More Bigelow news ... [Update 2]

I'll try to continue with updates on the spacecraft deployment as the day progresses, though I will be off line for a few hours this afternnoon.

[Update 2: As noted in the Comments here, Bigelow now reports they have communicated with the spacecraft and it appears to have inflated OK and the solar sails deployed. Temperature in the compartment looks good.

Congratulations to Bigelow Aerospace on a great start to their space habitat program!
]

* Robert Bigelow has posted a very brief statement on the BA news page.

* Here is an updated AP report: Inflatable Spacecraft Launches From Russia - Pajamasmedia.com/NewsTex/AP.

"We're ecstatic. We're just elated," Bigelow said in a telephone interview from Las Vegas. "We have a sense of being on a great adventure."

[Update: According to the article - Inflatable spacecraft launches successfully - New Scientist -

Mission controllers do not yet know whether the spacecraft reached its proper orbit. They will find out at 0000 GMT on Thursday, when the spacecraft is expected to pass over the company's communications and mission control centre in Las Vegas, Nevada, US.

Genesis I is intended to be placed into an orbit 550 kilometres above Earth, with a 64° inclination to the equator.

"It should be going through an automatic sequence of events," Haakonstad told New Scientist. One of those events is inflation with compressed air, which should be completed within a few hours of launch, he says.

]

Posted 07/12/06 | 11:45:12 by TopSpacer | Filed under: Space habitats

Comments

As more private spacecraft are launched, I can see a market for private TDRS-like satellites. A lot less stressful if one doesn't have to wait 8 hours to for an overhead pass to find out if the the launch was succesful.

Posted by Andrew Platzer at 07/12/06 13:05:16

xprizenews is collecting all the information and details: http://www.spacefellowship....

Posted by Brus at 07/12/06 13:26:25

The Bigelow news page has been updated with confirmation that it has succesfully expanded.
http://www.bigelowaerospace...

Posted by Andrew Platzer at 07/12/06 17:32:22

One of the articles said there were cockroaches and some other gross insect on board. I wonder if they will do anything interesting. The astrobiologists will probably be interested in studying their behavior on the cameras.

Posted by Bugs are gross at 07/12/06 18:44:25

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