Tag: Bigelow Aerospace
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Video: BEAM welcomes first astronaut
International Space Station astronaut Jeff Williams opened the hatch and floated into the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, experimental habitat today for the first time. BEAM was launched April 8 and successfully expanded on May 28 for a two-year test of its durability in space. The crew will enter the module periodically to retrieve…
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After snags, BEAM space module expands to its full volume – like a bag of popcorn
A camera on the International Space Station shows the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, after inflation. (Credit: NASA TV) It took almost eight hours, but NASA accomplished the first expansion of a pop-up module at the International Space Station today, by inflating the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM. BEAM was built for NASA…
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Fabric too stiff? NASA gets set for second try to expand BEAM space module
The Bigelow Expandable Space Module, or BEAM, is designed to expand to twice its folded-up length, but during an initial attempt, it stretched out just a few inches. (Credit: NASA TV) Update: NASA will make its second attempt to inflate the Bigelow Expandable Space Module starting at around 6 a.m. PT Saturday. More details below. …
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NASA calls off inflation of experimental station habitat
Mission control used this grid to chart the progress of BEAM’s expansion. Credit: NASA TV Mission control halted the expansion of Bigelow Aerospace’s experimental space station module Thursday after the structure did not grow as predicted when air began flowing into it. Working in the International Space Station’s Tranquility module, astronaut Jeff Williams opened a…
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Bigelow’s station habitat to be expanded Thursday
Artist’s concept of an astronaut entering BEAM. Credit: NASA Space station flight engineer Jeff Williams will send commands Thursday to pump air into an experimental soft-sided module developed by commercial space habitat builder Bigelow Aerospace, expanding the structure to four times its current size in a stepping stone to future orbital destinations. The Bigelow Expandable…
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More frontiers lie ahead as International Space Station makes its 100,000th orbit
The International Space Station has circled Earth more than 100,000 times. (NASA photo) The International Space Station registered its 100,000th orbit around the planet today, providing NASA with a news hook for looking at what humanity’s farthest-out outpost has done over the past 17 years. “During that time, over 1,922 research investigations have been performed,” NASA said in…
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Expandable room installed on space station
Updated after BEAM installation. Credit: NASA/Tim Kopra The International Space Station’s robotic arm, under the control of engineers on Earth, extracted an experimental inflatable habitat from the trunk of SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship Saturday and attached it to the orbiting complex. Made by Bigelow Aerospace, the new module will spend two years on the space station…
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Bigelow Aerospace and ULA plan to launch supersized space station module in 2020
An artist’s conception shows the B330 space module in Earth orbit. (Credit: Bigelow Aerospace) DENVER – Bigelow Aerospace and United Launch Alliance have announced a plan to launch Bigelow’s B330 expandable space module aboard an Atlas 5 rocket in 2020, to serve as a destination for commercial operations in orbit. Today’s announcement at the Space Symposium…
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Atlas 5 to launch commercial space habitat for Bigelow Aerospace
An illustration of Bigelow module launching atop Atlas 5. Credit: ULA The maker of inflatable technology for a commercial space station will use a top-of-the-line Atlas 5 rocket with a stretched nose cone to hoist the first habitat into Earth orbit in 2020. Bigelow Aerospace and United Launch Alliance announced the partnership today at the…
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Dragon arrives at space station with inflatable habitat in tow
The Dragon spaceship flies over the Palm Islands of Dubai on final approach to the International Space Station on Sunday. Credit: Tim Peake SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship executed a laser-guided rendezvous with the International Space Station early Sunday, delivering an experimental expandable enclosure for attachment to the complex later this month for tests to verify…