NASA, building the International Space Station over the last two
decades, ran into ballooning costs. One solution it's now
embraced is ballooning -- literally -- in orbit. NASA has signed
a $17.8 million contract with Bigelow Aerospace, a firm based
near Las Vegas, to build an inflatable habitat that could be
added to the space station by 2015. The new compartment is
called BEAM, short for Bigelow Expandable Activity Module. In
announcing the deal, NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said
a lightweight, inflatable compartment could be dramatically
cheaper than the metal cylinders that make up most of the space
station's living area. "Let's face it; the most expensive aspect
of taking things in space is the launch," she said. "So the
magnitude of importance of this for NASA really can't be
overstated." Bigelow's mastermind is Robert Bigelow, an
entrepreneur who made his fortune in construction and hotels --
the Budget Suites chain of extended-stay hotels is his. Now he's
taken extended stays to higher levels