Watch How NASA Successfully Expands BEAM Space Habitat

NASA has finally expanded and pressurized the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) successfully. This was the second attempt made by the US space agency to inflate BEAM, which is attached to the Tranquility Mode of the International Space Station (ISS), after failing at the first try.

The pressurization of the inflatable space habitat reportedly began at 4:34 p.m. EDT on May 28, and the process saw eight air filled tanks expanding the module in 10 minutes. The pressure of BEAM will be equalized with that of the ISS gradually. 

Leak checks will be performed on the module next week to monitor its structural integrity. Subsequently, in the week after the next, the unit's hatch will be opened and ISS crew member Jeff Williams will be the first astronaut to enter BEAM. The space habitat will remain attached to the ISS over a duration of the next two years, which will be a test phase to see the practicality of such space modules.

BEAM is an initiative by NASA that shows its commitment towards the growth and development of the commercial use of space, and is a collaboration with Bigelow Aerospace. Expandable space modules are developed to take less room on a spacecraft but, on reaching its destination later, can be fully inflated to offer greater volume for living and working in space. The BEAM prototype will also allow scientists to understand how effective, protective and practical such modules can be, especially in the face of temperature extremes in space, space debris and the all‐worrying solar radiation.

Incidentally, the module is around seven feet long with a somewhat similar (7.75 feet) diameter when not inflated, however after expanding it now measures more than 13 feet long and is around 10.5 feet in diameter. The space unit, which weighs approximately 1.5 tons, is going to provide 565 cubic feet of habitable volume to the astronauts onboard the ISS.