This artist's rendering shows a Bigelow inflatable space station. NASA is testing an inflatable room that can be compressed into a 2m tube for delivery to the International Space Station. Source: AP <\/p>\n
NASA is partnering with a commercial space company in a bid to replace the cumbersome \"metal cans\" that now serve as astronauts' homes in space with inflatable bounce-house-like habitats that can be deployed on the cheap. <\/p>\n
A $US17.8 million ($16.9 million) test project will send to the International Space Station an inflatable room that can be compressed into a two-metre tube for delivery, officials said in a news conference at North Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace. <\/p>\n
If the module proves durable during two years at the space station, it could open the door to habitats on the moon and missions to Mars, NASA engineer Glen Miller said. <\/p>\n
The agency chose Bigelow for the contract because it was the only company working on inflatable technology, said NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver. <\/p>\n
Founder and President Robert Bigelow, who made his fortune in the hotel industry before getting into the space business in 1999, framed the gambit as an out-of-this-world real estate venture. He hopes to sell his spare tyre habitats to scientific companies and wealthy adventurers looking for space hotels. <\/p>\n
Bigelow Aerospace founder Robert Bigelow speaks near a scale model of an inflatable habitat. NASA has partnered with the company to try the cheaper inflatable accomodation for astronauts in space. <\/p>\n
NASA is expected to install the 4-metre, blimp-like module in a space station port by 2015. Bigelow plans to begin selling stand-alone space homes the next year. <\/p>\n
The new technology provides three times as much room as the existing aluminum models, and is also easier and less costly to build, Mr Miller said. <\/p>\n
Artist renderings of the module resemble a tinfoil clown nose grafted onto the main station. It is hardly big enough to be called a room. Mr Miller described it as a large closet with padded white walls and gear and gizmos strung from two central beams. <\/p>\n
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NASA to try inflatable housing in space<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This artist's rendering shows a Bigelow inflatable space station. NASA is testing an inflatable room that can be compressed into a 2m tube for delivery to the International Space Station Continue reading