Private Space Station Prototype Beams Down New Images
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A picture on the end of one of the aft solar arrays looks toward the midsection of Genesis 2 as well as the forward solar panels. CREDIT: Bigelow Aerospace. |
A day after launching into orbit, the privately-built Genesis 2 expandable module successfully relayed high-resolution images taken on June 29 during on-orbit checkout procedures.
The two
pictures confirmed the operation of the inflatable module?s camera system
followed by download to the Mission Operations center for the Las Vegas, Nevada-based
spaceflight firm Bigelow Aerospace. The testing will continue as the ground
team perfects the acquisition of the Genesis 2 signal.
A camera on
the interior of Genesis 2 captures a test image of the expansive space
created by the inflation technology. In this early stage of checkout, this
image was taken without all the spacecraft interior lighting turned on.
A picture on the end
of one of the aft solar arrays looks toward the midsection of Genesis 2 as
well as the forward solar panels.
Genesis 2 is the second inflatable module launched by Bigelow Aerospace as a
prototype for future commercial space stations in Earth orbit. The U.S. firm launched
its first
spacecraft Genesis 1 in July 2006, which remains operational today. An ISC
Kosmotras Dnepr rocket launched
Genesis 2 into space on June 28. The 15-foot (4.4-meter) module inflatable
module is designed to expand to a diameter of about eight feet (2.54 meters)
and carries 22 onboard cameras to relay scenes from both inside and outside the
spacecraft. Personal items from paying customers, a ?Biobox? with scorpions,
ants and cockroaches, and a Space Bingo game are tucked inside the spacecraft
as cargo. Genesis 2
is also outfitted with two exterior projection systems designed to demonstrate
the casting of messages onto the spacecraft's exterior "for ad purposes or
just for fun," according to Robert Bigelow, head of the space company.
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