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How you can watch NASA install the first inflatable habitat on ISS

The International Space Center(ISS) will get an appendage on April 16 this year making it slightly bigger. 

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This artist’s concept depicts the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module attached to the International Space Station’s Tranquility module.Credit: NASA - Bigelow Aerospace
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The International Space Center(ISS) will get an appendage on April 16 this year making it slightly bigger. 

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module referred to as BEAM will be installed by NASA on the ISS on April 16.

BEAM is aboard the Space X's unmanned Dragon capsule that in a successful launch on April 8. It carries with it 7,000 pounds (3100 Kilos) of gear for the six astronauts living at the outpost in space. 

Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule on their way to ISS - (Space X Flickr)

Among the paraphernalia is the BEAM - an inflatable space room that will let Astronauts test micro gravity for the very first time. This will be a temporary attachment to the ISS. 

While this is a first of many, what has got the poeple on Earth excited is that all this can be viewed right from one's living room. The space agency will be live screening it on TV.

How you can watch from India
Tune into NASA TV 
Date: April 16 2016
Time: 3 p.m

​After a successful launch this marks the eight among the many resupply trips NASA has commissioned from Space X. The Dragon capsule will be the fourth vehicle to reach the ISS in four weeks if everything goes according to plan. 

According to reports, the BEAM will be unloaded using the robotic Canadarm2. After moving into the precise position it will be expanded by unfolding into a 130 square feet addition to the space station. 

From the outside it will look like a small room jutting out of the ISS. 

What happens next?

If things go by the book, the BEAM has been planned to remain latched to the ISS for two years. During this period Astronauts will be able to determine the effects of tough conditions of outer space and if the material used is tenacious enough. 

While only time can determine the direction of Bigelow Aerospace's future plans, it, nevertheless hopes to build and send larger inflatable BEAM-like habitats in space by 2020.

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