After six months in orbit, that space inflatable habitat is holding up well

NASA

A half-year has passed since astronauts aboard the International Space Station successfully inflated a new habitat, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM. On Tuesday, the space agency provided an update on the commercial module's performance one-quarter of the way through a two-year experiment: so far, so good.

"BEAM is the first of its kind, so we’re learning as we go, and this data will improve our structural and thermal models and analyses going forward," said Steve Munday, NASA's manager for the program. "Through the NASA sensor suites on board, our teams on the ground, and astronaut support on station, we’re gaining extremely valuable data about the performance of expandable structures and habitats in space."

Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

from After six months in orbit, that space inflatable habitat is holding up well