Spaceflight Now +
Subscribe to Spaceflight Now Plus for access to our extensive video collections!
How do I sign up?
Video archive
Complex 36 demolition
The two mobile service towers at Cape Canaveral's Complex 36 that had supported Atlas rockets for decades are toppled to the ground with 122 pounds of explosives.
Play
Atlas 5's NRO launch
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifts off June 15 from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 on the classified NROL-30 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.
Full Coverage
Booster cameras
Hitch a ride up and down on the twin solid rocket boosters that launched shuttle Atlantis last week. Each booster was outfitted with three cameras to give NASA upclose footage of the vehicle's ascent.
Full Coverage
Atlantis launch coverage
Shuttle Atlantis blasted off June 8 on its mission to the space station.
Full Coverage
Phoenix: At the Cape
NASA's Mars lander named Phoenix has arrive at Kennedy Space Center to begin preparations for launch in August.
Full coverage
STS-63: A rendezvous with space station Mir
As a prelude to future dockings between American space shuttles and the Russian space station Mir, the two countries had a test rendezvous in Feb. 1995.
Play
"Apollo 17: On The Shoulders of Giants"
Apollo's final lunar voyage is relived in this movie. The film depicts the highlights of Apollo 17's journey to Taurus-Littrow and looks to the future Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz and shuttle programs.
Play
"Apollo 10: To Sort Out The Unknowns"
The May 1969 mission of Apollo 10 served as a final dress rehearsal before the first lunar landing later that summer. Stafford, Young and Cernan went to the moon to uncover lingering spacecraft problems that needed to be solved.
Play
Become a subscriber
More video
Bigelow's second inflatable space module launched
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: June 28, 2007;
Updated at 8:45 p.m. with spacecraft status details
The next step in one man's vision to populate Earth orbit with a network of private space stations was realized Thursday, when the entrepreneur's company launched its second inflatable module from Russia on a test flight. Like its predecessor one year ago, Genesis 2 rode to space atop a Dnepr rocket, a converted ballistic missile from Russia's military arsenal. The Dnepr shot out of an underground silo at the Yasny launch base in southern Russia at 1502 GMT (11:02 a.m. EDT). The three-stage rocket hurled into space and released Genesis 2 into a near-circular orbit about 350 miles high with an inclination of 64.5 degrees. Compressed air from several on-board gas tanks began inflating the module shortly after arriving in space. Genesis 2 measures more than 14 feet long and eight feet in diameter when fully expanded, according to Bigelow Aerospace. Genesis 2 also deployed its solar panels to begin charging the spacecraft's battery, ground controllers confirmed Thursday evening. Engineers at Bigelow Aerospace's mission control near Las Vegas received the first signals from Genesis 2 at 5:20 p.m. EDT. The communications pass occurred as the module flew above a ground station near Washington, D.C. Genesis 2 also sent back small images from a camera mounted outside the module. The sequence showed the deployment of the spacecraft's solar panels. Robert Bigelow, owner of the Budget Suites of America hotel chain, founded Bigelow Aerospace in 1999 to pursue the commercial space market. Since then, the company has developed and launched two prototype inflatable modules and begun work on a series of habitable spacecraft that could arrive in space by 2010. Bigelow Aerospace achieved its latest milestone with Thursday's launch of Genesis 2, a one-third scale model of the spacecraft Bigelow eventually plans to send into orbit. Genesis 2 is following the trail blazed by Genesis 1, which gave Bigelow Aerospace a firm presence in space last July. The two modules are identical on the exterior, but Genesis 2 carries an upgraded suite of internal avionics, a revamped inflation system, more cameras, and the first objects contributed by paying customers. "With Genesis 1, it was our first rodeo. We didn't know exactly what to expect," said program manager Eric Haakonstad. "This time, we were able to perform rehearsals and were more prepared for the launch phase." The Genesis 2 launch was postponed from late 2006 after the Dnepr suffered a failure during a flight last summer. The Dnepr is sold commercially by Kosmotras, an international venture headed by Russia and Ukraine. Kosmotras ordered the delays to conduct additional checks and upgrades on the Dnepr rocket tagged to launch Genesis 2, Bigelow said in a statement last month. The 3,000-pound module features more than 400 cubic feet of usable interior volume, similar to the size of a typical sports utility vehicle. Twenty-two cameras mounted both inside and outside Genesis 2 will beam back imagery to Bigelow ground stations in Las Vegas, Virginia, Alaska and Hawaii. Just 13 cameras were launched aboard Genesis 1. The interior cameras will take pictures of floating photos and trinkets sent in by customers for a fee of less than $300 per object. Those images will be disseminated to Bigelow's customers. New reaction wheel assemblies and a precise measurement system will also be tested during the Genesis 2 mission. These systems will be needed to control larger modules planned for the future. Genesis 2 also carries Biobox, a more capable animal habitat housing colonies of ants, cockroaches and scorpions. Another payload on Genesis 2 is a space-age bingo game complete with a mechanism to randomly select numbered balls, and engineers designing the bingo device will use the experience to build more complex payloads for future modules, officials said. Bigelow expects both modules to continue operating well into the next decade, but the company is already working to develop the next generation of inflatable modules as a stepping stone to the company's ultimate goal – creating a fleet of orbiting private space complexes for clients to visit. Called Galaxy, the next module will serve as a test bed for an array of new systems, including advanced avionics, high-speed communications equipment, and larger solar panels. Galaxy will also carry elements of Bigelow's life support system, and the spacecraft will feature structural upgrades to make the module more robust. The craft will have 45 percent more internal volume than the Genesis modules. The Galaxy module should be ready for launch by late 2008, according to Bigelow's projections. In 2010, Bigelow plans to roll out the Sundancer, the company's first spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew. A year later, plans call for a node and service module to be launched to Sundancer. The combination will be joined by the first BA 330 module in 2012. Bigelow's future plans were revealed in an April speech at the 23rd National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo. Bigelow expects his customers will come from a wide range of backgrounds, including government and commercial scientists.
Start rakiety Dniepr, produkowanej z wycofanych z użytku rakiet balistycznych



28 czerwca, o godz. 15:02 GMT, z silosu rosyjskiej bazy rakietowej Jasnyj, wystartowała rakieta Dniepr z nadmuchiwanym modelem hotelu kosmicznego, ''Genesis II'', firmy Bigelow Aerospace. Krótko po osiągnięciu orbity, pokładowe zbiorniki napełniły model powietrzem. Ma on wymiary około 4,3 m długości i 2,4 m średnicy, czyli 1/3 planowanej wielkości kosmicznego hotelu. Ważący prawie 1 300 kg model wyposażony jest we własne panele baterii słonecznych. 

Na ''Genesis II'' umieszczono także kontener ''Biobox'' (dosłownie "pudełko życia") zawierające kolonie mrówek, karaluchów i skorpionów.

Robert Bigelow, właściciel amerykańskiej sieci hoteli ''Budget Suites of America'', założył firmę Bigelow Aerospace w 1999 starając się wykorzystać komercyjne zapotrzebowanie na loty w przestrzeni kosmicznej. W zeszłym roku firma wyniosła z pomocą Rosjan pierwszy, mniejszy, model kosmicznego hotelu, ''Genesis I''. Oba modele Genesis wyglądają z zewnątrz podobnie, jednak ''Genesis II'' przenosi w środku dużo więcej urządzeń elektronicznych, nowy system napełniania, więcej kamer (22, wcześnie 13) i pierwsze urządzenia za które zapłacili klienci firmy.

Bigelow spodziewa się, że oba satelity będą działały nawet przez następną dekadę, ale firma rozpoczęła już pracę nad następnym nadmuchiwanym modelem, ''Galaxy'', który przybliży ją do ostatecznego celu: prywatnego hotelu - zespołu modułów - w którym będą mogli zamieszkać klienci. ''Galaxy'' będzie platformą do testowania nowej awioniki, urządzeń do szybszej komunikacji, większych paneli ogniw słonecznych. Znajdą się tam również elementy systemu podtrzymywania życia oraz pierwsze elementy usztywniające konstrukcję statku. Będzie miał też o 45% większą objętość niż ''Genesis II''. Zostanie wystrzelony w przyszłym roku.

W 2010, Bigelow Aerospace chce wystrzelić moduł ''Sundancer'' - pierwszy, w którym będą mogli przebywać ludzie. Rok później ma zostać dołączony do niego moduł serwisowy i łącznik. W 2012 ma dołączyć do nich moduł BA 330 ''Nautilus''.