Last April, the eighth SpaceX resupply mission carried the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, to the International Space Station. Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace made the experimental module, which was compact during travel but filled with air and expanded to roughly 13 feet long and 10.5 feet in diameter once it docked with the ISS, to provide a habitable area for astronauts to live and work in space. The BEAM is now halfway through its planned two-year demo on the ISS, and NASA and Bigelow are working with the ISS astronauts to monitor the characteristics that relate to the BEAM's ability to protect humans from the environment of space, such as thermal stability, structural integrity, and the module's resistance to radiation, microbial growth, and space debris. Last month, a 3D printed shield was installed onto one of the BEAM's REM sensors for a multi-month BEAM radiation experiment. Read more at 3DPrint.com: http://3dprint.com/176429/3d-printed...-shields-beam/