Williams and his five crewmates won’t venture inside BEAM — the world’s first inflatable room for astronauts — until next week. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA released air into an experimental inflatable room at the International Space Station on Thursday, but put everything on hold when pressure readings crept too high. That’s the beauty of inflatable spacecraft; they can be packed tightly for launch, then expand and provide lots of room once aloft. NASA paid the North Las Vegas company US$17.8 million to test the inflatable-habitat concept at the space station. If all goes well, the pod will swell four times in volume and demonstrate a new way of living for astronauts.

Source: National Post May 26, 2016 07:37 UTC