“LEO
will become a commercial domain”
Bigelow Aerospace Mike
Gold commenting on their plans to test the BEAM (Bigelow Expandable Activity Module)
at the ISS and eventually inflate their own Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station
Would
you feel comfortable living in a Space Station made of inflatable parts instead
of solid Metal segments like the ISS (International Space Station)?
Bigelow Aerospace seems to think so
and has invested some $17.8 million in the development of their BEAM (Bigelow
Expandable Activity Module) which will be tested at the ISS in 2015 as
stated in the article “Private
Inflatable Room Launching to Space Station Next Year”, published October
06, 2014 03:07pm ET, by Elizabeth Howell, Space.com.
This
Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station will be located in LEO (Low Earth Orbit) about
100 to 300 miles (161 to 483 km) as noted in the article “Inflatable
private room to dock to ISS, commercialise Space”, published October 6,
2014 8:57 PM PDT by Michelle Starr, CNET News.
So
who is Bigelow Aerospace? And
are their plans safe?
Bigelow Aerospace –
Italian Mafia in Space setting up Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station Casino
Bigelow Aerospace is a little known
company in the rapidly expanding arena of Satellite and Space Travel as shown
in the infographic below in the article “'Space
Wars': A visual guide to the battle for space supremacy”, published
December 11, 2014 12:00 PM PST by Michael Franco, CNET
News.
Since
the Obama Administration had set about the task of privatizing the Space
Industry as explained in my blog articles entitled “Alternative
Energy and the Ion Drive Engine - Star Trek and Andromeda” and the article “Alternative
Energy and Daedelus - Avatar and Planet Gliese 581g Next Door”.
That includes mining asteroids for their precious minerals, the main
long-term goal of many of the companies involved in the Private Space Industry,
with Government payload Jobs from NASA as a foot in the door as stated in the
article “The companies
vying to turn asteroids into filling stations”, published 25 September 2014
Last updated at 23:27 GMT By Debbie Siegelbaum, BBC
News.
Many
players like Bigelow Aerospace have
come along to profit by providing various services on Contract:
1.
Lifting supplies for NASA Astronaut at
the ISS
2.
Space Tourism
3.
Satellite Launches
However,
don't pack your bags just yet; a trip to the Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station
will cost you US$26.25 million, which includes being made fit and ready to go
into Space as per their Bigelow Aerospace’s
Travel Booking Listings.
Two
months stay at the Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station costing you US$25 million as
per their announcement back in 2012 in the article “SPACEX
AND BIGELOW AEROSPACE JOIN FORCES TO OFFER CREWED MISSIONS TO PRIVATE SPACE
STATIONS”, published MAY 10, 2012 , SpaceX
That's
a total of US$51.25 million, or US$11.25 million cheaper than staying at the
hotel ISS. To achieve this lofty ambition, Bigelow Aerospace currently has two
satellites the Genesis
I and the Genesis
II testing out the LEO region for which restrictions have been relaxed by ITAR
(International Traffic in Arms Regulations) as stated in the article “Obama signs law easing satellite export
controls”, published January 3, 2013 BY STEPHEN CLARK, SPACEFLIGHT NOW.
Coincidentally
too, this is the same patch of Space real-estate that Mountain View,
California-based Google and Dutch-based O3b Networks Ltd have plans to launch a
fleet of Satellites to provide Satellite Broadband Services as detailed in my blog articles entitled “Google
and O3B Network Limited partner on Satellite Broadband Project – How to set up a
Satellite Broadband Network”.
Undoubtedly,
Space Tourists won’t just be going up to admire the view; probably Bigelow Aerospace might throw in
luxury suites with Casino Gambling too, especially with a name that sounds like
one of the more prominent Italian Mafia Families.
So
how does Bigelow Aerospace plan
to get their Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station up into LEO orbit by the Second or
Third Quarter of 2015? Also, once in orbit, how do they plan to make money?
Bigelow Aerospace's
BEAM - How an inflatable Space Module will build the Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station
Bigelow Aerospace ambitious plans
involve testing out the BEAM inflatable
Module at the ISS as stated in the article “Space
station to test $17 million inflatable room”, published 15 January 2013,
3:46 am AEDT by Don Reisinger, CNET News. To
travel into Space, BEAM will be
deflated and be flow to the Space Station using SpaceX's
Dragon cargo craft.
There
it will be attached to the ISS using the Canada Arm 2 and them pumped full of
air to inflate it up to full size. Since the Module is in Space, it won't
require much air for it to be inflated, albeit it’ll have to be pressurized to
be equivalent to Earth's atmosphere in terms of pressure and concentration of
gases. It'll them be tested by NASA Astronauts using their radiation equiptment
to compare radiation levels to those inside of the ISS.
Apparently
this testing will take place in the First Quarter of 2015 albeit it'll remain
there for years as a way of advertising Bigelow Aerospace's concept for an inflatable
Space habitat technology. This as BEAM can not
only be used on the Space Station, but potentially for creating habitats on the
Moon or even Mars that are portable and easier to carry, significantly lowering
the size of Spacecraft and cost of setting up as basic on the Moon or even
Mars.
The
Bigelow Aerospace will probably
make it even possible to mine Asteroids in the near future and even Deuterium from the upper atmosphere of Jupiter and
Saturn to fuel AMC (Anti Matter Converter) based Rockets for Interstellar
Travel as described in my blog article entitled
“University
of Alabama, NASA, Boeing and Oak Ridge National Laboratory developing Nuclear
Fusion Impulse Rocket - Ross Cortez's Dilithium Crystals leads Star Trek Into
The Darkness”.
The
Second and Third Quarters of 2015 may involve Bigelow Aerospace launching BEAM Modules
into LEO and NASA having Astronauts do maneuvers to connect and inflate the
various BEAM
Modules to create their Bigelow Aerospace
Alpha Station. Once constructed, who will be the first occupants of the Bigelow
Aerospace Alpha Station?
After
Astronauts, conceivably Space Tourists brought to and from the Space Station
via a SpaceX Craft. So for US$51.25 million
in the future you may be able to enjoy the best view of the Earth from the
Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Station or should I say Bigelow Aerospace Alpha Hotel!
No comments:
Post a Comment