Expandable Space Modules Bring Breathing Room to ISS Astronauts

Jun-12-14 Astronauts on the ISS will soon have bit more elbow room with the development of a new expandable habitat called the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM).

The modules, designed by NASA in collaboration with Bigelow Aerospace, can accommodate six astronauts (or tourists, should the possibility arise). Once installed at the station, the modules can be expanded via a pressurization system to reach their full size of 13 feet by 11 feet. Weighing only 3000 pounds (70 percent the size of a same-sized rigid version), the modules are much easier and less expensive to transport than current solutions, and could provide an easy way to expand the capacity of the ISS.

Bigelow is also working on a larger version of the modules that could be daisy-chained together to create a large, orbiting space station with much less effort than was required by the ISS.

Image: NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and President and founder of Bigelow Aerospace, Robert T. Bigelow, talk while standing next to the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM).

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[GIZMODO.COM]
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