I dunno…

Posted on by August 6, 2015

Buddy of mine over at NASA sent me this one…

NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver announced Jan. 16 a newly planned addition to the International Space Station that will use the orbiting laboratory to test expandable space habitat technology. NASA has awarded a $17.8 million contract to Bigelow Aerospace to provide a Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which is scheduled to arrive at the space station in 2015 for a two-year technology demonstration.

Full article is HERE.

I ‘think’ I’d have to be really confident of it before I went in there without an EVA suit on…

I know they do good work, but one big leak…

Comments

I dunno… — 13 Comments

  1. Bigelow wants to make space motels out of those balloons. My concern is not only the issue of a leak, but shielding from radiation that only turns into a sunburn here under miles of atmosphere.

  2. Heh! Kind of reminds me of your boy scout cup you posted the other day.
    I think my biggest concern would be penetration by the unending supply of space debris. I’ve seen firsthand and up close some of the previous instruments to have come back from Hubble. Almost looked like they were shot with birdshot.

  4. Space should be used for nuclear missile testing and as our basing point for the SDI platform. And not much else.

    Did I mention I’m not the most avid flyer? lol

  5. Well, thanks to BHO killing the Shuttles off BEFORE we had a working Replacement, sending people up there is now in the Hands of that THUG Putin.

    Kinda like paying Al Capone to run the Chicago P.D.

    Thanks Barack.

  6. LL- Good point, hopefully they furnish SPF 500…

    John- Kinda what I was thinking… That stuff is pretty beat up!

    CP- LOL…

    SPE- Heh 🙂

    Les- Yeah, and they damn near DOUBLED the price!

  7. My understanding is the material used by Bigelow after it is fully inflated actually hardens the outer layer from the outgassing of the materials used in it’s manufacture. Bigelow had a White Paper on their website a few years back when I first started looking into their Genesis I and Genesis II modules.

    An Idea that Bigelow also had on their page which I can’t find now was of their hotel with upto 12 modules connected through a docking array, which could house upto 50 people for as long as 1 year.

    If it were me, I’d give it a try. Maybe without gravity my spine would finally uncompress. 🙂

  8. I had a long comment all typed out and when I hit post it all went away 🙁

    Bigelow modules are supposed to outgas in vacuum and the outer layers are supposed to harden up sealing the module and protecting against impacts according to a white paper that used to be available on their own webpage.

  10. Mark- Yeah, but if ‘my’ butt was up there… Belt AND suspenders 🙂

    Rick- that too!