Yesterday the BEAM experimental module, connected to the International Space Station on April 16, has been inflated and pressurized after the first attempt began on Thursday was interrupted. The installation operations will be completed when the pressure inside it will be equalized with that in the rest of the Station. At that point, the crew can begin the testing phase, which will go on for approximately two years.
The first attempt to inflate the BEAM (Bigelow Expandable Activity Module) module on Thursday started well but after a while something went wrong. In theory, the operation was simple, meaning that NASA’s astronaut Jeff Williams used a special device to slowly inflate BEAM. Air was added in bursts of a few seconds, so as to prevent a too quick expansion from damaging the module’s structure. The International Space Station might have been also damaged if the expansion was too quick.
The operation was conducted with the caution required by an experiment but after a while a pressure higher than expected was detected within the BEAM module. Nevertheless, its expansion stopped, leaving perplexed not only Jeff Williams but also engineers at NASA and from the module builder, Bigelow Aerospace. These experiments are to be conducted with caution so it was decided to terminate the attempt to discuss it and decide how to proceed.
Bigelow Aerospace published a note in which pointed out that BEAM was kept packed for several months, far more than expected. The loss of two space cargo ships caused delays in the launches of various experiments, including this experimental module. This may have had some effect on the materials it’s made of, generating a friction greater than expected between its fabric layers that makes its expansion more difficult. The effects were perhaps greater in real space conditions where BEAM spent a few weeks before being inflated.
During Saturday, Jeff Williams used again the equipment to inflate the BEAM module in a series of short bursts. Each one was carefully monitored leaving time between them to allow BEAM to stabilize and expand. This choice worked and after after more than seven hours and 25 bursts, the module got fully inflated. At that point it was possible to proceed with its pressurization.
In the coming days they’ll verify possible damages to BEAM, especially air leaks. If the checks’ results are positive, Jeff Williams will enter the module to begin the installation of all the sensors that will allow to verify that it works adequately as a shield against radiation and in maintaining the environmental conditions.
This story shows us again how in space more than ever nothing can be taken for granted but also that to solve a problem sometimes you just analyze it calmly. Now the BEAM module can really be tested with the hope that in a few years the larger and really habitable versions can be used. Its starting volume and its weight much lower than those of normal modules would really make them suitable for next-generation space habitats.
