Payload
On both the interior and exterior, Genesis II carries several non-critical systems for scientific, commercial and entertainment purposes.
For the science aspect, Genesis II carries an upgraded version of the original life-sciences module and is colloquially termed "Life in a Box". This module includes habitats for three organisms: the Madagascar hissing cockroach, previously carried aboard Genesis I; the South African flat rock scorpion, Hadogenes troglodytes; and a colony of seed-harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex californicus, along with the queen ant for long-term colonization possibilities. This biobox system includes automated food and water delivery systems, and fans keep fresh air available by circulating internal air with that inside the rest of the spacecraft. Sensors and cameras will monitor the health and activities of the biobox inhabitants, and images of the interior are intended for display on Bigelow's website.
There are two commercial payloads included on Genesis II. The first is the "Fly Your Stuff" program, which allowed individuals and customers to send photographs and other small items into orbit for a fee. Several dozen of these objects were launched, and were later photographed and filmed by cameras in the spacecraft and posted on the Bigelow website for the customers to view. By December 2007, all objects launched as part of this program had been photographed and distributed to customers. This included the first lychee in space. Guy Pignolet de Pluton, a professor at University of La Réunion in Sainte-Rose, Réunion, provided the lychee which has been imaged on Bigelow Aerospace's website.
A secondary payload is the external image projection system that tested the capability for flashing images and messages on the spacecraft's hull. Two projectors and associated cameras are positioned on the tips of solar arrays, and the company has eventual plans for allowing the public to send images and video to be displayed. As of August 2007, there were no firm plans on how this would be handled due to current limits of uplink bandwidth, and was considered an experimental "fun" project.
For entertainment, Genesis II carries a "Space Bingo" game intended to foster public interest in the program. The game will be started several months into the mission and will be free to play, though no actual gambling is involved. The game module contains a full set of Bingo balls which are randomly manipulated one at a time by a system of fans and levers, resetting after forty balls have entered play. During play, images will be broadcast to those who are playing along.
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