The ISS is About to Receive a New Doorway to Space
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:
The ISS Is About to Receive a New Doorway to Space:
The International Space Station (ISS) is about to take delivery of what NASA describes as a new "doorway to space."
The Bishop Airlock Module, that's its official name, was built by Texas-based Nanoracks and will arrive at the space station early next month as part of SpaceX's next supply mission. Astronauts currently serving as the station's Expedition 64 crew will then fit the module to an available port.
Nanoracks' Bishop Airlock Module is special in that it'll be the first permanent, commercial addition to the space station. Also, with a height of 1.8 meters and a diameter of 2 meters, it'll offer fives times the volume that can currently be moved in and out of the orbiting laboratory.
A new doorway to space is coming to the @Space_Station! ????
Launching on the 21st commercial resupply mission, @Nanoracks#BishopAirlock Module will allow more researchers and companies to move larger payloads inside and outside the station. Learn more: https://t.co/GiqgvW5hpgpic.twitter.com/Vpir46MyVJ
- NASA's Kennedy Space Center (@NASAKennedy) November 25, 2020
[...] As we look forward to seeing how the module will be used by private companies and researchers, NASA notes that the space agency itself has already booked multiple slots for use of the airlock for more banal activities, namely the disposal of larger pieces of trash that will later burn up on entry into Earth's atmosphere.
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