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[b]NASA halts first attempt at deploying expandable BEAM habitat[/b] NASA on Thursday (May 26) terminated its first attempt at deploying the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) to its full size at the International Space Station, after its initial inflation did not progress as planned. "Unfortunately, you're going to have to stand down BEAM operations today," astronaut Jessica Meir, serving as CapCom in Mission Control in Houston, radioed Expedition 47 flight engineer Jeff Williams aboard the orbiting outpost. "We've been assessing the parameters here from the ground and due to a set of no-go conditions and not seeing any noticeable movements, we're going to have to reassess further from here." "Thanks for all your patience today," she added. "We'll hope for better luck tomorrow." "These are the kinds of things the team is up for the challenge for, it's space business," replied Williams. For about two hours on Thursday, Williams followed the ground's lead and manually let in air, at one to four second intervals, into the BEAM through a small valve. The module appeared to initially expand by five inches in length, but then did not move further. Pressure measurements inside the BEAM returned levels higher than what NASA and Bigelow Aerospace had deemed safe to continue. BEAM was launched April 8 on a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft and was subsequently installed on the aft port of the Tranquility node eight days later. Once fully-expanded and pressurized, the module will be periodically monitored over the next two years to evaluate its design for possible future uses in space. Expandable habitats are designed to take up less room on launch, but provide greater volume in space once expanded. This first test of an expandable module will allow investigators to gauge how well the habitat protects against solar radiation, debris and the temperatures of space. The BEAM project is co-sponsored by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Division and Bigelow Aerospace.
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