NASA TV/Handout via ReutersThe unexpanded Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is seen attached to the Tranquility module on the International Space Station in this still image taken from NASA TV May 26, 2016.
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Astronauts aboard the International Space Station will try again Saturday to inflate a novel experimental habitat after the fabric module failed to unfurl as planned earlier this week, NASA officials said Friday.
Everything was broadcast live on NASA TV, and while it was incredibly tiresome to watch most of the time, it was very cool to listen to: inside BEAM are a whole bunch of little ripstop straps that are created to pop in sequence to keep the inflation rate under control, and as more air was added to the module, all of those pops “sounded like when popcorn in a frying pan starts up”, as Williams described it.
Astronaut Jeffrey Williams opened a valve and introduced 22 seconds’ worth of air into the compartment, then several more seconds in brief bursts. The module is now attached to the International Space Station (ISS) and the first effort at inflating it had failed.
BEAM was launched to the orbiting lab last month in an effort to test and validate expandable habitat technology.
BEAM was about 7 feet long and 8 feet wide when it arrived at the space station last month, Space.com reported.
Williams told flight controllers he heard short popping sounds, which NASA commentator Dan Huot said were stitches inside the module ripping apart as designed when BEAM began to expand.
Scientists will attempt to inflate the experimental habitat BEAM once again on Saturday. BEAM will be expanded when the ISS is in the right position for the astronauts to work in the sunlight.
“We recognize that BEAM is a first of-its-kind spacecraft, and we are in full support of safety being the number one priority”, Bigelow Aerospace said in a statement.
NASA and Bigelow Aerospace initially tried to inflate the BEAM module on Thursday, but the expansion process did not go as expected.
Specifically, NASA wants to see how well BEAM protects against solar radiation, temperature extremes and micrometeorite strikes over the course of two years in orbit.
Once the module grew by 4 feet in length, tanks of compressed air inside BEAM were opened to automate the process and finish the job.
Bigelow Aerospace, which is led by Robert Bigelow, owner of the Budget Suites of America chain of hotels, previously launched two free-flying inflatable modules, Genesis I and Genesis II, in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
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He added that “the primary force that we believe that we’re working against is friction forces between the fabrics”. “Expandable modules, which are lower-mass and lower-volume systems than metal habitats, can increase the efficiency of cargo shipments, possibly reducing the number of launches needed and overall mission costs”, NASA reports. To do this, astronauts would have entered the habitat only three or four times a year, gathering data about its conditions each time.
