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NASA says the ISS' inflatable module is doing great
It's been almost six months since the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) was attached to the ISS, and NASA now has some early data to share. According to BEAM Manager Steve Munday, it's been doing well and performing as expected after the installation hiccup that prevented it from unfolding the first time. To start with, NASA Langley scientists didn't find any sign of large debris impact that could affect the module's ability to protect inhabitants. The folks over at NASA's Johnson Space Center didn't detect abnormally high radiation levels inside the habitat, as well -- in fact, it exhibited levels similar to the rest of the space station's.
ISS' expandable module has a shield that protects it from debris
You had a lot of questions when we wrote about NASA gearing up to inflate BEAM on the ISS. Does it inflate like a balloon? What if it gets hit by micrometeoroids then? Does it protect against radiation? While there are many things we won't know for sure until the end of BEAM's two-year testing, NASA's and Bigelow Aerospace's Reddit AMA and Facebook Q&A could answer some Q's floating around your head. To start with, the team clarified that BEAM isn't an "inflatable." Its walls don't stretch like a balloon -- they're incredibly stiff and are "several times stronger per weight than metals commonly used in space applications." When the ISS crew expands the module on Thursday, the process could be more accurately described as "unfolding" rather than "inflating."
