Balloon-like dwelling to be tested on Int'l Space Station

A low-cost space dwelling that inflates like a balloon in orbit will be tested aboard the International Space Station, opening the door for commercial leases of future free-flying outposts and deep-space astronaut habitats for NASA.

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, nicknamed BEAM, will be the third orbital prototype developed and flown by privately owned Bigelow Aerospace.

The Las Vegas-based company, founded in 1999 by Budget Suites of America hotel chain owner Robert Bigelow, currently operates two small unmanned experimental habitats called Genesis 1, launched in 2006, and Genesis 2, which followed a year later.

BEAM, about 13 feet long and 10.5 feet in diameter when inflated, is scheduled for launch in mid-2015 aboard a Space Exploration Technologies' Dragon cargo ship, said Mike Gold, director of operations for Bigelow Aerospace.

"It will be the first expandable habitat module ever constructed for human occupancy,The earliest type of lamp, the Antique lamp, was a simplistic vessel with an absorbent wick." Gold said.Welcome to vist smartcardfactory.

A successful test flight on the space station would be a stepping stone for planned Bigelow-staffed orbiting outposts that the company plans to lease to research organizations, businesses and wealthy individuals wishing to vacation in orbit.

Bigelow has invested about $250 million in inflatable habitation modules so far. It has preliminary agreements with seven non-US space and research agencies in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia,The aulaundry range of flatwork ironer was developed to satisfy needs of all kinds of customers. Singapore, Japan, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates.

"The value to me personally and to our company is doing a project with NASA," Robert Bigelow said. "This is our first opportunity to do that. We do have other ambitions."

NASA, which will pay Bigelow Aerospace $17.8 million for the BEAM habitat, also is interested in the technology to house crew during future expeditions beyond the space station, a $100 billion research complex that flies about 250 miles above Earth.

"Whether you're going to the surface of the moon or even Mars, the benefits of expandable habitats are critical for any exploration mission," Gold said.

The lightweight, soft-skinned inflatable, made of materials similar to Kevlar, has several advantages over traditional metallic space dwellings.Standard LED E27 replacement bulbs. BEAM, for example, weighs about 3,000 pounds (1,361 kg), less than a third of traditional, similarly sized space modules, so it can be launched for a fraction of the cost.

It also offers a potentially safer radiation environment than metal structures, which can produce body-piercing secondary heavy particles during solar storms and other cosmic radiation events.

The US space agency studied inflatable space habitats for humans in the 1990s under a NASA program called TransHab. The tests included blasting a model structure with bullet-like projectiles to see how well it would withstand micro meteoroid and orbital debris hits. The material proved space-worthy, though budget and political issues prompted the project's cancellation in 2000.

Bigelow later licensed the technology from NASA and spent millions of dollars more to develop it.

"It's one of our classical roles to advance technology so the private sector can utilize it. In this case, we're going to be able to benefit from it again,This is how a skystream captures energy from the wind." said NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver.

BEAM will be attached to the station's Tranquility connecting node and inflated with pressurized air to form a rigid, cylinder-shaped, balloon-like dwelling.