The experimental module BEAM (Bigelow Expandable Activity Module), launched on 8 April aboard the Dragon CRS-8, has already been inflated by the crew members of the Expedition 47 of the ISS. The process of inflation started on Thursday 26 may, but had to be cancelled when NASA found that it was not expanding as expected. The next day was again depressurized and finally the inflation is completed the day Saturday, may 28. Yes, it was not a quick maneuver; the process lasted more than seven hours: from 13:05 UTC until 20:44 UTC. BEAM, is coupled to the rear port of the module Tranquility, now has a length of 3.7 meters (1.8 meters more), and a diameter of 3.2 meters (0.8 meters additional), with a volume of 16 cubic meters.
The module BEAM-inflation (NASA).
The operation was controlled by astronaut Jeff Williams, who was in charge of pressurizing the module slowly using air from the rest of the season. Williams described the sound that produced the strips of material subject to break down as the “popcorn in a microwave oven”. The downside of working with a module inflatable is that one never knows the exact size that's going to achieve, because there will always be discrepancies with the theoretical models that describe the expansion of the materials. And, although it is a frivolity, you must also add is that the final aspect of the module is significantly different from the animations that we had seen previously and it is a little... well, abby.
Sequence of inflation.
Jeff Williams during the maneuver of inflation (NASA)
Inflate a module, as BEAM is more complex than blowing up a balloon. Williams hired first air to the interior of the station through the pressure equalization valve is used in the hatch CBM (Common Berthing Mechanism) to expand the module. But, unlike what one might think, the air was not directly to the main volume of the module to inflate it like a balloon, but the cameras inflatables that make up the walls. Once it had reached its final shape, the internal volume was pressurized in ten minutes using eight tanks of air, which carried the module itself. BEAM, docked to the ISS from April 16, is an experimental module and has not been designed to allow a permanent occupation, but all in all it is expected that the next June 6, the crew of the ISS open the hatch and access the inside. Excursions to the BEAM shall be limited to periods of about two or three hours every six months
Location of the BEAM on the ISS (NASA).
Theoretical aspect that should be BEAM once inflated (NASA).
Theoretical aspect that should be BEAM once inflated (NASA)
The module BEAM as seen from Earth (Philip Smith).
Interior volume of the BEAM (NASA).
BEAM has 1413 kg and dimensions —before inflation— of 2.16 meters of length and 2,36 meters in diameter and is based on the technology of the modules, inflatable Genesis of 1360 kg, Bigelow launched in 2006 and 2007 by rocket Dnepr. BEAM is the first module inflatable and is attached to the ISS or, as we are, to any type of crewed ship, but it is not the first that proposes to attach to the space station. This merit belongs to the project, TransHab, a hybrid module proposed in 1997 that it possessed a central structure rigid and an outdoor inflatable. Should have had a fixed length of 12,19 m and a diameter of 7,28 meters once inflated, so that its final volume would reach a staggering 342 million cubic metres. Unlike the rest of the modules of the ISS, arranged in ‘horizontal’, TransHab was divided into three levels of ‘vertical’. As the rest of the modules, it would have been thrown in the hold of the space shuttle. TransHab was canceled for economic reasons, but not before producing a prototype that would be inflated in a vacuum chamber in 1998.
Module inflatable TransHab (NASA).
Internal structure of TransHab (NASA)
So it would have looked like TransHab attached to the ISS (NASA).
Surely the BEAM will not be the last module inflatable that is docked to the ISS. Bigelow does not rule out launching in 2020 the module XBASE (Expandable Bigelow Advanced Station Enhancement) of 19.5 tons and 330 cubic meters to attach to the ISS, although it is unlikely that NASA fund its construction (the company also wants to build its own space station private stand-alone). But it's not just Bigelow and NASA are interested in this type of modules. The Russian company RKK Energy is preparing a module inflatable for the Russian segment of the station. This module, with a volume of a few hundred cubic metres, to dock by a ship's Progress modified and would be one of the elements that would form the future space station fully Russian Roscosmos wants to have available from 2024 using several modules of the Russian segment of the ISS (Nauka, Prichal and NEM). The cuts in the budget of Roscosmos have been obliged to postpone the development of this module to a date not determined, but the program seems firm and solid.
The module inflatable Russian with the Progress that would lead to the station (RKK Energia).
Prototype module inflatable RKK Energy (RKK Energia)
Prototype module inflatable RKK Energy to the side of a capsule Soyuz, the fiber hull of the capsule Federatsia, and a mock-up of Federatsia (RKK Energia)
Mock-up of another module inflatable Russian TsNIIMash (Novosti Kosmonavtiki).
No one will deny that the development of this type of module is so important due to its potential use in interplanetary missions. Effectively, the modules inflatable, despite of the problems that occur with respect to the security (leak tightness, impact of micrometeoros, radiation, etc), have always presented as an essential part of any trip beyond low-earth orbit thanks to the extra volume that they can bring to a crew that must remain months or years away from the Earth. The era of the modules, inflatables has not done more to start
Model ship manned martian with a habitat inflatable in the front and heat engines, nuclear in the rear (NASA).
Habitat model inflatable integrated in the upper part of the rocket SLS flights for the ship Orion (NASA).
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