Cosmic Log : Inflatable space dreams

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archi...07/10/998.aspx

Monday, July 10, 2006 7:50 PM by Alan Boyle

It's taken months longer than he hoped, but real-estate billionaire
Robert Bigelow might just see his first orbital spacecraft take flight at
last on Wednesday, courtesy of a converted Russian intercontinental
ballistic missile.

If Bigelow Aerospace's Genesis 1 inflatable space module lifts off
successfully, the test mission could mark a significant step toward an era
of hotels and even sports complexes in space.

Russia's Federal Space Agency lists Genesis 1 for a Wednesday launch from
the Dombarovsky military missile base in southwestern Siberia. This would be
the first on-orbit test of Bigelow's inflatable-module concept, which was
actually developed at NASA for future space station modules or Mars ships.
When NASA canned the concept, which was known as Transhab, Bigelow bought
the rights to commercialize the idea - and hired some of the original
designers.