Status Report

Genesis I Mission Update 12 July 2006

By SpaceRef Editor
July 12, 2006
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Genesis I Mission Update 12 July 2006
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July 13, 2006

4:30 PDT

All Systems are operating within expected parameters. Temperature, avionics, solar arrays and battery power all remain positive. All of our initial orbits have had direct sunlight, which has helped in charging the main battery to maximum capacity.

Pressure onboard the spacecraft has remained constant at 7.5 pounds per square inch (PSI).

We have had multiple contacts with the ship, and received several data streams. While most of these current communication streams are dedicated to command and control of the spacecraft, we have downloaded several small images from the onboard cameras and hope to get more as more bandwidth in the data stream becomes available.

July 12, 2006

5:20 PST

Bigelow Aerospace has received confirmation from the Genesis I spacecraft that it has successfully expanded.

We have also confirmed that all of the solar arrays have been deployed.

4:15 PST

Bigelow Aerospace mission control has begun to acquire information from the Genesis I spacecraft. The ISC Kosmotras Dnepr rocket has flawlessly delivered the Genesis I into the target orbit of 550km altitude at 64 degrees inclination. The internal battery is reporting a full charge of 26 volts, which leads us to believe that the solar arrays have deployed.

The internal temperature of the spacecraft is reported to be 26 degrees Celsius and we have acquired the spacecraft’s Global Positioning System (GPS) signal that will enable us to track the ship in flight.

We have initiated communication with the ship’s onboard computers and expect to download more information over the next few hours.

– Robert T. Bigelow

SpaceRef staff editor.