LAS VEGAS, Nev. - 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 $17.8 million test project will send to the International Space Station an inflatable room that can be compressed into a 2.1-metre tube for delivery, officials said Wednesday 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 tire habitats to scientific companies and wealthy adventurers looking for space hotels. <\/p>\n
NASA is expected to install the four-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, 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. Miller described it as a large closet with padded white walls and gear and gizmos strung from two central beams. <\/p>\n
Garver said Wednesday that sending a small inflatable tube into space will be dramatically cheaper than launching a full-sized module. <\/p>\n
\"Let's face it; the most expensive aspect of taking things in space is the launch,\" she said. \"So the magnitude of importance of this for NASA really can't be overstated.\" <\/p>\n
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Company building $18-million inflatable room for space station<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LAS VEGAS, Nev. - 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. Continue reading