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NASA to BEAM Up Inflatable Space Station Module
NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and President and founder of Bigelow Aerospace Robert Bigelow talk while standing next to the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) during a media briefing on , Jan. 16, 2013. BEAM is scheduled to arrive at the space station in 2015 for a two-year technology demonstration. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
More details have emerged on NASA’s plan to add the first commercial module to the International Space Station, an inflatable room built by Bigelow Aerospace. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which is scheduled to arrive at the space station in 2015 for a two-year technology demonstration. It will be delivered by another commercial company, SpaceX, on what is planned to be the eighth cargo resupply mission too the ISS for Dragon and the Falcon 9 rocket. Astronauts will use the station’s robotic arm to install the module on the aft port of the Tranquility node. NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver announced Wednesday NASA has awarded a $17.8 million contract to Bigelow Aerospace for BEAM.
“Today we’re demonstrating progress on a technology that will advance important long-duration human spaceflight goals,” Garver said. “NASA’s partnership with Bigelow opens a new chapter in our continuing work to bring the innovation of industry to space, heralding cutting-edge technology that can allow humans to thrive in space safely and affordably.”
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Read the rest of NASA to BEAM Up Inflatable Space Station Module (369 words)
© nancy for Universe Today, 2013. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Bigelow Aerospace, international space station, ISS
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2013-01-16 16:16:10
Source: http://www.universetoday.com/99486/nasa-to-beam-up-inflatable-space-station-module/
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