Bigelow Aerospace has released the first image taken by cameras aboard its Genesis 1 orbital spacecraft, showing the exterior of the inflatable module itself in flight. Future snapshots may be prettier, but there's nothing like that first baby picture - especially when the baby is "happy and healthy."
Bigelow Aerospace |
| Genesis 1 sent back this self-portrait. |
Genesis 1 was launched on Wednesday from Russia's Dombarovsky missile base, and imagery is coming back to Earth from at least some of the 13 cameras mounted on the interior and exterior of the spacecraft. Some of the thumbnail images showed up in the background of a video piece aired by KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, where Bigelow Aerospace is based - but the company held back on publicizing the pictures because of the relatively low quality.
Today, the billionaire backer of the private space effort, Robert Bigelow, decided to go ahead and provide an initial, somewhat overexposed image.
"We have extracted from early quick look data a low-resolution thumbnail image of the Genesis 1 vehicle, which verifies the success of vehicle inflation and solar array deployment," Bigelow said in a statement. "At this point in time, the vehicle is happy and healthy."
The image shows the spacecraft with its walls of layered composite material fully inflated to a diameter of about 8 feet. The perspective is distorted because the picture was taken from one end of the spacecraft. Solar arrays hang down from the top of the image, and another set of the yellowish solar arrays can be seen peeking out from the far end of the craft.
If you look at the right spot in the sky at the right time, you just might be able to see Genesis 1 yourself. Follow the instructions at the end of this earlier item to get coordinates and sky maps.
Update for 2:15 a.m. July 15: Bigelow Aerospace's Steve Pellegrino and Chris Reed provide this behind-the-scenes perspective on the Genesis 1 launch. Tip o' the Log to Clark Lindsey at RLV and Space Transport News.
