It was announced by NASA in March that a new piece of equipment is to be launched into orbit later this year from the Kennedy space center, to be tested on the International Space station. It is called the Bigelow expandable activity module ( BEAM) and is an inflatable space habitat that will be attached to the space station and provide extra living/ working space for the crews. The ultimate aim is to test its space-worthiness as an aid to a future Mars landing. Surprisingly these inflatable habitats offer greater protection against both radiation and space debris , than the traditional metallic structures
which have housed life-support systems hitherto.
And as with many other developments , anticipated and predicted in the Jeff Hawke strips , which have been pointed out over the years, this inflatable space habitat was described and drawn by Sydney in the story “Poles apart” which appeared in the Daily Express in 1958 – 59. When Hawke’s expedition to aid the Ptyrrans arrives at the planetary pole of Ptyrr in order to fix the giant magnet which will stabilize the global weather . Hawke’s crew make their base-camp in the bowels of the great structure called the compensator where they erect an inflatable pressurized dome, in which they can shed their space-suits and eat and rest under normal Earth conditions . Indeed the first words uttered when the structure is erected are “ Tea up!”, a cry unlikely to be repeated in the new NASA test unless Major Tim Peake is the first inside! Skipper Prossitt
