FYI,

"Bigelow's Second Orbital Module Launches Into Space"
Space.com
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/070628_genesis2_update.html

: A privately-built space station prototype successfully launched
: into orbit Thursday from a Russian missile base, kicking off the
: second test flight for the U.S. firm Bigelow Aerospace.

: Genesis 2, an inflatable module laden with cameras, personal items
: and a Space Bingo game, rocketed spaceward atop a Dnepr booster
: from a silo at Yasny Launch Base, an active Russian strategic
: missile base in the country's Orenburg region. Liftoff occurred at
: 11:02 a.m. EDT (1502 GMT) though it was near evening at the Russian
: launch site.

: Genesis 2 is a near-twin of Bigelow Aerospace's Genesis 1 module,
: which launched in July 2006 and remains operational today, but
: carries a series of enhancements and additional cargo, the Las
: Vegas, Nevada-based spaceflight firm has said. Both spacecraft are
: prototypes for future commercial orbital complexes that Bigelow
: Aerospace, and its founder and president Robert Bigelow, hope to
: offer for use by private firms and national space agencies.

: Familiar look, new spacecraft

: The Genesis 2 module sports a similar look as its Genesis 1
: predecessor, but carries a suite of new sensors and avionics to
: monitor and control the spacecraft in orbit. The sensors will watch
: over internal pressure, temperature, vehicle attitude control and
: radiation levels, Bigelow Aerospace officials said.

: Once in space, the 15-foot (4.4-meter) module is designed to deploy
: eight solar arrays and expand from its launch width of 6.2 feet
: (1.9 meters) to a flight diameter of eight feet (2.54 meters).
: Genesis 2 carries 22 cameras - more than the 13 imagers aboard
: Genesis 1 - to record scenes within the spacecraft's 406-cubic foot
: (11.5-cubic meter) volume.

: Unlike its predecessor, Genesis 2 also sports a multi-tank system
: to inflate the module with compressed air. That improvement, the
: firm has said, adds vital redundancy in the inflation process and
: allows better control of the craft's gas supplies.

: If all goes well, Genesis 2 is expected to have a long orbital life
: akin to that of Genesis 1, which continues to operate nearly a full
: year after its July 12, 2006 launch. Bigelow Aerospace officials
: said the older module may even continue to function through the
: next eight to 13 years.

All aboard Genesis 2

: Genesis 2 is the first Bigelow Aerospace module to carry a clutch
: of personal items under the firm's "Fly Your Stuff" campaign, which
: allowed paying customers to load photographs and other possessions
: to ride into orbit and be captured by onboard cameras.

: Also tucked aboard Genesis 2 are a Space Bingo game and Biobox
: filled with ant farms, scorpions and Madagascar hissing
: cockroaches.

: The Space Bingo game is chiefly aimed at entertainment, with no
: actual wagering involved, and is slated to begin operations a few
: months after launch. Bigelow Aerospace officials said the so-called
: Bingo Box will use fans and levers to autonomously mix and select
: bingo balls during games presented on the firm's website:
: www.bigelowaerospace.com .

: Genesis 2's Biobox, meanwhile, is a three-chamber pressurized
: vessel with compartments for biological specimens to be observed by
: onboard cameras.

: In addition to the hissing cockroaches, the same type that flew
: aboard Genesis 1, the Biobox's chambers contain a group of South
: African flat rock scorpions, one of which was named Antares by a
: fifth grade class in Pennsylvania. A farm of California red
: harvester ants rounds out Genesis 2's biological payload, the
: camera views of which are expected to be available on the Bigelow
: Aerospace website during the mission.

: Step towards larger modules

: The Genesis 2 and 1 modules are one-third scale versions of Bigelow
: Aerospace's planned manned orbital vehicles that are expected to
: begin flying as early as 2010.

: Next year, the firm plans to launch Galaxy - another pathfinder
: module that builds on the Genesis vehicles - before flying its
: first crew-rated spacecraft Sundancer in 2010. Galaxy is slated to
: have 45 percent more habitable space than the Genesis craft, with a
: pressurized volume of about 589 cubic feet (16.7 cubic meters).

: The three-person, 6,356-cubic foot (180-cubic meter) volume
: Sundancer is expected to be bolstered by the addition of a
: connecting node and propulsion bus in 2011 to lay the foundation to
: support Bigelow Aerospace's planned BA 330 module. The larger
: BA 330 is expected to include an 11,653-cubic foot
: (330-cubic meter) habitable volume, when fully inflated, and is
: slated to dock with Sundancer and its node-propulsion bus by 2012.

: In pre-liftoff action Thursday, due to the rain at the launch area,
: a baseball game that included Robert Bigelow was played inside the
: large satellite integration and test building on the base. "Just
: another example of Bigelow Aerospace innovation...we don't let
: anything stop us," Gold said.

: "With Genesis 1 we put one foot ahead of us. With Genesis 2 we put
: another foot ahead of us which means that we're walking," said
: Gold. "I look forward to running and what that's going to be like
: at Bigelow Aerospace."

Mark Reiff