This weekend a monumental outcome will take spot on the International Space Station ( ISS ) , when the first - ever inflatable habitat willbe attached .
The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module ( BEAM ) was launched just last hebdomad on the SpaceX rocket that also perform a successfulbarge landing . This module is revolutionary , in that it launched in a compact form , but will expand to more than five times its size by being pump full of air .
On Saturday , April 16 , the action is set to start out , and it will be propagate live onNASA video . At 2:15 a.m. ET ( 7:15 a.m. BST ) , controllers on the ground at NASA ’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will use the place ’s robotic Canadarm2 to remove BEAM from the body of SpaceX ’s Dragon vehicle , where it is presently stored , and attach it to the Tranquility module on the ISS . The whole process should polish off by 6:15 a.m. ET ( 11:15 a.m. BST ) .
It should be noted that , although the faculty is being attached , it wo n’t in reality be inflated yet . That ’s do to take place at an unspecified date in late May , after which cosmonaut will enter the habitat for the first time , with it remaining sequester to the ISS for two years before being sent to burn up in the atmosphere .
Various sensing element willmonitor BEAM , including the amount of radiation inside , and the effect of micrometeor hitting its outer layers . However , it ’s unlikely BEAM will be used for much else other than testing out its capability . NASA has no plans for astronauts to regularly expend it as an extra room on the ISS at the moment .
When the ostentation takes place in May , it should last no more than a couple of hours . The module will amplify from 2.1 meters ( 7 feet ) broad and 2.4 meters ( 8 feet ) in distance to 3 meters ( 10 foot ) extensive and 4 metre ( 13 feet ) in length – which increases its entire mass five time .
If the mental faculty is attach without a hitch , this will have been a full week for Bigelow Aerospace . Yesterday , the society announced that it had partner with the United Launch Alliance ( ULA ) to fly a more advanced inflatable home ground , the B330,by 2020 . This will either be attached to the ISS , or fly alone in orbit , an important gradation towards building a secret space station – or perhaps a space hotel – that pay off customers can inflict .
So melodic phrase in on Saturday , and see a chip of quad history being made .
