Bigelow Current Updates Thread....

[Valcan]

HUGE new updates on the Bigelow Site.

WOW truely big news

Thanks boris!

 

[MeteorWayne]

HUGE new updates on the Bigelow Site.

IMHO, it would be good if you gave a sentence or two indicating what the big news is instead of just posting a link....
Especially since when I clicked on it I saw no HUGE update.

Can you indicate what the HUGE news was?

 

[Boris_Badenov]

Can you indicate what the HUGE news was?

Click on the pix.
Detailed description of Sundancer including pix.
Detailed description of BA-330 including size comparison pix.
There lots of other stuff too. You just need to look around a little.

 

[MeteorWayne]

I admit I don't understand what makes this HUGE news....I don't see anything different than the plan they've had all along. What makes it huge?

 

[SteveCNC]

As far as I can tell there isn't any new news just a new article saying what we already knew . They did just recently rebuild their website though .

 

[js117]

Nice new look to there web Site.

 

[EarthlingX]

They have very nice pictures of their construction site, and i like how they say they are 'moving from development to production'. Makes me wonder, if i could buy a stock or two ..

Having those images play full-screen would be nice, since they look like a history in the making, with heavy machinery too

 

[nimbus]

Also the post-Galaxy modules had been removed from the website a while back. Much more public-friendly, now.

 

[Valcan]

I admit I don't understand what makes this HUGE news....I don't see anything different than the plan they've had all along. What makes it huge?

Play on words or something like that there expanding and buildign a HUGE new facility

See huge..

 

[shuttle_guy]

No. Hypergolic thrusters and orbital maneuvering engines. IIRC Aerojet is making them. VASIMR would be used for tugs and BLEO.

I disagree as for as re-boost is concerned. The small solar powered VASIMR would be an excellant choice for re-boosting the station complex. I refer to the first VASIMR engine which is planned to be tested on the ISS.

 

[orionrider]

The small solar powered VASIMR would be an excellant choice for re-boosting the station complex.

The 'small' test engine needs about 20KW to operate, which even the huge ISS can't spare. In fact, this 'small' engine needs quite large solar panels, so it really is not small anymore. VASIMR counts in tons, not kilos :idea:
It is an excellent choice for the ISS because the station produces too much electricity. I'm not sure it would be profitable on a Bigelow complex, depending on it's expected lifetime and the lowering costs of LEO deliveries :?

 

[Boris_Badenov]

No. Hypergolic thrusters and orbital maneuvering engines. IIRC Aerojet is making them. VASIMR would be used for tugs and BLEO.

I disagree as for as re-boost is concerned. The small solar powered VASIMR would be an excellant choice for re-boosting the station complex. I refer to the first VASIMR engine which is planned to be tested on the ISS.

VASIMR is still in testing though. Hypergolics are available, off the shelf, right now.

 

[docm]

New site: http://bigelowaerospace.com/

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNgyoHnzlfo[/youtube]

 

[nimbus]

The careers criteria for BAASS really make it sound like a cool workplace:
http://bigelowaerospace.com/baass-careers.php

 

[SteveCNC]

The careers criteria for BAASS really make it sound like a cool workplace:
http://bigelowaerospace.com/baass-careers.php

Yeah it does , the only thing keeping me from dropping where I live now is my kids are here and it's in the heat of Vegas , not really somewhere I want to live . Granted it's only a 4.5 hour drive from where I am to Vegas so the kid things not that bad but still , it's Vegas . Wish they had some manufacturing in SanDiego , although I did get my boss to send in our info as a sub-contractor so we should be seeing some quotes soon hopefully . I will be in Vegas in a few months since my daughter's getting married there in october and while I am there I plan to pay a visit to Bigelow to see what's seeable . I'll take some pictures and post em here when I do .

 

[Boris_Badenov]

Boeing/Bigelow Crew Space Transport Vehicle
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn_gXEK5XmQ[/youtube]

 

[Boris_Badenov]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xng87eqTgRU[/youtube]

 

[Boris_Badenov]

Here's an MSNBC article about the CST-100. There's not much new, but it's still interesting.
New spaceship could fly people to private space stations

 

[EarthlingX]

www.flightglobal.com : FARNBOROUGH: Boeing, Bigelow to build space station by 2015

DATE:20/07/10

SOURCE:Flight Daily News

By Gayle Putrich

Boeing and Bigelow Aerospace are teaming up to build a commercial space station system, with a 2015 target for a fully operational station in low Earth orbit (LEO), the companies announced on the first day of the show.

The aggressive schedule - with assembly in 2014 and testing to include an uncrewed trip to the station - is contingent upon the US Congress coming through with funding for NASA's proposed Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) Space Act Agreement programme this fall.

"We need the funding. The money that NASA has proposed closes the business case. Without that, we would have a difficult time," says Brewster Shaw, former astronaut and vice-president and general manager of Boeing's space exploration division.

The plan, crafted largely by Robert Bigelow, the US hotelier turned aerospace company owner, is to build a modular 690m3 (24,000ft3) space station in LEO, starting a second, larger station within years for the first. The first will consist of four modules, four habitats and one propulsion and docking unit.

The Obama Administration, in a departure from previous US space policy, has proposed more emphasis on commercial space, with companies taking on major research and development and creating new launch capabilities, leaving NASA to focus on planetary exploration. Funding, however, has yet to materialise, with many in Congress concerned that the commercialisation of space is too dangerous an undertaking to support at this time.

 

[orionrider]

Looks like Obama's new policy works wonders!

 

[Boris_Badenov]

The plan, crafted largely by Robert Bigelow, the US hotelier turned aerospace company owner, is to build a modular 690m3 (24,000ft3) space station in LEO, starting a second, larger station within years for the first. The first will consist of four modules, four habitats and one propulsion and docking unit.

Plans seem to have matured. Instead of a 3 module station, it's been upped to 4 for the CSS Skywalker.

 

[docm]

Bigelow Aerospace's inflatable modules will use a new take on recycling - turning the crews sweat, urine and waste-water into fuel for the modules Forward Propulsion System using power from its solar panels. Also an advantage is that this allows their stations to perform attitude control maneuvers without having the usual toxic propellants on board.

The hydrogen/oxygen thrusters were developed by Orion Propulsion, which is now owned by major defense contractor Dynetics, Inc.

http://www.dynetics.com/descriptionpage.php?id=AerospaceSundancer&from=space

Basic diagram via a Popular Mechanics article.....

 

[Valcan]

Bigelow Aerospace's inflatable modules will use a new take on recycling - turning the crews sweat, urine and waste-water into fuel for the modules Forward Propulsion System using power from its solar panels. Also an advantage is that this allows their stations to perform attitude control maneuvers without having the usual toxic propellants on board.

The hydrogen/oxygen thrusters were developed by Orion Propulsion, which is now owned by major defense contractor Dynetics, Inc.

http://www.dynetics.com/descriptionpage.php?id=AerospaceSundancer&from=space

Basic diagram via a Popular Mechanics article.....

OOO nice. Its crazy to realize how big those moduals could be. How big could one launched by a Falcon XX be :twisted:

 

[Boris_Badenov]

OOO nice. Its crazy to realize how big those moduals could be. How big could one launched by a Falcon XX be :twisted:

link

Given a NASA go-ahead to work on a super heavy lifter, much larger habitats are on the drawing boards, Bigelow said, "and the volumes that we can launch are absolutely gigantic."

Bigelow Aerospace envisions expandable habitats offering 2,100 cubic meters of volume — nearly twice the capacity available on the International Space Station — while another plan sketches out use of a super-jumbo structure providing 3,240 cubic meters of volume.

 

[Spacehawk]

Anyone hear anything lately on Bigelow? I wanna keep this thread alive, I think Bigelow Aerospace is probably the best thing going so far.