NASA Creates History By Successfully Deploying BEAM: The Expandable Activity Module
Astronaut Jeff William at the International Space Station (ISS) has become successful in inflating the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) during their second try on 28th May. The earlier attempt on 26th May was cancelled as the engineers at NASA detected higher-than-expected pressure inside the BEAM habitat. However, engineers later determined that the extra pressure might have caused due to the module’s fabric outer layers sticking together.
After the first failed attempt, the engineers formulated a new plan to introduce short blasts of air in intervals to let the module expand slowly. The highly monitored process started at 9:04 a.m. EDT (1304 GMT) and was complete by 4:34 p.m. EDT (2034 GMT). The Module was pressurised 10 minutes after its full expansion to match the pressure of the ISS. The astronauts will be entering the module a week later during which the Bigelow Aerospace will run various tests including the check for leaks. Once all the checks are done and the safety in ensured, the astronauts will enter the module to collect various sensor data that will help test the module.
The BEAM module that was 7 feet long by 8 feet wide (2.1 m x 2.4m) during launch was expanded to big 13 feet by 10.5 feet (4m x3.2m) habitat with 565 cubic-feet (16 cubic m) of living space. This module if the first of its kind that has been deployed at the ISS. The Bigelow Aerospace stated that they have tested some prototypes in space before, but this would be the first time an astronaut will be entering one. The module will remain on ISS for the next 2 years during which the astronauts will collect various sensor data from it. The data collected will be very helpful in designing further versions of such modules that will be used during the mars mission.
The videos below show the installation and expansion of BEAM on the ISS.
Source: <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1804.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Redirecting to SSRE on NASA.gov...</a> | <a href="https://www.space.com/32992-beam-inflatable-space-habitat-success.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">1st Inflatable Habitat for Astronauts All Pumped Up on Space Station | Space</a>
After the first failed attempt, the engineers formulated a new plan to introduce short blasts of air in intervals to let the module expand slowly. The highly monitored process started at 9:04 a.m. EDT (1304 GMT) and was complete by 4:34 p.m. EDT (2034 GMT). The Module was pressurised 10 minutes after its full expansion to match the pressure of the ISS. The astronauts will be entering the module a week later during which the Bigelow Aerospace will run various tests including the check for leaks. Once all the checks are done and the safety in ensured, the astronauts will enter the module to collect various sensor data that will help test the module.
The BEAM module that was 7 feet long by 8 feet wide (2.1 m x 2.4m) during launch was expanded to big 13 feet by 10.5 feet (4m x3.2m) habitat with 565 cubic-feet (16 cubic m) of living space. This module if the first of its kind that has been deployed at the ISS. The Bigelow Aerospace stated that they have tested some prototypes in space before, but this would be the first time an astronaut will be entering one. The module will remain on ISS for the next 2 years during which the astronauts will collect various sensor data from it. The data collected will be very helpful in designing further versions of such modules that will be used during the mars mission.
The videos below show the installation and expansion of BEAM on the ISS.
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