With the mission to Mars looming and the increasing costs that go with it, NASA have come up with a solution to produce a cheap and effective alternative to the rigid metal structures currently residing on the planet.
Aerospace engineers are working on the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) which will be an expandable structure that will be both easy to transport during missions and easily attached to the existing space station. According to CNN, the BEAM will be able to expand to nearly four times its size once in place and create a space around the size of a bedroom.
Bigelow Aerospace have already constructed a prototype that has been attached the International Space Station and will stay there for two years in order to evaluate its resistance to the severe conditions of space especially its structure since the need for these modules to be as strong as the current metal construction is paramount. The team, however, are keeping quiet on the materials used to construct these inflatable rooms but say that they will be made up of numerous layers of strong, Kevlar-like materials.
Robert Bigelow, founder and president of the company working on the project says “it’s a multiple-layered structure, and when something hits the first outer layer, it fractures and breaks up.”
Astronauts will monitor the prototype focusing on radiation, temperature and pressure to see how well it performs and if successful, will hopefully be intrinsically involved in future space exploration including NASA’s increasingly important research on Mars.
“We would like to be part of the process of establishing a lunar station and other kinds of space outposts — maybe someday helping to support Mars ambitions,” states Bigelow.
With the idea of humans potentially living on Mars, could these inflatable pods be our new Martian homes?