Category Archives: Space Station

An innovative inflatable module developed by a Las Vegas hotel entrepreneur will be attached to the International Space Station in 2015 for a two-year test run to evaluate the technology's performance in the harsh environment of space, NASA and company officials announced Wednesday.

Bigelow Aerospace will receive $17.8 million from NASA to supply a Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, for the space station. The module will be launched, uninflated, aboard a commercial SpaceX Dragon cargo ship in 2015.

Once the Dragon is attached to the forward Harmony module, the station's robot arm will be used to pull the BEAM pallet from the cargo craft's unpressurized payload bay and attach it to the aft hatch of the port-side Tranquility module, 90 degrees up from the familiar multi-window Earth-facing cupola compartment. The space station crew then will activate the BEAM's pressurization system to inflate it.

Over the course of its two-year test run, instruments will measure its structural integrity and leak rate, along with temperature and radiation levels. The hatch leading into the module will remain mostly closed except for periodic visits by space station crew members for inspections and data collection. Following the test run, the module will be detached and jettisoned from the station.

"The International Space Station is a uniquely suited test bed to demonstrate innovative exploration technologies like the BEAM," William Gerstenmaier, NASA director of space operations said in a statement.

"As we venture deeper into space on the path to Mars, habitats that allow for long-duration stays in space will be a critical capability. Using the station's resources, we'll learn how humans can work effectively with this technology as we continue to advance our understanding in all aspects for long-duration spaceflight aboard the orbiting laboratory."

The BEAM test is being sponsored by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Program, which is focused on developing "prototype systems for future human exploration missions," according to the NASA statement. "The BEAM demonstration supports an AES objective to develop a deep space habitat for human missions beyond Earth orbit."

Bigelow Aerospace is owned by Robert Bigelow, an entrepreneur who made a fortune in real estate and the Budget Suites chain of hotels. Bigelow wants to build a commercial space station using larger BAE 330 inflatable modules, providing a relatively low-cost foothold in orbit for wealthy space tourists, university researchers and representatives from other nations who do not have ready access to space.

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Inflatable module to be attached to space station

This week, NASA announced that crews aboard the International Space Station will soon test an inflatable space module in orbit. The balloon-like module prototype will be manufactured by Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace and its scheduled for a 2015 launch aboard a SpaceX cargo run to the station.

The technology certainly has exciting implications imagine being able to launch a full habitat to the moon on a single rocket! but its not a novel idea. The Bigelow Aerospace design has its roots in the inflatable NASA concept TransHab developed (and ultimately canceled) for living on the space station, but designs for inflatable space habitats go even further back than that. NASAs Langley research center originally considered an inflatable space station as a jumping off point for lunar missions in 1959.

In the late 1950s, most proponents of space exploration was an Earth orbiting station as a necessary step on the way to deep space missions. Engineers at the Langley research center were no exception, formally entering the space station game in the spring of 1959. On April 1, NASA created a Research Steering Committee for Manned Space Flight led by Harry Goett. The Goett Committee as it became known included representatives from all NASA centers who met to discuss the agencys future on May 25. Representatives from Langley wasted no time, jumping into a presentation on the merits of a space station.

Called the Advanced Man in Space AMIS program, Langleys vision proposed a station with a type of shuttle vehicle that could take astronauts to distant points in the solar system. The station itself would help NASA study the psychological and physiological effects of extended spaceflight on astronauts and at the same time train crews for future demanding missions. It would also be a test bed for the new technology the space agency would no doubt have to develop to explore the Cosmos.

After a series of concept studies, Langley engineers settled on a self-deploying inflatable design for its space station. Noninflatable configurations had been systematically passed over: a cylindrical module attached to a boosters upper stage was dynamically unstable; a modular concept would need too many launches; and hub-and-spoke designs, basically big orbiting Ferris wheels, were expected to have disorientating and nauseating effects on a crew.

Langleys winning design was an inflatable torus astronauts would basically live inside a giant orbiting doughnut designed with the Goodyear Aircraft Corporation. Properly called the Erectable Torus Manned Space Laboratory, Langleys ideal torus was a flat design 24 feet in diameter that could be packed snugly inside a rocket for protected on its ride through the atmosphere to orbit. Once inflated, the inner habitable volume could provide astronauts with varying strengths of artificial gravity anywhere between O and 1 G, and ports on the outside of the torus could accept incoming and launch outgoing shuttles.

But there was one major problem with the inflatable aspect it was extremely vulnerable. Meteorites and micrometeorites posed the greatest and most immediate danger, but it wasnt the only worry. Some engineers worried that astronauts moving vigorously inside the torus could somehow rip through the structure and shoot themselves out into space. Goodyear built a research model out of a lightweight three-ply nylon cord held together by butyl elastome, a sticky, rubber-like material. This strengthened the torus, but it wasnt enough. It would still be vulnerable during a meteoroid shower.

Stability issues cropped up, too, again from the crews expected vigorous movements. Some engineers thought it was possible for astronauts to move around with enough force that the torus would start wobbling. A wobble, even a slight one, could make the station an unstable (and nauseating) place to be.

To address these strength and stability problems head on, Langley built a 10-foot-diameter elastically scaled model of the torus. The model was finished and ready for testing in the summer of 1961. But by then the torus was out of fashion, passed over in favor of a more rigid hexagonal design, also lightweight and foldable, and also from Langley.

But the bigger problem facing the space stations was NASAs new commitment to the moon. Benefits of spending the time in orbit to prepare men for the two-week trip from to the moon couldnt outweigh the need to get there first. Space stations, both inflatable models and their more rigid offshoots, were shelved.

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NASA's Original Inflatable Space Station

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - A low-cost space dwelling that inflates like a balloon in orbit will be tested aboard the International Space Station, opening the door for commercial leases of future free-flying outposts and deep-space astronaut habitats for NASA.

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, nicknamed BEAM, will be the third orbital prototype developed and flown by privately owned Bigelow Aerospace.

The Las Vegas-based company, founded in 1999 by Budget Suites of America hotel chain owner Robert Bigelow, currently operates two small unmanned experimental habitats called Genesis 1, launched in 2006, and Genesis 2, which followed a year later.

BEAM, about 13 feet long and 10.5 feet in diameter when inflated, is scheduled for launch in mid-2015 aboard a Space Exploration Technologies' Dragon cargo ship, said Mike Gold, director of operations for Bigelow Aerospace.

"It will be the first expandable habitat module ever constructed for human occupancy," Gold said.

A successful test flight on the space station would be a stepping stone for planned Bigelow-staffed orbiting outposts that the company plans to lease to research organizations, businesses and wealthy individuals wishing to vacation in orbit.

Bigelow has invested about $250 million in inflatable habitation modules so far. It has preliminary agreements with seven non-U.S. space and research agencies in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates.

"The value to me personally and to our company is doing a project with NASA," Robert Bigelow said. "This is our first opportunity to do that. We do have other ambitions."

NASA, which will pay Bigelow Aerospace $17.8 million for the BEAM habitat, also is interested in the technology to house crew during future expeditions beyond the space station, a $100 billion research complex that flies about 250 miles above Earth.

"Whether you're going to the surface of the moon or even Mars, the benefits of expandable habitats are critical for any exploration mission," Gold said.

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Balloon-like dwelling to be tested on Int'l Space Station

The formal unveiling Jan. 16 of a NASA deal to add an inflatable room developed by commercial company Bigelow Aerospace to the International Space Station is a forerunner of things to come. The private space firm has its eyes on setting up its own commercial space outpost, which it is calling Alpha Station.

The new room to be attached to the International Space Station a Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) will remain part of the orbiting laboratory for at least two years. During that time, astronauts will monitor the environment inside the module, recording a variety of parameters including temperature, pressure and radiation levels.

According to company details provided to SPACE.com, Bigelow Aerospace officials intend to use the BEAM to further validate the promise and benefits of expandable space habitats.

Space industry in orbit

The benefits of an expandable space habitat would be fully manifested by the Bigelow Aerospace's BA 330 module, far larger than the BEAM. A single BA 330 expandable habitat would offer 330 cubic meters of internal volume and be able to support a crew of up to six astronauts, Bigelow says. [Photos: Bigelow's Inflatable Space Station Idea]

- Bigelow Aerospace documents

Bigelow Aerospace is pushing forward with Alpha Station, which it bills as the "historic first commercial space station." The station initially would consist of two BA 330s. The company plans to have the two BA 330s ready by late 2016.

Alpha Station would be the first of a number of commercial Bigelow space stations deployed as demand grows and the on-orbit industry matures.

Bigelow Aerospace is open to entering into joint ventures with interested partners, be they governments, corporations or even individuals, for future stations.

"Nations such as Japan, Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Sweden could secure the future of their human spaceflight programs and dramatically increase the size of their astronaut corps. Smaller countries with no human spaceflight experience such as Singapore or the United Arab Emirates could take their first bold steps into space in a rapid and affordable fashion," according to a Bigelow Aerospace document.

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Alpha Station: plans for an inflatable space station

LAS VEGAS (AP) 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.

A $17.8 million test project will send to the International Space Station an inflatable room that can be compressed into a 7-foot tube for delivery, officials said Wednesday in a news conference at North Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace.

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.

The agency chose Bigelow for the contract because it was the only company working on inflatable technology, said NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver.

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.

NASA is expected to install the 13-foot, blimp-like module in a space station port by 2015. Bigelow plans to begin selling stand-alone space homes the next year.

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.

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.

Garver said Wednesday that sending a small inflatable tube into space will be dramatically cheaper than launching a full-sized module.

"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."

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Space station to get $18 million balloon-like room

What's going on with the International Space Station "station sightings" website process? In the good ole days, one could simply log on to NASA and with a couple of clicks get a list of times to stand outside on a clear night and watch the station pass. Now you must provide an email address, wait for a registration code, and you still can't get the list of times to watch for the station. Is the TSA involved? I don't want a boarding pass, I'd just like to watch the station pass by. Any idea what's up?

H.C., Medford

It is a bit tricky, though not impossible, to find out when the International Space Station will be visible over the Rogue Valley, H.C.

NASA's Johnson Space Center SkyLab website is undergoing maintenance, so its usual list of ISS sighting times isn't available. But NASA does offer an email or text message alert a few hours before each individual sighting, H.C.

To sign up, see http://www.spotthestation.nasa.gov.

Of course, we understand if you'd like to plan a little further ahead.

One resource that can help is the Astro Viewer website at http://www.iss.astroviewer.net. Once at the site, click on the observation tab and enter the latitude and longitude for where you live about 42 North and 122 West for the Rogue Valley.

After saving the location, a list of visible sighting opportunities for the next 10 days will pop up, along with how bright the station will appear.

Because the station reflects a lot of light, it is best to observe when it is dark in the Rogue Valley but the station itself is in sunlight, which happens just before sunrise or just after sunset, according to the Astro Viewer site.

For each of the next 10 days, the site lists the window of time when the station will be 10 degrees above our horizon and the direction of the sky from which the ISS will enter and exit.

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Spotting the space station

NASA's decision to buy an inflatable new room for the International Space Station may push the module's builder commercial spaceflight company Bigelow Aerospace one step closer to establishing its own private stations in orbit.

Last week, NASA announced that it will pay $17.8 million for the Nevada-based company's Bigelow Expandable Activity Module(BEAM), which will be affixed to the huge orbiting lab as a technology demonstration.

NASA and Bigelow will discuss the deal during a media event Wednesday (Jan. 16) in North Las Vegas, where the company is headquartered. BEAM could help prove out the viability of inflatable crew habitats, potentially jump-starting Bigelow's ambitious plans in low-Earth orbit and, perhaps, on the surface of the moon.

Expanding access to space

Bigelow Aerospace was founded in 1999 by Robert Bigelow, who made his fortune in real estate and finance. He also owns the Budget Suites of America hotel chain, for example. [Photos: Bigelow's Inflatable Space Station Idea]

Bigelow Aerospace specializes in expandable habitats, which launch in a compact form and then inflate upon reaching space. The company says expandable modules offer greater on-orbit volume and better protection against radiation and micrometeoroid strikes than traditional "tin can" designs can provide.

Inflatable modules were first pursued seriously by NASA, which developed a design called TransHab (short for "Transit Habitat") for possible use on the International Space Station. When Congress cancelled the TransHab program in 2000, Bigelow officials licensed the patents and began adapting the technology for the company's own purposes.

The company's goals are big: to establish private space stationsthat could be used by many different clients for a variety of purposes, from research to tourism.

"We are primarily focused on providing sovereign clients (individual or groups of nations) and companies with the opportunity to lease space and resources aboard our habitats for a broad array of activities, ranging from turn-key astronautics to conducting ground-breaking and lucrative biotech research," Bigelow Aerospace's website states.

"We offer a way for countries to bolster their human spaceflight programs while at the same time reducing their budgets, or for smaller countries that thought human spaceflight was beyond their financial reach to enjoy capabilities that until now only the wealthiest nations have been able to sponsor."

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Inflatable Private Space Stations: Bigelow's Big Dream

The International Space Station is getting an inflatable spare room.

The first-of-its-kind habitat built by Bigelow Aerospace LLC weighs 3,000 pounds and is made of a Kevlar-like material to withstand space debris and radiation. It looks more like a giant propane gas tank than a kids moon bounce and will be attached to a port on the space station.

It will rocket into space in 2015 with the blessing of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which last week awarded the firm a $17.8 million contract to demonstrate the technology. Eventually, Las Vegas hotelier Robert Bigelow wants to build separate stations that might be used as research laboratories orbiting Earth or to establish a permanent presence on the moon or Mars.

Ultimately, hes hoping to build hotels in low-earth orbit and have that be one of the up-and-coming space businesses -- this will give him more credibility, said Marco Caceres, a senior space analyst with Teal Group Corp. in Fairfax, Virginia. Theres a lot of people out there that say, Oh cmon, hotels in low-earth orbit -- thats a fantasy right? I believe he has the tools to do it.

The challenge will be finding customers, Caceres said in a phone interview. Bigelows primary focus is on corporations and governments interested in developing astronaut programs or doing research. Space tourism is secondary, and the company has tried to steer away from the space hotel label.

NASAs willingness to back the mission is a seal of approval, Bigelow Aerospace said in a press release scheduled for release today. We cannot think of a stronger endorsement, the company said.

Bigelow, 68, and NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver planned to discuss the mission during a press conference today at the companys Las Vegas headquarters.

The agreement is a step forward in cutting-edge technology that can allow humans to thrive in space safely and affordably, Garver said in a Jan. 11 release announcing the contract.

Bigelow plans to introduce a stand-alone station that can accommodate as many as 12 people by 2016, the company said.

A flight to the planned Alpha Station would cost between $26.3 million and $36.8 million for a 60-day stay, depending on the taxi selected, according to the company.

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NASA Goes Ikea to Test Inflatable Annex for Space Station

Space Station 2 Beat
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Space Station 2 Beat - Video

Space Station beat
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Space Station beat - Video