Watch: NASA plans to attach expandable habitats to ISS

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: To cope up with the harsh environments of deep space, NASA scientists are planning to develop an expandable habitat for astronauts beyond earth's orbit.

Officially called Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), is 12-foot long expandable habitat technology that can be easily transported to space without consuming much storage space on spacecraft. It will also protect astronauts from harmful cosmic and ultraviolet radiation in space.

According to NASA engineers, the walls of the inflatable rooms will be made up of multiple layers of thick fabric which will prevent the penetration of space junks.

NASA is all set to launch a BEAM unit on the eighth commercial resupply mission to ISS.

Astronauts will use the BEAM unit for two years in space in order to check its overall performance as potential space habitat.

The video below explains the technical know-how of BEAM technology.

(Video credits: NASA)