Bigelow Expandable Activity Module: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:56, 27 October 2015

Revision as of 16:01, 10 December 2015

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[[File:Bigelow Expandable Activity Module at Bigelow’s facility in Las Vegas.jpg|thumb|right|The completed flight unit of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module at Bigelow Aerospace facility, Las Vegas, March 12, 2015]] During a press event on March 12, 2015, at the Bigelow Enterprises facility in Las Vegas, the completed ISS flight unit, compacted and with two [[Canadarm 2]] grapple fixtures attached, was displayed for the media.<ref name="BEAMPress20150312"/>

{{asof|2013|06}}, BEAM is planned to be transported to ISS inside the unpressurized trunk of a [[SpaceX]] [[Dragon (spacecraft)|Dragon]] during the 20152016 [[SpaceX CRS-8]] cargo mission.<ref name="NASAannouncement"/> The station's [[Mobile Servicing System|Canadarm2]] will attach BEAM to the [[Tranquility (ISS module)|Tranquility]] module's [[aft]] berthing ___location.<ref name="NASAannouncement"/> During its two-year-long mission, the module's structural integrity, leak rate, radiation dosage and temperature changes will be monitored.<ref name="NASAannouncement"/><ref name="ns20130116"/> How BEAM will ultimately be used by astronauts is still under discussion,<ref name="osent20130115" /> but NASA Deputy Administrator [[Lori Garver]] suggests that the station crew would enter the module "a few times a year to collect data", and that the hatch would otherwise remain closed.<ref name="wapo20130116" /> The interior is described as being "a large closet with padded white walls", with various equipment and sensors attached to two central supports.<ref name="ap20130117" />

At the end of BEAM's mission, it will be removed from the ISS and burn up during reentry.<ref name="ns20130116"/>