Bigelow Aerospace, A new Genesis in space Options

[ljk4-1]

To quote:

On June 16, he'll use a Russian Dnepr rocket to launch a 1/3-scale Genesis model of his planned commercial orbital space station. That much has been public for a while. What I didn't learn until just now is what will be on that module.

Freefloating inside will be 1,000 photocards and small personal objects contributed by Bigelow employees. If all goes well, those items will be continuously blown throughout the pressurized module in a kind of space collage. Six onboard cameras will stream video to Bigelow's new website, which will launch tomorrow or Friday. Seven external cameras will provide views of the Earth from space and the outside of the module.

If that doesn't get even the most disinterested member of the public at least intrigued about the possibilities of space travel, I don't know what will.

But it gets better. Subject to a successful launch of the first module, Bigelow will launch a second Genesis module in September, and that one will contain photos and other small items contributed by anyone who cares to pony up $295.

Full article here:

http://michaelbelfiore.com/blog/2006/05/bi...s-to-orbit.html

[hal_9000]

From http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2006/07/10/998.aspx

It's taken months longer than he hoped, but real-estate billionaire Robert Bigelow might just see his first orbital spacecraft take flight at last on Wednesday, courtesy of a converted Russian intercontinental ballistic missile.

If Bigelow Aerospace's Genesis 1 inflatable space module lifts off successfully, the test mission could mark a significant step toward an era of hotels and even sports complexes in space.

Russia's Federal Space Agency lists Genesis 1 for a Wednesday launch from the Dombarovsky military missile base in southwestern Siberia. This would be the first on-orbit test of Bigelow's inflatable-module concept, which was actually developed at NASA for future space station modules or Mars ships. When NASA canned the concept, which was known as Transhab, Bigelow bought the rights to commercialize the idea - and hired some of the original designers.

The concept calls for sending up a compressed, soft-sided spacecraft that could be inflated once it's in orbit - sort of like one of those blow-up kiddie play chambers you see at carnivals. Only in this case, the walls are made out of graphite-fiber composite materials that would be tough enough to stand up to encounters with micrometeoroids and orbital debris.