BA Genesis up up and away!

[nacnud]

Presumably with a space tug service module, just like how Pirs was docked to the ISS.

 

[baktothemoon]

So...where does the space tug come from?

 

[crix]

Look at this:<br /><br />http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/multiverse/images/wallpaper/launch_big.jpg<br /><br />Those modules on the ends are probably the tugs that would steer one inflatable to the next, and then probably act as propulsion for the whole system. <br /><br />/edit I get so pumped looking at these pictures! Has anyone yere checked out Sci-Fi Channel's new Battlestar Galactica show? It's nice and nitty, gritty. I highly recommend it. Renderings of Bigelow's plans make me think of that show.

 

[crix]

Curious that those modules have footpads... <br /><br />Hmm... if they built stages for TLI and LOI do you think one of those tugs on each end of a BA330 could safely land on the Moon? I definately saw a rendering in the past of a Lunar outpost made of interconnected BA modules. Maybe he's planning ahead.

 

[radarredux]

FYI: Below is a link to a number of images (a few photos but most computer generated). Together they paint a broader view of the possibilities.<br /><br />http://news.com.com/Images+First+room+launched+for+space+hotel/2300-11397_3-6093888.html?tag=nefd.lede<br />

 

[crix]

Wow, I'm not sure if image 5 is drawn that way for the sake of the 3D modeler, or if it's actually accurate. I always expeted the modules skin to be all folded over itself. And I always wondered how they figured out how to have 18" thick skin folding on itself... you'd think the minimum internal radius for a 180 degree fold would be at least a couple feet.<br /><br />Sense not make.

 

[ragnorak]

<br />Hey here are the latest pictures!<br /><br />http://62.189.48.33/Articles/2006/07/17/Navigation/177/207925/Pictures+Bigelow+Aerospace+releases+new+images+from+its+orbiting+Genesis+I.html<br />

 

[tohaki]

I have been a little cool on private manned spaceflight, but this is a truly exiting mission.

 

[ragnorak]

<br />Hey the latest pictures are up here!!<br /><br />http://62.189.48.33/Articles/2006/07/17/Navigation/177/207925/Pictures+Bigelow+Aerospace+releases+new+images+from+its+orbiting+Genesis+I.html<br /><br />

 

[crix]

There ya go, much nicer than that first pic. Good find!<br /><br />I'm starting to think this thing is folded up only longitudanally. The outside looks surprisingly baggy and loose.

 

[j05h]

The floppy material may only be the debris shield. IIRC, the pressure vessel is a rubber-like bladder with straps. That should be fairly taut. Interesting pictures, especially the hotel module.<br /><br />josh <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div align="center"><em>We need a first generation of pioneers.</em><br /></div> </div>

 

[radarredux]

Here are some small grainy videos<br /><br />http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/out_there/video.php<br /><br />The second one is cute -- it shows debris (er.., personal stuff) flying around inside. The Windows Media Player file is:<br /><br />http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/out_there/video/interior2.wmv

 

[radarredux]

By the way, NASA is flying a biology experiment onboard Genesis! While it is modest at this point, I hope it points towards future cooperation in scientific research on privately sponsored orbital facilities.<br /><br />Bigelow Spacecraft Carries NASA 'GeneBox' for Tests in Orbit<br />http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=20368<br /><br />"<i>A NASA shoebox-size payload, called 'GeneBox,' is now orbiting Earth as a passenger inside Bigelow Corporation's one-third scale, inflatable Genesis I test spacecraft.<br />...<br />The micro-laboratory includes sensors and optical systems that can detect proteins and specific genetic activity. In about two weeks, the Bigelow ground control station in Las Vegas, Nevada, will activate the GeneBox. After the device has executed all of its test functions, the micro-laboratory's data will be relayed to the ground for further analysis.<br />...<br />According to Hines, the NASA-Bigelow Aerospace collaboration reflects the emerging focus on government and commercial partnerships in entrepreneurial space endeavors. He added that this opportunity on the Bigelow commercial space test mission will provide NASA an early verification of technologies contained in the GeneBox miniature laboratory.</i>"<br />

 

[Swampcat]

For those interested in more about Bigelow Aerospace, MSNBC's Alan Boyle posted an article entitled Inside the Spaceship Factory in his Cosmic Log. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[radarredux]

More photos from Bigelow. These are fairly clear and about 800x600 pixels.<br /><br />http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/out_there/index.php<br />

 

[kane007]

Nice external picture from Genesis 1.