Bigelow Aerospace, A new Genesis in space |
Bigelow Aerospace, A new Genesis in space |
Jun 1 2006, 07:18 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2454 Joined: 8-July 05 From: NGC 5907 Member No.: 430 |
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 -------------------- "After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined,
and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance. I see that such intercourse long continued would make one thoroughly prosaic, hard, and coarse. But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does not thus harden and make coarse. A hard, sensible man whom we liken to a rock is indeed much harder than a rock. From hard, coarse, insensible men with whom I have no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft." - Henry David Thoreau, November 15, 1853 |
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Aug 6 2006, 04:04 AM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 172 Joined: 17-March 06 Member No.: 709 |
A few more thoughts on Genesis 1/Transhab. First, check out this excellent article on the history and important advances of Transhab (from Hobby Space). It features a detailed interview with Constance Adams, one of the key contributors to the Transhab project. http://www.hobbyspace.com/AAdmin/archive/I...tanceAdams.html Second, here is the link to an article from Popular Science that highlights Transhab, but also gets into the challenge of "Knowledge Capture" at a place like NASA. http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviationspace...ecbccdrcrd.html And for your viewing pleasure, here is an image from the NASA History book, "Spaceflight Revolution." It shows a 24-foot inflatable toroidal-shape structure on display during a visit to Langley by Jim Webb in December 1961! Everything old is new again. One more thought concerning inflatables. As I recall, Mike Griffin made mention, about a year or so ago, of an Earth orbital fuel depot that might be used in future manned Mars expeditions. He was pointing out that one way that Commercial space companies could make "easy" money was by hauling fuel to Earth orbit. It is now extremely expensive to launch anything into orbit, but if it could be done cheaply, then the start-up space companies could earn a niche in the space exploration architecture. I mention this because Griffin went on to say that this fuel depot could be man-tended, i.e., not permanently manned. This may then lead one to imagine that these temporary quarters could be inflatable modules bought from that pioneer of orbital motels, Bigelow Aerospace. Another Phil |
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Sep 13 2006, 02:51 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 163 Joined: 16-March 05 From: Oakville, Ontario, Canada Member No.: 201 |
I wonder if Bigelows "hotel" or some other version will ever be attached to the ISS for crew quarters.
Be a cheap addition to the ISS and give Bigelow lots of credibility. Since it was to be installed initially, I wonder if the idea was/will be ever approached. |
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