CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Forget blow-up air mattresses. Space-station astronauts are getting their first inflatable room.
It's a technology demonstration meant to pave the way for moon bases and Mars expeditions, as well as orbiting outposts catering to scientists and tourists in just a few more years.
Bigelow Aerospace is behind the experiment, which will get a ride to the International Space Station with another private space company.
An unmanned SpaceX Falcon rocket is set to launch late this afternoon, carrying a capsule full of supplies with the pioneering pod in its trunk.
It will be SpaceX's first station delivery since a launch accident halted shipments last June. Once attached to the station, the soft-sided Bigelow compartment will be inflated to the size of a small bedroom.
The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, BEAM for short, will stay there for two years, with astronauts occasionally ducking in.
It will be the first time an astronaut steps inside an expandable habitat structure in space.
"It's not just historic for our company, which obviously is the case, but I think it's historic for the architecture," said Robert Bigelow, founder and president of Bigelow Aerospace and owner of Budget Suites of America.
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