NASA Is Going To Keep Its Inflatable Habitat In Space Until At Least 2020

recollect that inflatable home ground that NASA attached to the International Space Station ( ISS ) ? Well , it ’s still go strong – so NASA is going to keep it attached to the ISS   a bit longer .

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module ( BEAM ) , built by Las Vegas - ground troupe Bigelow Aerospace , wasattached to the ISSin 2016 . The revolutionary design launched in a compact variant , before being pumped with gas and expanding to five time its original volume .

It ’s hoped that this engineering might be useful for succeeding space exploration to the Moon , Mars , or elsewhere . Being capable to launch in a much smaller form than a even habitat , it can save a lot of infinite .

Initially , NASA plan to keep BEAM attached to the ISS for two years , as they tested out its performance and capability . It would have been jettisoned sometime in 2018 and transport to burn down up in the atmosphere .

Now NASA is considering keep it attach to the ISS for at least three more year , with the possibility of broaden it until 2021 . NASA would then use BEAM not just for testing , but also as computer storage space too . At the moment , BEAM is largely empty apart from a few experiments to screen its temperature , radiation sickness levels , and pressure sensation .

“ Using the infinite inside BEAM would allow NASA to restrain between 109 to 130 Cargo Transfer Bags of in - orbit stowage , ” said NASA in astatement .

“ Given that the bulk of each Cargo Transfer Bag is about 1.87 cubic feet ( 0.53 cubic time ) , enjoyment of BEAM for stowage will absolve an equivalent place of about 3.7 to 4.4 International Standard Payload Racks , enable more blank space in the ISS for research . ”

We have n’t heard too much from Bigelow recently , particularly in terms of its future plans , although we eff they ’ve got a easy partnership in position with the United Launch Alliance ( ULA ) to progress some kind ofspace hotelafter 2020 .

Meanwhile , NASA is look into building a space place near the Moon , call theDeep Space Gateway , and Bigelow is one of several party do work with NASA on space habitats . Whether inflatable modules will play a part in that project persist to be seen .