Jun 28 2007
From The Space Library
A Dnepr rocket carrying Bigelow Aerospace Corporation’s Genesis-2 inflatable spacecraft launched from ISC Kosmotras Yasny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Orenburg region at 15:02 (UT). Bigelow Aerospace had designed and built the 15-foot-long (4.6-meter-long) technology demonstrator, which was part of the vision for an affordable space tourism market. Genesis 2 would deploy eight solar arrays and expand to a diameter of 8 feet (2.44 meters) from its launch width of 6.2 feet (1.9 meters). The craft’s design—involving the use of flexible material, wrapped around a core for launch, then inflated with air in orbit—would allow several modules to connect, forming a space station. According to Bigelow Aerospace’s spokesperson Chris Reed, data indicated that Genesis 2 had adequate air pressure and its power system had good voltage; however, data did not officially confirm the deployment of its solar panels or the expansion of its outer shell. Genesis 2 was a near duplicate of Genesis 1, which had launched in July 2006 and remained operational. Genesis 2 carried a new suite of sensors and avionics to monitor and control the craft while in orbit, as well as 22 cameras, compared to the 13 aboard Genesis 1. Genesis 2 also carried a multi-tank system to inflate the module with compressed air, an improvement over Genesis 1 that added vital redundancy in the inflation process and allowed better control of the craft’s gas supplies.
Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 644; John Antczak for Associated Press, “Inflatable Space Station Design Tested,” 29 June 2007; Tariq Malik, “Bigelow’s Second Orbital Module Launches Into Space,” Space.com, 28 June 2007, http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/070628_genesis2_update.html (accessed 16 April 2010).
NASA announced that, on 25 May 2007, its AIM satellite had captured the first occurrence that season of mysterious iridescent polar clouds. AIM had been the first satellite mission dedicated to the study of these unusual clouds, known as Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMCs) when viewed from space and as noctilucent clouds (NLCs) when viewed from Earth. NLCs form in the Northern Hemisphere, beginning in mid-May and remaining through the end of August. They appear in the Southern Hemisphere between mid-November and March. AIM’s mission was to observe two complete PMC seasons over both poles, documenting for the first time the complete, complex life cycle of PMCs.
NASA, “NASA Satellite Captures First View of ‘Night-Shining’ Clouds,” news release 07-145, 28 June 2007, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/jun/HQ_07145_AIM_First_Light.html (accessed 13 April 2010).
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