NASA to launch inflatable module for ISS

NASA and Bigelow Aerospace are preparing to launch an expandable habitat module dubbed "BEAM" to the International Space Station later this year. The 13 foot by 10 foot inflatable capsule will provide astronauts aboard the space station an extra 565 cubic feet of volume (roughly equivalent to a family-sized camping tent) that the astronauts will use for a lounge and also as a testing facility in orbit.

By choosing fabrics over metal, the BEAM module is significantly cheaper to send into orbit than a typical capsule. Expandable habitats could be a new way to dramatically increase the amount of volume available to astronauts while also enhancing protection against radiation and physical debris. In order to stay inflated, the BEAM has several layers of high-tech fabrics, which will keep the trapped air in, and keep micrometeorites and other types of space debris from puncturing its walls. These walls have already undergone intensive testing to prove their durability. Bigelow has already released two of these 'bubble capsules' into orbit. The first was in 2006, and the second in 2007. Both are still intact in orbit, and the outer skin has endured for longer than experts expected.