An American businessman has had a prototype inflatable space station module launched in Russia. He is Robert Bigelow, who owns the Budget Suites of America hotel chain. He and his partners, as Bigelow Aerospace, have put Genesis I into orbit, where it should remain for at least 5 years if all goes well. Experiments include study of insects on board. See http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060712/ap_on_sc/priva te_space_station for a story on this.
Inflatable Space Station
