Inflatable habitat among supplies taken to ISS by SpaceX Dragon

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft delivered its cargo of goodies to the International Space Station (ISS), dropping off a prototype inflatable space habitat along with vital supplies.

The BEAM – Bigelow Expandable Activity Module  – is made by Bigelow Aerospace and based on a NASA concept for expandable habitats. Experts will examine how well the module protects against solar radiation, space debris, and contamination, with a view of much larger inflatable space habitats becoming a part of the future.

“BEAM is going to be installed, we’re thinking the 15th or 16th of this month, so relatively quickly after Dragon arrives,” said Kirk Shireman, NASA’s manager of the International Space Station program, at a press conference that followed the launch of the unmanned spacecraft. “There is a certain period for thermal stabilization once it arrives.”

Once inflated, BEAM will be around the size of a small bedroom.

“The inflation is probably not until the end of May, somewhere around the 25th, 26th of May,” said Shireman. “There is a lot of work involved in preparing for that and we also want a good quiescent period on board the International Space Station.”

A dragon bearing gifts

Among other experiments facilitated by the delivery will be an assessment of the impact of antibodies on muscle degradation, as well as an examination of interactions of particle flows at the nanoscale level. The use of protein crystal growth in microgravity, a potential aid to the design of medications, will also be investigated.

“Tokyo Bekana” Chinese cabbage and “Outredgeous” red romaine lettuce seeds have been taken to the ISS, and if successful the resulting vegetables will be the second crop to be cultivated and consumed by astronauts on the station.

The Dragon arrived at the ISS two days after leaving Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, and was captured by the 60-foot-long (18 meter) Canadarm2 robotic arm.

“It looks like we caught a Dragon,” the European Space Agency’s Tim Peake radioed to Mission Control.

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Image credit: NASA TV

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