![]() The ISS is intended to serve as a platform for the performance of scientific experiments that can only be carried out in space. #INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SIZE FULL#The shuttle has been continuously inhabited since November 2, 2000, and under normal circumstances houses a full crew of six. The ISS ’s final configuration will contain a European laboratory module, a Japanese laboratory module, three Russian laboratory modules, a Canadian robot arm to assist in assembly and maintenance, exterior racks for experiments requiring direct exposure to space, and an emergency Crew Return Vehicle on standby. Smaller components were added piecemeal in 2002 by several shuttle flights, and in 2001 –2002 several Russian flights ferried passengers and supplies. The United States lab module contains 13 equipment racks, on which various scientific experiments will be mounted, and a 20-in (0.5-m) window set in the Earthside wall. laboratory module Destiny, the largest and most elaborate of the ISS components, was added using the robot arm of the space shuttle Atlantis. An energy-storage subsystem consisting of six large nickel-hydrogen (Ni-H2) batteries supplies electrical power to the ISS during its passage through Earth ’s shadow, which lasts about 45 out of every 90 minutes. When completed, the ISS will receive about 260 kilowatts of power (peak) from an acre of sun-tracking solar panels. The first of its four large solar arrays (112 by 39 ft ) was added in 2000. The ISS is powered by photovoltaic electricity. Zvezda provided living quarters and life support during the early phases of the ISS ’s growth it also provides steering rockets to control the ISS ’s attitude (orientation in space) and to re-boost it to higher altitudes as its orbit decays due to friction with high-altitude traces of the Earth ’s atmosphere. In 2000, another Proton rocket lofted the Russian service module Zvezda, the main Russian contribution to the ISS. This unit is primarily a docking hub to which other sections join. module Unity Node, a connecting segment, was carried into space on the shuttle Endeavor later in 1998. The U.S., through its National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is the largest single contributor, bearing most of the cost of building, launching, and operating ISS for at least a decade.Īssembly of the ISS commenced in 1998 with launch of the Russian control module Zarya on a proton rocket from Kazahkstan. Today there are 15 major partners in the ISS effort, including the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, and 11 of the member states of the European Space Agency. Since the 2003 loss of Columbia twelve construction flights will be used to finish the building of ISS. space shuttle disasters in January 1986 ( Challenger ) and February 2003 ( Columbia ). The project is about five years behind schedule due primarily to the two U.S. However, as of October 2006, fewer flights will be needed due to cutbacks on the number of sections to be installed on the structure. #INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SIZE PLUS#shuttle flights plus nine Russian rocket launches were required for ISS construction. The ISS was originally proposed by United States President Ronald Reagan (1911 –2004) in 1984, and was slated to cost $8 billion. The ISS orbits at an average altitude of 220 mi (360 km) and at an average speed of 17,200 mph (27,685 km/h).Ī number of science experiments are to be conducted aboard the ISS in such fields as health effects of radiation, molecular and cell biology, earth science, fluid dynamics, astronomy, combustion physics, and crystal growth. When finished, it will contain about four times as much working space as the former Russian space station Mir (1986 –2001), the former record holder, and will have a mass of about 881,800 lb (400,000 kg) and a pressurized volume of about 35,300 cu ft (1,000 cu m). ( Brazil also participates through NASA, while Italy participates through ESA.) As of October 2006, participants from twelve countries have worked onboard ISS. The space station is a joint project of the United States (National Space and Aeronautics Administration, NASA), Russia (Russian Federal Space Agency, RKA), Japan (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA), Canada (Canadian Space Agency, CSA), and Europe ( European Space Agency, ESA). In addition, the Russian space program will fly other necessary construction flights, along with Japanese andĮSA flights to add experimental equipment, fuel, consumable, and other necessary materials to ISS. About 40 assembly and utilization flights (in total) by the United States space shuttle fleet are required to assemble the ISS. The International Space Station (ISS), formally designated International Space Station Alpha, is a habitable (normally manned) orbital facility that has been under construction since 1998 and is scheduled for completion (as of October 2006) in 2010. ![]()
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