Come 2015, the international space station could be a little roomier.
On Wednesday, NASA announced its plans to launch an inflatable pod with the intention of docking with the space station, reports the
Washington Post.
The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, will travel through space deflated before being inflated into a 13-by-10 foot cylinder.
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The BEAM is the creation of Bigelow Aerospace, a Nevada-based company founded by real estate and hotel magnate Robert Bigelow.
“This program starts a relationship that we think, and we hope, is going to be meaningful between NASA and ourselves,” Bigelow said at a news conference held at the company’s headquarters.
NASA is paying Bigelow Aerospace $17.8 million to build the module, which features walls constructed not of metal but layers of Kevlar, which is designed to block radiation and micrometeoroids, two of the foremost dangers of space travel.
Lori Garver, NASA’s deputy administrator, was pleased with the deal.
“This is a great way for NASA to utilize private-sector investment, and for pennies on the dollar to expand our understanding of this technology,” she said at the news conference.
After reaching the space station, the module will attach to an air lock and be inflated. The Beam’s hatch will be closed most of the time. Crew members will enter to gather information about its characteristics over a two-year period.
Bigelow Aeronautics did not dream up the concept of an inflatable module. Rather, the company licensed the concept from NASA in 1999, after the agency abandoned the idea for use on a mission to Mars.
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