Because this has never been done before at a space station, NASA is proceeding slowly and methodically to inflate the room, said mission operations manager Kenny Todd. It’s the creation of Bigelow Aerospace, founded by hotel entrepreneur Robert Bigelow.
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The operation took much longer than expected, stretching over three days in all.
The amount of expansion and the pressure to volume ratio didn’t match the models previously calculated and higher forces than predicted were generated, so the space agency and Bigelow Aerospace engineers chose to suspend operations.
Astronaut Jeffrey Williams opened a valve that allowed air to slowly flow into the inflatable chamber, called BEAM. Once the fabric is unfolded, the internal gas tanks will bring it up to full pressurization.
Williams and his crewmates aren’t allowed to go inside the empty BEAM until a week after it is fully inflated, so ground controllers can check for leaks. NASA wants to make certain it’s airtight before letting anyone inside.
The BEAM is a technology demonstration to study expandable habitats in space.
The soft-sided, multi-layered Beam measured 7 feet long and almost 8 feet in diameter when delivered last month to the station by SpaceX, packed in the trunk of a capsule loaded with supplies. That apparently did the trick.
This time, Williams heard popping noises as pressure built up inside BEAM – like popcorn in a frying pan. Officials said it was the sound of internal straps releasing as the pod swelled in both length and girth. He’s working to fly a pair of private inflatable stations in another few years. He sees inflatables as the spaceflight’s future.
Because expandable spacecraft can be compressed for launch, the rockets can carry more cargo, yet space travelers can still enjoy lots of room.
BEAM is supposed to stay attached to the space station for two years. It will be off limits most of the time to astronauts, given its experimental status.
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The reason for the failure isn’t known, but in a teleconference a Bigelow spokeswoman said one possibility may stem from the fact BEAM remained in storage for 15 months due to a delay in delivery after a Falcon 9 booster was lost in flight on June 28, 2015.
