Author Topic: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016  (Read 312242 times)

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #780 on: 03/29/2017 01:49 pm »
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Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 10m10 minutes ago

Crusan: BEAM has has no significant performance issues since being added to station; slightly warmer than predicted inside.
https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/847080006283132928

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Stephen Clark‏ @StephenClark1 10m10 minutes ago

NASA’s Jason Crusan: No major issues with Bigelow’s BEAM module on ISS. Talking with Bigelow about keeping BEAM on ISS beyond next year.
https://twitter.com/StephenClark1/status/847080437960888325

Offline deruch

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #781 on: 03/29/2017 03:30 pm »
Will they ever use it to do more than just characterize its performance? 
Shouldn't reality posts be in "Advanced concepts"?  --Nomadd

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #782 on: 04/24/2017 06:44 am »
Will they ever use it to do more than just characterize its performance?

Sorry, missed this post. NASA and Bigelow Aerospace have been discussing doing more with BEAM but I don't think there's been any announcement yet of an agreement/plan to do so.

Offline Star One

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #783 on: 04/24/2017 09:30 am »
Will they ever use it to do more than just characterize its performance?

Would seem a waste of real estate if they didn't do more with it sooner rather than later.

Offline rpapo

Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #784 on: 04/24/2017 10:05 am »
Will they ever use it to do more than just characterize its performance?

Would seem a waste of real estate if they didn't do more with it sooner rather than later.
It's only a waste of real estate if there's something ready to take it's place.  And to the best of my knowledge, there is nothing awaiting launch that needs a berthing spot at the moment.

Ideas in the wings?  Plenty.  Actual hardware awaiting a berth?  Not so much.
Following the space program since before Apollo 8.

Offline Star One

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #785 on: 04/24/2017 10:07 am »
Will they ever use it to do more than just characterize its performance?

Would seem a waste of real estate if they didn't do more with it sooner rather than later.
It's only a waste of real estate if there's something ready to take it's place.  And to the best of my knowledge, there is nothing awaiting launch that needs a berthing spot at the moment.

Ideas in the wings?  Plenty.  Actual hardware awaiting a berth?  Not so much.

I meant that they were wasting the real estate it offers by not using it for more than just checking.

Offline rpapo

Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #786 on: 04/24/2017 10:12 am »
Will they ever use it to do more than just characterize its performance?

Would seem a waste of real estate if they didn't do more with it sooner rather than later.
It's only a waste of real estate if there's something ready to take it's place.  And to the best of my knowledge, there is nothing awaiting launch that needs a berthing spot at the moment.

Ideas in the wings?  Plenty.  Actual hardware awaiting a berth?  Not so much.

I meant that they were wasting the real estate it offers by not using it for more than just checking.
Agreed, in that sense.  I was referring only to BEAM occupying a berthing spot which could theoretically be used for something else.
Following the space program since before Apollo 8.

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #787 on: 04/26/2017 01:30 pm »
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Inspecting the inflatable BEAM module at 30x speed and taking pictures for ground control – a new type of @Space_Station real estate!

https://twitter.com/thom_astro/status/857188006146461696

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #788 on: 05/01/2017 08:10 pm »
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Worked in wicked-cool space balloon last week- BEAM. Could revolutionize future space habitats & would be fun to say you live in a balloon!

https://twitter.com/astro2fish/status/859132832685277184

Offline deruch

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #789 on: 05/03/2017 03:45 am »
ISS Daily Summary Report – 4/28/2017

Posted on April 28, 2017 at 4:00 pm by HQ.
Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) Shield Installation:  The crew ingressed the BEAM and installed a Radiation Environment Monitor (REM) shield onto the REM sensor. This shield is a 1.1 mm thick component produced by the 3D printer on the ISS.  BEAM is an experimental expandable module attached to the ISS.  Expandable habitats greatly decrease the amount of transport volume required for future space missions. These “expandables” weigh less and take up less room on a rocket than a traditional module while allowing additional space for living and working. They also provide protection from solar and cosmic radiation, space debris, and other contaminants. Crews traveling to the moon, Mars, asteroids, or other destinations could possibly use them as habitable structures.
Shouldn't reality posts be in "Advanced concepts"?  --Nomadd

Offline jacqmans

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #790 on: 05/23/2017 07:20 pm »
Thomas Pesquet:
 

BEAM
 

With Jack and Peggy in the BEAM – Bigelow Expandable Activity Module. We use the Space Station for science but also as a testing ground for future exploration and this module is a clear example. It is launched flat and expanded once in space. This saves space in the launch rocket and weight and we will need technology like this when humans venture further afield in our Solar System.
Jacques :-)

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #791 on: 05/27/2017 06:42 am »
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May 26, 2017
First Year of BEAM Demo Offers Valuable Data on Expandable Habitats
Halfway into its planned two-year demonstration attached to the International Space Station, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, is showing that soft materials can perform as well as rigid materials for habitation volumes in space. The BEAM was launched and attached to station through a partnership between NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems Division (AES) and Bigelow Aerospace, headquartered in North Las Vegas, Nevada.

NASA and Bigelow are primarily evaluating characteristics directly related to the module’s ability to protect humans from the harsh space environment. Astronauts aboard station work with researchers on the ground to monitor the module’s structural integrity, thermal stability, and resistance to space debris, radiation, and microbial growth.

Researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, continually analyze data from internal sensors designed to monitor and locate external impacts by orbital debris, and, as expected, have recorded a few probable micrometeoroid debris impacts so far. BEAM has performed as designed in preventing debris penetration with multiple outer protective layers exceeding space station shielding requirements.

Over the next several months, NASA and Bigelow will focus on measuring radiation dosage inside the BEAM. Using two active Radiation Environment Monitors (REM) inside the module, researchers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are able to take real-time measurements of radiation levels. They have found that Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCR) dose rates inside the BEAM are similar to other space station modules, and continue to analyze contributions to the daily dose from the Earth’s trapped radiation belts to better understand the shielding properties of the module for application to long-term missions. The space station and the BEAM enjoy a significant amount of protection from Earth’s magnetosphere. Future deep space missions will be far more exposed to energized radiation particles speeding through the solar system, so NASA is actively working on ways to mitigate the effects of radiation events.

In late April, NASA’s radiation researchers at Johnson began a multi-month BEAM radiation experiment by installing a .04 inch (1.1 mm) thick shield onto one of the two REM sensors in BEAM. The station crew produced a hemispherical shield using the 3-D printer on the space station, and in the next few months this first shield will be replaced by two successively thicker shields, also 3-D printed, with thicknesses of about .13 inches (3.3mm) and .4 inches (10mm), respectively. The difference in measurements from the two REMs—one with a shield and one without—will help better resolve the energy spectra of the trapped radiation particles, particularly those coming from the South Atlantic Anomaly.

Space station crew members have entered the BEAM nine times since its expansion in May 2016. In addition to the REM shielding experiment activities, the crew has swapped out passive radiation badges called Radiation Area Monitors and they routinely collect microbial air and surface samples. These badges and samples are sent back to Earth for standard microbial and radiation analysis at Johnson.

The BEAM technology demonstration is helping NASA to advance and learn about expandable space habitat technology in low-Earth orbit for application toward future human exploration missions. The partnership between NASA and Bigelow supports NASA’s objective to develop a deep space habitat for human missions beyond Earth orbit while fostering commercial capabilities for non-government applications.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/first-year-of-beam-demo-offers-valuable-data-on-expandable-habitats

First picture caption:

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Image showing a 3-D printed shield covering a radiation monitor inside BEAM
Astronauts aboard the space station 3-D printed a shield to cover one of the two Radiation Environment Monitors inside the BEAM. The shield, the white hemispherical shape at the center of the photograph, is shown above inside the BEAM module. In the coming months, the crew will print successively thicker shields to determine the shielding effectiveness at blocking radiation.
Credits: NASA
« Last Edit: 05/27/2017 06:43 am by FutureSpaceTourist »

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #792 on: 06/20/2017 07:41 pm »
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Dragon Packing and BEAM Checks Onboard Station Today
Posted on June 20, 2017 at 3:28 pm by Mark Garcia.

The Expedition 52 crew is loading the SpaceX Dragon with cargo for return back to Earth in less than two weeks. BEAM, the experimental habitat, also received a new radiation shield today that was 3D printed aboard the International Space Station.

Dragon is due to leave the International Space Station July 2 after cargo transfers with the resupply ship are complete. The crew offloaded new science experiments, spacewalking gear and station hardware shortly after it arrived on June 5. Dragon will now be packed with used station gear and research samples for analysis by NASA engineers and scientists after it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean.

Flight Engineer Jack Fischer opened up BEAM today and entered the expandable activity module for a regular checkup. He replaced an older radiation shield with a thicker shield that covers a radiation sensor inside BEAM. Fischer also sampled BEAM’s air and surfaces for microbes.

Veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson of NASA spent Tuesday sampling the air and surfaces for microbes in the station’s U.S. segment. Whitson also spent some time stowing synthetic DNA samples exposed to radiation in a science freezer and began readying rodent research gear for return next month aboard Dragon.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/06/20/dragon-packing-and-beam-checks-onboard-station-today/

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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« Last Edit: 07/21/2017 02:13 pm by FutureSpaceTourist »

Offline AnalogMan

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #794 on: 07/23/2017 09:56 pm »
Presentation from ISSR&D Conference 2017:

Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) ISS Year-One  - 37pages July 19, 2017
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20170006506.pdf

(copy attached)

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #795 on: 08/05/2017 11:51 am »
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Utilization of habitable volume is much more efficient in zero g, making BEAM look/feel much larger. Thank you for the photos @AstroKomrade
https://twitter.com/bigelowspace/status/893146778492469248

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Inside the expandable module BEAM, currently under testing as a habitat for future human missions beyond the @Space_Station #VITAmission
https://twitter.com/astro_paolo/status/893559597566480384

Offline AnalogMan

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #796 on: 10/02/2017 10:20 pm »
NASA May Extend BEAM’s Time on the International Space Station
Erin Mahoney - October 2, 2017

NASA is exploring options with Bigelow Aerospace to extend the life of the privately owned Bigelow Expandable Activity Module. Known as BEAM, the module is attached to the International Space Station and continues to perform well during its technology demonstration mission. NASA has issued a synopsis of an intended contract action to partner with Bigelow Aerospace to extend the life of the expandable habitat and use it for long-term in-orbit storage. This step continues NASA’s commitment to expand private-public partnerships, scientific research and commercial applications aboard station to maximize the benefits from humanity’s premiere laboratory in microgravity.

NASA’s use of BEAM as part of a human-rated system will allow Bigelow Aerospace to demonstrate its technology for future commercial applications in low-Earth Orbit. Initial studies have shown that soft materials can perform as well as rigid materials for habitation volumes in space and that BEAM has performed as designed in resistance to space debris.

BEAM launched on the eighth SpaceX Commercial Resupply Service mission in 2016. After being attached to the Tranquility Node using the station’s robotic Canadarm2, it was filled with air to expand it for a two-year test period to validate overall performance and capability of expandable habitats. Since the initial expansion, a suite of sensors installed by the crew automatically take measurements and monitor BEAM’s performance to help inform designs for future habitat systems. Learning how an expandable habitat performs in the thermal environment of space and how it reacts to radiation, micrometeoroids and orbital debris will provide information to address key concerns about living in the harsh environment of space. This extension activity will deepen NASA’s understanding of expandable space systems by making the BEAM a more operational element of the space station to be actively used in storage and crew operations.

Space station crew members have entered BEAM 13 times since its expansion in May 2016. The crew has conducted radiation shielding experiments, installed passive radiation badges called Radiation Area Monitors, and they routinely collect microbial air and surface samples. These badges and samples are returned to Earth for standard microbial and radiation analysis at the Johnson Space Center.

The original plan called for engineers to robotically jettison BEAM from the space station following the two-year test and validation period, allowing it to burn up during its descent through Earth’s atmosphere. However, after almost a year and a half into the demonstration with positive performance, NASA now intends to continue supporting BEAM for stowage use and to allow Bigelow Aerospace to use the module as a test-bed for new technology demonstrations. A new contract would likely begin later this year, overlapping the original planned test period, for a minimum of three years, with two options to extend for one additional year. At the end of the new contract, the agency may consider further life extension or could again consider jettisoning BEAM from the station.

Using the space inside BEAM would allow NASA to hold between 109 to 130 Cargo Transfer Bags of in-orbit stowage, and long-term use of BEAM would enable NASA to gather additional performance data on the module’s structural integrity, thermal stability and resistance to space debris, radiation and microbial growth to help NASA advance and learn about expandable space habitat technology in low-Earth orbit for application toward future human exploration missions. Given that the volume of each Cargo Transfer Bag is about 1.87 cubic feet (0.53 cubic meters), use of BEAM for stowage will free an equivalent space of about 3.7 to 4.4 International Standard Payload Racks, enabling more space in the ISS for research.

With an extension of the partnership, Bigelow also would be able to continue to demonstrate its technology for future commercial applications in low-Earth orbit. The public-private partnership between NASA and Bigelow supports NASA’s objective to develop deep space habitation capabilities for human missions beyond Earth orbit while fostering commercial capabilities for non-government applications to stimulate the growth of the space economy.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-may-extend-beam-s-time-on-the-international-space-station

Synopsis:
https://www.fbo.gov/notices/92129895cfbdb9e887d2afbae61f4b79
« Last Edit: 10/02/2017 10:30 pm by AnalogMan »

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #797 on: 10/06/2017 05:35 pm »
Higher res than before and one different shot:

Quote
Some recent photos of the crew taken inside BEAM.

https://twitter.com/bigelowspace/status/916342428725952512
« Last Edit: 10/06/2017 05:36 pm by FutureSpaceTourist »

Offline the_other_Doug

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #798 on: 10/07/2017 01:24 pm »
I'm glad NASA found an actual use for the BEAM module.  The only thing that occurred to me when I heard this plan, of using it for storage, is that, AFAIK, there are no attach points or structures within BEAM to which to attach stowage bags in any kind of organized fashion.

Are these bags going to just full of dirty underwear and such?  Or will they be storing items they will want to access later?  Because, if you just toss bags in there, first, they will just bounce around and off the walls with each small acceleration/deceleration vector the station encounters, and second, it would be a huge PITA finding one individual stowage bag amongst a whole bunch, just floating around randomly...
-Doug  (With my shield, not yet upon it)

Offline Rik ISS-fan

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Re: LIVE: BEAM Expansion on ISS - May 26-28, 2016
« Reply #799 on: 10/07/2017 07:00 pm »
In the pictures posted by FutureSpaceTourist, it is visible that there are four sliding guids that connect both  metal end bulkheads of BEAM. I suspect that NASA will launch nets or zero gravity racks (bags) to arrange the cargo stowed inside BEAM. Most likely these stowage soft structures still have to be produced and  launched to the ISS.
Only cargo backs can be stowed inside BEAM. The Robonout stowage cradle will have to be moved to a empty ISPR location (PMM or JEM).

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