Illustration: An artist’s concept shows the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, attached to the International Space Station. BIGELOW AND NASA MARCH 2016 | 25 station’s other habitat modules. Once the SpaceX Dragon supply vehicle is docked to the station, ground controllers will use the station’s robotic arm to extract the Bigelow module from Dragon’s unpressurized trunk compartment and attach it to a port on the Tranquility node. Boeing engineers helped develop a method to use the air on the station to inflate the module. The original design included an air tank, which would inflate the module after it was in place. When NASA engineers identified the possibility of high loads or force during inflation, the Boeing team refined the analysis. Boeing engineers created models to mirror the unfolding process and confirmed the deployment could happen too rapidly and possibly damage the station, according to Robert Clark, Boeing Technical Fellow and ISS associate chief engineer. Instead, the crew will open a valve on the hatch and slowly allow lower-pressure station air to fill the module, Clark said. During a two-year test period, crews routinely will enter the Bigelow module to take measurements for pressure, temperature and radiation, and monitor its performance. “No one had ever done anything like this before,” said David York, Boeing’s manager for ISS Loads and Dynamics. “Being an engineer on a unique project with brand-new challenges and solutions was very rewarding.” The inflatable module is the most extensive addition to the International Space Station since assembly was completed in 2011. Following the test period, BEAM will be jettisoned from the station and will burn up on re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere. Bigelow already is working on larger inflatable habitats, including its “Olympus” module that would provide almost 80,000 cubic feet (2,265 cubic meters) of internal living space. • KENNETH.ULMER@BOEING.COM
Frontiers March 2016 Issue
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