Commercial Airlock<\/p>\n
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is about to carry what will soon become the International Space Stations first privately-built airlock.<\/p>\n
The airlock, called Bishop and built by aerospace company Nanoracks, is designed to get payloads from inside the space station into the openness of space.<\/p>\n
The company has previously built standardized boxes for space-based experiments and tiny satellite deployers, The Verge reports.<\/p>\n
The Bishop is shaped like a bell jar and attaches itself to the outside of the space station using a number of clamps and latches.<\/p>\n
Once its there, its just extra real estate until we want to use it, Mike Lewis, Nanoracks chief innovation officer, told The Verge. We can use it in a number of ways, the first of which is to bring things outside.<\/p>\n
First, payloads Nanoracks is planning for the airlock to primarily deploy satellites are attached to the inside of Bishop. Astronauts then close the hatches, remove the air inside the airlock. A robotic arm detaches the entire assembly from the space station afterward.<\/p>\n
Its a lot like on a submarine when youre going out into the water, except the difference is youre going out into the vacuum of space, Lewis told The Verge.<\/p>\n
Two out of the space stations existing three airlocks currently allow people to leave the station. One, the Japanese Experiment Module, allows for payloads to be released.<\/p>\n
Japanese startup GITAI is already planning to test out its robotic arm inside Nanoracks airlock.<\/p>\n
Bishop is headed to the space station as soon as mid-November.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: The first commercial airlock is heading to the International Space Station later this year [The Verge]<\/p>\n
More on the ISS: NASA Still Hasnt Found the Damn Leak on the Space Station<\/p>\n
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See the article here: <\/p>\n
The ISS Is About to Get Its First Commercial Airlock - Futurism<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Commercial Airlock A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is about to carry what will soon become the International Space Stations first privately-built airlock. The airlock, called Bishop and built by aerospace company Nanoracks, is designed to get payloads from inside the space station into the openness of space. Continue reading