cu ft).

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NASA

Image caption

An artist’s impression of what the fully deployed Beam should look like

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