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

[PhilHorzempa]

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

[jabe]

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.