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EXPANDABLE TECHNOLOGY Mr. Robert T. Bigelow founded and was President of Bigelow Aerospace (BA). He has rebranded his company at least twice. As BA they launched (via ROSCOSMOS) Genesis I (launched July 12, 2006) and Genesis II (launched June 28, 2007) expandable unmanned test spacecraft. On January 16, 2013 NASA announced an award of $17.8 million to BA to provide a Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) for a delivery to the ISS in 2015. BEAM was installed to the ISS on April 16, 2016. Investigations were made in BEAM for structual integrity, leak rate, radiation protection, physical debris protection and more. As of March 2023 no further information has come out about Bigelow Aerospace/Bigelow Space Operations. I have not found a NASA analysis report on the Beam module and it now appears to have become nothing more than a storage compartment. The expandable technology is being examined by other companies such as Sierra Space. U.S. Manned Space Status - Page 4
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228 - 270 miles (336 - 434km)
329 - 350 miles (529.5 - 563.3 km) 435 - 800 miles (700 - 1,287 km) 600 - 2,000 miles (965.5 - 3,219 km) 8,100 - 37,000 miles (13,040 - 59,550 km) 21,750 - 22,370 miles (35,000 -36,000 km) ~932,057 miles (1.5 million km) Same distance as L1
International Space Station (ISS)
So what is in the space surrounding the Earth?
What is a "Lagrange point"? ...let the FUN begin...
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The Commecial Lunar Payload Services Program was announced on November 29, 2018. There have been contracts awarded to many companies for delivery to NASA. These packages won't be delivered to the lunar surface until at least ARTEMIS III which currently has no projected launch date. |