Unique experimental module delivered to ISS
For oohs about the fact that the American billionaire, the owner of SpaceX, Elon Musk, managed to safely land the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket on a floating platform, few people paid attention to the cargo delivered by this rocket to the ISS. And the cargo, I must say, is very cunning.
The return of the rocket is, of course, a good thing. Maybe someday it will really be possible to send reusable media back and forth. But for now … For the rocket to land, it must be made heavier - add massive "legs" on which it will stand, add fuel to operate the engines during landing. This means that much less cargo will be delivered to orbit. I am not even talking about the fact that after the return, all hundreds of rocket nodes need to be rechecked in order to understand whether it can be sent back into space. In general, reusable rockets are a matter of the distant future.
But the construction of orbital stations, even hotel stations in orbit, on the contrary, is now a matter of the near future. After all, the Dragon truck brought the first inflatable module to the ISS! And also private.
On April 16, the Canadarm2 robotic arm pulled out the folded truck module and moved it to the module to which it was to be docked. The station crew supervised all operations.
The total volume of the BEAM (Bigelow Expandable Activity Module) is 16 cubic meters. It will be docked to the station for two years. The task is to check the reliability of the structures. Astronauts will be able to look here only a few times a year to understand if everything is in order, if the atmosphere is leaking, if everything is normal with the pressure. If everything goes well - hurray! - mankind will be able to settle in near-earth space for relatively little money. An inflatable module is many times cheaper than an aluminum one.
Private companies will also be able to build hotels in orbit, at least BEAM, the brainchild of Bigelow Aerospace, owned by millionaire Robert Bigelow.
Back in 1999, Robert Bigelow began investing in the creation of inflatable space modules. The money, by the way, is yours. Only now NASA decided to participate in the project and helped with the BEAM test.
Promotional video:
Photo: Dmitry POLUKHIN
The main question is: how will the inflatable module ensure the safety of astronauts? We are used to the fact that the inflatable shell is fragile. In fact, the material from which the BEAM walls are made, in terms of reliability, is quite comparable to the 3 mm aluminum, from which the cases of the Russian segment are made. This is a modification of Kevlar - lightweight and durable. He will protect from micrometeorites. But even aluminum does not save from small space debris - therefore, the MCC is forced from time to time to change the ISS orbit, dodging dangerous objects.
Bigelow's next step is the construction of a full-fledged station with a volume of 330 cubic meters (remember, the ISS has a working volume of about 900 cubic meters). It is quite enough for 3-4 tourists to settle here quite comfortably for a few days.
AND WE HAVE?
The Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) Energia received a patent for an inflatable habitable module for the Russian segment of the ISS a couple of years ago. It will consist of a central rigid compartment of constant volume and a multilayer transformable containment deployed around it. The material is of our own design. It is able to withstand the impact of a small aluminum particle flying at a speed of about 7 km / sec. (this is above the speed of a bullet). The material has already been tested on the ISS. And the module itself with a volume of 100 cubic meters is now being designed. The issue of including it in the Federal Space Program and docking it to the ISS until 2025 is being studied.
BTW
The first two experimental modules of Bigelow Aerospace - Genesis I and Genesis II - were launched into orbit in 2006 and 2007 in Russia by the Dnepr carrier rocket. The modules were identical - about 4 meters long, 1.9 meters in diameter. After removal, the modules were inflated, doubling in volume. The tests were successful.
Photo: Bigelow Aerospace
Parameters of the BEAM inflatable module
Length - 4 m
Diameter - 3.2 m
Weight - 1360 kg
Alexander MILKUS