Private craft sends video from orbit

Much of the data traffic between Genesis 1 and the mission's single ground transmission station is currently being devoted to command-and-control telemetry, he explained. As the spacecraft's position in orbit is stabilized, more of the data pipeline should become available for video and still imagery.

Bigelow Aerospace said stabilization also should improve video views from Genesis' external cameras, such as that seen in the other clip released late Monday.

The external view shows the sun, Earth and background stars, reflected in the lens of a camera mounted on an end of the spacecraft. The spin of the spacecraft produces a whirling effect, but Bigelow said in a statement that "we are in the process of reducing the spacecraft movement in order to stabilize what the exterior cameras are seeing."

NASA gets a free flight
Another application for Genesis 1 has a far more scientific flavor. Bigelow is flying a shoebox-sized NASA experiment known as GeneBox inside the spacecraft at no charge to the space agency.

GeneBox includes sensors and optical systems that can detect proteins and genetic activity. Future versions of the mini-laboratory will analyze how zero gravity affects genes in microscopic cells and other small life forms, NASA said in a statement.

"During this mission, we are verifying this new, small spacecraft's systems and our procedures," John Hines, GeneBox project manager at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, was quoted as saying. "GeneBox is an example of a low-cost spacecraft model that we hope will provide a short turnaround time for scientists, is responsive to their needs and that we feel will contribute to the Vision for Space Exploration."

NASA said Bigelow Aerospace would activate GeneBox in about two weeks. The mini-lab would go through a round of instrument tests, then send the data down to Earth for analysis. Other partners in the project include Santa Clara University, Stanford University and California Polytechnic University.

The inclusion of GeneBox drew a comment from former NASA scientist Keith Cowing, editor of the independent NASA Watch Web site: "I find it interesting to note that at the same time that NASA is abandoning much of the cutting-edge space biology research that was planned for the ISS [international space station], the private sector seems to be developing an interest in this research — aboard a private space station."

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