BEAM Sensors Installed And Inflatable Habitat Closed, ISS Prepares For Crew Swap

The hatch to the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), attached to the Tranquility node of the International Space Station (ISS) was opened up for the second consecutive day, on 7 June, to observe its durability and habitability. BEAM is going to show the overall capability and performance of an inflatable habitat prototype for the next two years. During its time in space, the crew on-board the ISS will enter the module 12 to 14 times.

Three crew members from ISS's Expedition 46-47 are reportedly completing a six month mission on the space lab, and now Tim Peake, Yuri Malenchko and Tim Kopra are getting ready to wind up their packing of the Soyuz TMA-19M. The spacecraft will bring back the astronauts to the Earth's surface after a 3.5 hour ride on June 18. The next batch of crew members, comprising of Takuya Onishi, Kate Rubins and Anatoly Ivanishin, is scheduled to embark for Expedition 48-49  on July 7 aboard a new Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft, which will reach the space station on July 9. The ISS raised its orbit on June 8 to support the undocking and arrival of the new inhabitants.

Meanwhile, the hatches of BEAM have been closed, marking the completion of crew operations for June. The space module was outfitted with sensors and other hardware over a period of three days of operations. The hatches of the inflatable habitat will be again opened up next in August for crew members to enter and carry out checks.

In addition to all the activities, the Cugnus space freighter will be released from the ISS's Tranquility module on June 14, and it will stay in orbit to carry out tests. Some of the tests carried out on the space laboratory itself during Expedition 46-47 include analysis of the effects of lack of sleep on cognitive performance, adaptability of astronauts to detailed tasks that require high concentration and bone marrow study.