NASA inflates new space station room

CAPE CANVERAL, Fla. – NASA successfully inflated a new experimental room at the International Space Station on Saturday, producing the world’s first pump-it-up compartment for astronauts.

The operation took much longer than expected, stretching over three days in all.

“A significant milestone has been accomplished,” Bigelow Aerospace, the inflatable chamber’s creator, cheered via Twitter.

Astronaut Jeffrey Williams spent seven hours Saturday opening and closing an air valve to expand the compartment. Enough air finally seeped inside so that the puffy white pod could stretch to its full 13 feet in length and 10 1/2 feet in diameter – the volume equivalent to a small bedroom. Internal air tanks provided the final pressurization to complete the job.

Williams and his crewmates must wait a week before venturing inside. NASA wants to make certain the chamber is airtight before opening the door.

It was NASA’s second shot at inflating the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, named for the aerospace company that built it as a precursor to moon and Mars habitats, and orbiting tourist hotels.

BEAM – empty except for sensors – will remain attached to the orbiting lab for two years as engineers measure temperature, radiation levels and resistance to space debris impacts. It will be off limits most of the time to astronauts, given its experimental status.