SpaceX Delivers Inflatable Room To ISS — Versatile Habitat Meant For Future Mars Colonies Or Outposts In Space

SpaceX has delivered an inflatable room to the ISS. The versatile habitat could serve as permanent outstations on other planets or as temporary accommodations for astronauts during their space journeys, envisions the company behind the idea.

Private space exploration company SpaceX, successfully ferried an inflatable room to the International Space Station using one of its own rockets. The SpaceX used its Dragon cargo ship, strapped on a Falcon 9 rocket, to deliver the soft-padded habitat, which when inflated, swells to the size of a small bedroom. Though the CRS-8 Dragon cargo ship delivered over 7,000 pounds (3 tons) of freight, its most critical component was the collapsed pod, which was delivered in a tightly wrapped configuration.

The inflatable room, officially referred to as Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM for short, is essentially a versatile habitat that merely needs air to take its expanded form. It is not immediately known if the configuration can be deflated after it serves it purpose, but given the fact that the room has to survive the harsh environment in space, it has been designed with tough, but flexible, materials. The “blow-up” room weighs about 1,400kg and is covered with multiple layers of fabric. The multi-layered fabric protects the occupants from intense heat and radiation which is a common feature in space.

While such inflatable rooms could serve as permanent homes on Mars, in the immediate future, NASA hopes these expandable habitats will serve as economical living quarters for the crew that will be making the three-year journey to and from Mars. Accommodating astronauts in strong, non-flexible capsules is an expensive proposition. Moreover, these rooms could easily be placed on the Martian soil to serve as living and working quarters for the astronauts.

The delivery was important to Bigelow Aerospace, the company that built the inflatable rooms. These habitats can be stored and transported in tightly wrapped configurations and can be inflated on site using nothing but air, saving a lot on transportation and eliminates on-site construction or assembly. Bigelow Aerospace aims to launch a pair of inflatable space stations in just four years for commercial lease, reported the Times of India.

Though the astronauts did capture and dock the cargo ship, and will deploy the compartment, none of them will be allowed access. The room will be inflated in about five days’ time, but will remain sealed. The astronauts will only visit the inflatable room a few times a year to collect measurements and swap sensors.

The delivery has made SpaceX jubilant for a number of reasons. This is SpaceX’s first delivery for NASA in a year. After a launch incident last June, all deliveries by SpaceX were put on hold, until the company rectified their systems. The second reason for the celebration is that the company has proved their rockets can be successfully reused, thereby saving a bundle on missions.

For the first time, leftover booster from the Falcon 9 rocket came to a solid vertical touchdown on a floating platform in the ocean. A reusable rocket had successfully test landed on a drone ship past year, but the landing was “too hard for survival,” rendering the rocket unusable. The Falcon 9 stage booster rocket touched down on the drone ship shortly after hurling a payload destined for the International Space Station, in what was the company’s fifth attempt at a sea landing, reported You Don’t Know Football.

The reusable rocket will now undergo a barrage of tests and should be re-launched next month in another of the missions by NASA. The successful delivery of an inflatable room to ISS, as well as reusing the boosters, has allowed SpaceX to resume space station deliveries for NASA.

[Photo by Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images]