CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is taking a second crack at inflating an experimental room at the International Space Station.
Flight controllers, along with the station crew, will try again Saturday to expand the world's first soft-sided compartment in space for astronauts. Thursday's effort was halted after the pod barely grew in size when air was let in.
Officials told reporters Friday the compressed fabric layers likely kept the chamber from fully expanding. It was launched by SpaceX in April following months of rocket delays. Because of the postponement, the pod — called BEAM for Bigelow Expandable Activity Module — ended up being packed up tight longer than anticipated.
NASA has relieved some of the pressure inside BEAM to relax the materials and allow the chamber to expand more easily on the next go-around.
