Jeff Foust @jeff_foust 10m10 minutes agoCrusan: BEAM has has no significant performance issues since being added to station; slightly warmer than predicted inside.
Stephen Clark @StephenClark1 10m10 minutes agoNASA’s Jason Crusan: No major issues with Bigelow’s BEAM module on ISS. Talking with Bigelow about keeping BEAM on ISS beyond next year.
Will they ever use it to do more than just characterize its performance?
Quote from: deruch on 03/29/2017 03:30 pmWill 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.
Quote from: Star One on 04/24/2017 09:30 amQuote from: deruch on 03/29/2017 03:30 pmWill 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.
Quote from: rpapo on 04/24/2017 10:05 amQuote from: Star One on 04/24/2017 09:30 amQuote from: deruch on 03/29/2017 03:30 pmWill 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.
Inspecting the inflatable BEAM module at 30x speed and taking pictures for ground control – a new type of @Space_Station real estate!
Worked in wicked-cool space balloon last week- BEAM. Could revolutionize future space habitats & would be fun to say you live in a balloon!
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.
May 26, 2017First Year of BEAM Demo Offers Valuable Data on Expandable HabitatsHalfway 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.
Image showing a 3-D printed shield covering a radiation monitor inside BEAMAstronauts 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
Dragon Packing and BEAM Checks Onboard Station TodayPosted 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.
Take a peak inside BEAM and the rest of the ISS on Google Street View https://www.google.com/streetview/#international-space-station/bigelow-expandable-activity-module-beam
Utilization of habitable volume is much more efficient in zero g, making BEAM look/feel much larger. Thank you for the photos @AstroKomrade
Inside the expandable module BEAM, currently under testing as a habitat for future human missions beyond the @Space_Station #VITAmission
Some recent photos of the crew taken inside BEAM.