The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is an expandable habitat technology demonstration for the International Space Station. Expandable habitats greatly decrease the amount of transport volume for future space missions. These “expandables” are lightweight and require minimal payload volume on a rocket, but expand after being deployed in space to potentially provide a comfortable area for astronauts to live and work. They also provide a varying degree of protection from solar and cosmic radiation, space debris, atomic oxygen, ultraviolet radiation and other elements of the space environment.
The journey to Mars is complex and filled with challenges that NASA and its partners are continuously working to solve. Before sending the first astronauts to the Red Planet, several rockets filled with cargo and supplies will be deployed to await the crews’ arrival. Expandable modules, which are lower-mass and lower-volume systems than metal habitats, can increase the efficiency of cargo shipments, possibly reducing the number of launches needed and overall mission costs.
Mission Highlights
- BEAM is scheduled to launch on the eighth SpaceX Commercial Resupply Service mission. After being attached to the Tranquility Node using the station’s robotic Canadarm2, it will be filled with air to expand it for a two-year test period in which astronauts aboard the space station will conduct a series of tests to validate overall performance and capability of expandable habitats.
- Crews will routinely enter to take measurements and monitor its performance to help inform designs for future habitat systems. Learning how an expandable habitat performs in the thermal environment of space and how it reacts to radiation, micrometeroids, and orbital debris will provide information to address key concerns about living in the harsh environment of space.
- Following the two-year test and validation period, BEAM will be robotically jettisoned from the space station, leaving orbit to burn during its descent through Earth’s atmosphere—much like many cargo spacecraft do.
- If BEAM performs favorably, it could lead to future development of expandable habitation structures for future crews traveling in deep space.
- The BEAM is an example of NASA’s increased commitment to partnering with industry to enable the growth of the commercial use of space. The BEAM project is co-sponsored by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Division and Bigelow Aerospace, which pioneers innovative approaches to rapidly and affordably develop prototype systems for future human exploration missions. The BEAM demonstration supports an AES objective to develop a deep space habitat for human missions beyond Earth orbit.
More about BEAM
01.16.13 - NASA Announces BEAM Plans
03.12.15 - BEAM Completes Major Milestones
08.27.15 - BEAM Facts, Figures and FAQs answered
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