New inflatable habitat is ready for its first space station trip

A new, inflatable addition to the International Space Station is ready for its close-up.

NASA officials viewed Bigelow Aerospace's Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) at the company's facility in Las Vegas on March 12. BEAM is scheduled to depart later this year for NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and then blast toward the station atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 booster.

SEE ALSO: Bigelow's inflatable space station idea in photos

BEAM's time attached to the orbiting lab should provide a key test for expandable space habitats, which represent a dramatic departure from traditional metallic designs. Read more...

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