The expandable space habitat of Bigelow Aerospace has just reached at the International Space Station (ISS), and the company has already started making plans regarding what it will do next.
Advertisement
Bigelow told the news conference that partnering with ULA, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing, is ‘a potentially enormously important relationship, ‘ to open space to non-government research, commercial endeavors and tourism. The unit would then function as a multipurpose tested in support of various NASA exploration goals and other commercial opportunities.
The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is a 1,400-kilogram structure, which is 3.6 meters long.
Space may be the final frontier for Trekkies, but these voyages of the International Space Station (ISS) are certainly ones that will put a smile on the faces of Dubai denizens.
Under the agreement, the two B330s would potentially more than double (or quadruple – once both are in LEO) the number of crewed commercial flights each year – though it’s unclear at this time what that number would be doubled for quadrupled from, given that there are now no commercial crew flights at this time.
Bigelow and ULA president and CEO Tory Bruno describe their companies’ partnership as a watershed moment for the exploration and exploitation of space.
Bruno added that the mission will give countries, companies, and members of the public better space travel opportunities than what is presently available, “effectively democratizing space”.
“We can’t begin to imagine the future potential of affordable real estate in space”.
The habitat was built by Bigelow Aerospace and will be carried to the station by a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and attached to the ISS using the station’s robotic Canadarm2. By the time NASA finishes up the BEAM experiment in 2018 or so, Bigelow should have a much better idea whether expandable modules are in for a boom or a bust.
“Dubai minus the Dragon spacecraft photo-bomb this time”, tweeted the European Space Agency astronaut. “That’s where expandable technology comes in”, NASA said in a blog post. Separately or docked together, these modules would serve as the basis of a private space station. Once they prove a viable habitat, BA and ULA are planning to include other locations such as Mars and the moon. Elon Musk aims to reduce expenditures on launching a rocket by using the boosters again, which according to him will make space accessible to more people, since the cost will reduce. Over the next two years, NASA will test the BEAM to learn how well the stretched-out room stands up to the harsh space environment.
Advertisement
By working on the orbiting laboratory in a variety of areas, astronauts can help researchers decipher some of the challenges of deep space missions while operating near Earth.
