Inflatable Room Tests Commercial Technology On International Space Station
- 10 years ago
The International Space Station will be hosting an inflatable addition to the spacecraft as part of testing for the private commercial company Bigelow Aerospace. An inflatable room called Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM for short, will get attached to the International Space Station so that they can see how it performs in low-Earth orbit conditions.
The International Space Station will be hosting an inflatable addition to the spacecraft as part of testing for the private commercial company Bigelow Aerospace.
An inflatable room called Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM for short, will get attached to the International Space Station so that they can see how it performs in low-Earth orbit conditions.
BEAM will catch a ride in 2015 on the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft, and NASA will keep track of the radiation levels inside of it compared to the rest of the space station.
According to a 2012 announcement, space travel packages for the public are already being offered by Bigelow and SpaceX for the cost of around 51 million dollars, including a month on the company’s own Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station, anticipated to be semi-operational by next year.
The BEAM inflatable module reportedly cost around 17 point 8 million dollars to make, and there are plans for it to spend a couple of years at the International Space Station.
Mike Gold, who works for Bigelow, says that eventually low-Earth orbit will become a commercial domain, even though the International Traffic in Arms Regulation is holding back the sharing of technology between different countries.
The International Space Station will be hosting an inflatable addition to the spacecraft as part of testing for the private commercial company Bigelow Aerospace.
An inflatable room called Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM for short, will get attached to the International Space Station so that they can see how it performs in low-Earth orbit conditions.
BEAM will catch a ride in 2015 on the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft, and NASA will keep track of the radiation levels inside of it compared to the rest of the space station.
According to a 2012 announcement, space travel packages for the public are already being offered by Bigelow and SpaceX for the cost of around 51 million dollars, including a month on the company’s own Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station, anticipated to be semi-operational by next year.
The BEAM inflatable module reportedly cost around 17 point 8 million dollars to make, and there are plans for it to spend a couple of years at the International Space Station.
Mike Gold, who works for Bigelow, says that eventually low-Earth orbit will become a commercial domain, even though the International Traffic in Arms Regulation is holding back the sharing of technology between different countries.