Delivery for Bigelow's first test module

Awesome that they have something in orbit, I wonder how hard NASA are going to be watching? They did give it up. Should be interesting.....

Iain
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www.kiwi2space.co.nz

No, inflatables in space have been tested since Echo 1

Yes, amazing how history keeps getting overwritten. Old stuff forgotten, known stuff changed, new stuff added and the cycle continues. No such thing as 'dead' history, history is alive and well and going on all the time.

Genisus 1's first pictures!!!!!!
Check it out
http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/out_there/index.php

Not the best but once they start getting pics through the S Band antenna they say they will update the webpage daily with new ones!


On another note now the launch was a sucess does anybody know the statis of the teams competing for his $50m space prize?


Iain
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www.kiwi2space.co.nz

For those of you not reguarly checking up on the Bigelow Aerospace website, make sure you do as new pictures are posted almost everyday, there are now some quite sharp external pictures and interrior pictures there.Check em out!

http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/out_there/index.php


Iain
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www.kiwi2space.co.nz

Apparently no serious interest has been expressed in the ASP. According to Bigalow himself, there were more than 50 EOI however none of them have access to the funding to make any progress. Doesn't that sound familiar!!??
In another post, I made a simple comparison of prizes and outcomes and noted that $M50 seemed a little light on. Still think so. The X-Prize provided $M10 for sub-orbital and the rules were less stringent than the ASP. Orbital is another step up from sub-orbital and a whole heap harder so the prize amount should reflect that. Admittedly there's a potential contract at the end but you've got to get there first.

Hello, beancounter,

that increase wouldn't solve the funding-problems of the teams and companies willing to compete.

Bigelow's announcement that he will award contracts will be of much more help. This could encourage funders and backers to help teams because it is a promise of revenues and ROIs.

The prize money can be awarded to one team only and so isn't sufficient to get each of a sufficient number of teams a funder or backer.

So the question is if and how to modify the prize - perhaps there should be a first place, a second place and a third place to get prize money each.

Similarly several contracts should be awarded to several teams - conracts of different volume and kind.

This way the chances for the funders and backers to get revenues and ROIs would be more interesting and the teams might get funds more easyly and quickly - this is not a suborbital prize requiring tens of millions od funds only but hundreds (T/Space's CXV needs $ 400 mio, Burt Rutan estimated that number for orbital in 2004).

May be I initiate a new thread about this because it has started to become off topic here.



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

EDIT: new thread inititated