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''Genesis II'' is the second experimental
space habitat A space settlement (also called a space habitat, spacestead, space city or space colony) is a Human settlement, settlement in outer space, sustaining more extensively Space habitat (facility), habitation facilities in space than a general space ...
designed and built by the private American firm Bigelow Aerospace, launched in 2007. As the second module sent into orbit by the company, this spacecraft built on the data and experience gleaned from its previously orbited sister-ship '' Genesis I''. Like its sister-ship and other modules being designed by Bigelow Aerospace, this spacecraft was based on the
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
TransHab design, which provided increased interior volume and reduced launch diameter along with potentially reduced mass compared to traditional rigid structures. ''Genesis II'' was "retired" when its avionics systems stopped working after two and a half years, thus becoming a derelict spacecraft. As of 2024, the spacecraft remains in orbit.


Spacecraft history

Similar to the process endured by Bigelow for ''Genesis I'', transporting ''Genesis II'' to
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for launch was the end result of nearly a year of regulatory processes due to restrictions imposed by
International Traffic in Arms Regulations International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) is a set of U.S. Department of State regulations that control the export of defense and military technologies to safeguard national security and further its foreign policy objectives. Overvi ...
(ITAR) and other procedures, both in the
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and abroad. After leaving
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in the United States, the spacecraft made a stopover in
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before being flown on an
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to
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, Russia, and transported over ground to the Dombarovskiy base. ''Genesis II'' made its final move into the Assembly, Integration and Test Building on 29 March 2007. Originally slated for a 6 August 2006 launch,
ISC Kosmotras The International Space Company Kosmotras or ISC Kosmotras () is a joint project, between Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, established in 1997. It developed and now operates a commercial expendable launch system using the Dnepr rocket. The Dnepr ...
delayed the launch to 30 January 2007, due to the failure of a Dnepr rocket in July 2006. The launch was delayed an additional four times (1 April 2007, 19 April 2007, 26 April 2007, and 23 May 2007) due to technical and scheduling reasons before its eventual launch on 28 June 2007 at 15:02:20
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. As with ''Genesis I'', it was launched aboard an
ISC Kosmotras The International Space Company Kosmotras or ISC Kosmotras () is a joint project, between Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, established in 1997. It developed and now operates a commercial expendable launch system using the Dnepr rocket. The Dnepr ...
Dnepr rocket from Dombarovsky Air Base near
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, Russia. It successfully reached orbit after separation from the rocket at 15:16 UTC. Due to the mechanics of its orbit, first contact with the craft was established once it passed over SpaceQuest, Ltd.'s
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receiving station at 22:20 UTC, confirming that it was functioning nominally with power and air pressure at expected levels. Externally, ''Genesis II'' is identical in size to ''Genesis I''; as such, it is a one-third scale of the full-size ''
BA 330 The B330 (previously known as the Nautilus space complex module and BA 330) was an inflatable space habitat privately developed by Bigelow Aerospace from 2010 until 2020. The design was evolved from NASA's TransHab habitat concept. B330 was t ...
'' model, with on-orbit measurements of in length and in diameter, with an interior habitable volume of . As part of its inflatable design, ''Genesis II'' launched with a diameter of , expanding to its full size after entering orbit. Within two days of launch, attitude control systems had damped all rotation and oriented antennae toward Earth. On 12 December 2007, Bigelow Aerospace provided an update indicating that ''Genesis II'' was in good health. All cameras had been tested and more than 4,000 photographs had been taken. The craft was in a nearly circular orbit with an
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of 0.028, and had only lost from launch to that time. Attitude control systems and all eight solar arrays were operational, and no damage to the outer surface of the craft was observed. Internal pressure was noted as holding between , with the variation caused by ''Genesis II'' moving in and out of sunlight during its orbit. On 23 April 2009, Bigelow Aerospace announced that ''Genesis II'' had surpassed the 10,000 orbit mark, having been in space for 665 days and travelling over . In February 2011, Bigelow reported that the vehicle had "performed flawlessly in terms of pressure maintenance and thermal control-environmental containment". Although the design life of the spacecraft avionics was only six months, the avionics systems worked flawlessly for over two and a half years before failure. The data received after the first six months was a re-verification of the validation test suite that was accomplished during the design life period. On 17 September 2019, an alert was generated by the U.S. Air Force stating that there was a 5.6% chance that ''Genesis II'' would collide with another derelict satellite, the Soviet satellite Kosmos 1300. , the spacecraft remains in orbit.


Systems

''Genesis II'' featured a number of improvements over the first pathfinder that was launched. In addition to the standard guidance control systems used on ''Genesis I'', it had
reaction wheel A reaction wheel (RW) is an electric motor attached to a flywheel, which, when its rotation speed is changed, causes a counter-rotation proportionately through conservation of angular momentum. A reaction wheel can rotate only around its center ...
assemblies and a precision measurement system, which were used to affect the spacecraft's
rotation Rotation or rotational/rotary motion is the circular movement of an object around a central line, known as an ''axis of rotation''. A plane figure can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise sense around a perpendicular axis intersect ...
rate and
angular momentum Angular momentum (sometimes called moment of momentum or rotational momentum) is the rotational analog of Momentum, linear momentum. It is an important physical quantity because it is a Conservation law, conserved quantity – the total ang ...
without expending fuel. It carried 22 cameras (nine more than the 13 on ''Genesis I'') for photographing and filming cargo and ship conditions both inside and out. Some of these were on articulated platforms, and one wireless camera that is capable of additional exterior imaging. Instead of the single-tank inflation system used on the first prototype craft, ''Genesis II'' employed multiple tanks for added reliability and to allow for more finely tuned gas control. Additional layers were added to the outer shield for increased protection and thermal management. Finally, the on-board sensor suite was enhanced with additional sensors for pressure, temperature, attitude control, and radiation detection, which will help determine the impact of the orbital environment on the integrity of shipboard systems. ''Genesis II'' did not carry any propulsion.


Payload

On both the interior and exterior, ''Genesis II'' carried several non-critical systems for scientific, commercial and entertainment purposes. For the science aspect, ''Genesis II'' carried an upgraded version of the original life-sciences module, colloquially termed "Life in a Box". This module includes habitats for three organisms: the Madagascar hissing cockroach, previously carried aboard ''Genesis I''; the South African flat rock scorpion, ''Hadogenes troglodytes''; and a colony of seed-harvester ants, ''Pogonomyrmex californicus'', along with the queen ant for long-term colonization possibilities. This biobox system included automated food and water delivery systems, and fans keep fresh air available by circulating internal air with that inside the rest of the spacecraft. Sensors and cameras were intended to monitor the health and activities of the biobox inhabitants, and images of the interior were intended for display on Bigelow's website. There were two commercial payloads included on ''Genesis II''. The first was the "Fly Your Stuff" program, which allowed individuals and customers to send photographs and other small items into orbit for a fee. Several dozen of these objects were launched, and were later photographed and filmed by cameras in the spacecraft and posted on the Bigelow website for the customers to view. By December 2007, all objects launched as part of this program had been photographed and distributed to customers. A secondary payload is the external image projection system that tested the capability for flashing images and messages on the spacecraft's hull. Two projectors and associated cameras were positioned on the tips of solar arrays, and the company had eventual plans for allowing the public to send images and video to be displayed. , there were no firm plans on how this would be handled due to current limits of uplink bandwidth, and was considered merely an experimental "fun" project. For entertainment, ''Genesis II'' carries a "Space Bingo" game intended to foster public interest in the program.


See also

*
Bigelow Expandable Activity Module The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is an experimental inflatable space habitat, expandable International Space Station#Pressurised modules, space station module developed by Bigelow Aerospace, under contract to NASA, for testing as a ...
*
Galaxy (spacecraft) ''Galaxy'' (previously ''Guardian'') was a canceled prototype space habitat designed by the United States, American firm Bigelow Aerospace, and was intended to be the third spacecraft launched by the company in their efforts to create a commercia ...
*
Sundancer ''Sundancer'' was the proposed third prototype space habitat intended to be launched by Bigelow Aerospace—and the first human-rated expandable module based on TransHab technology acquired from NASA. It was to have been used to test and confir ...
* Inflatable space habitat


References


External links


Genesis spacecraft
at Bigelow Aerospace
Bigelow presentation at the NASA workshop on the Global Exploration Roadmap
10 April 2014, video, 41:58–57:05, ''Genesis II'' footage at 47:15. {{Orbital launches in 2007 Bigelow Aerospace Derelict satellites orbiting Earth Space stations Spacecraft launched in 2007 Spacecraft launched by Dnepr rockets