Station statistics | |
---|---|
SATCAT no. | 25544 |
Call sign | Alpha |
Crew | 6 |
Launch | 1998–2011 |
Launch pad | KSC LC-39, Baikonur LC-1/5 & LC-81/23 |
Mass | 303,663 kg (669,461 lb) |
Length | 73 m (240 ft) from Harmony to Zvezda |
Width | 108.5 m (356 ft) along truss, arrays extended |
Pressurised volume | 358 m³ (12,626 ft³) |
Atmospheric pressure | 101.3 kPa (29.91 inHg) |
Periapsis altitude | 347 km altitude (188.5 nmi) (19 April 2009) |
Apoapsis altitude | 358 km altitude (193.3 nmi) (19 April 2009) |
Orbital inclination | 51.6419 degrees |
Orbital speed | 27,743.8 km/h (17,239.2 mph, 7706.6 m/s) |
Orbital period | c.91 minutes |
Days in orbit | 9316 (23 May) |
Days occupied | 8605 (23 May) |
No. of orbits | c.147027 (23 May) |
Orbital decay | 2 km/month |
Statistics as of 28 March 2009[needs update] (unless noted otherwise) References:[1][2][3][4][5] | |
Configuration | |
The International Space Station (ISS) is a research facility currently being assembled in Low Earth Orbit. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998, and is scheduled to be complete by 2011, with operations continuing until around 2015.[6] As of 2009, the ISS is the largest artificial satellite in Earth orbit, larger than any previous space station.[7]
The ISS programme is a joint project among the space agencies of the United States (National Aeronautics and Space Administration - NASA), Russia (Russian Federal Space Agency - RKA), Japan (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency - JAXA), Canada (Canadian Space Agency - CSA) and ten European nations (European Space Agency - ESA).[8][b] The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) participates through a separate contract with NASA.[9] The Italian Space Agency (ASI) similarly has separate contracts for various activities not done within the framework of ESA's ISS projects (where Italy also fully participates).[10] China has reportedly expressed interest in the project, especially if it would be able to work with the RKA, although as of 2009 it is not involved.[11][12]
The space station is in a Low Earth Orbit, and can be seen from Earth with the naked eye. It orbits at an altitude of approximately 350 kilometres (220 mi; 190 nmi) above the surface of the Earth,[13][14][15] travelling at an average speed of 27,724 kilometres (17,227 mi) per hour, completing 15.7 orbits per day.[13]
The ISS has been continuously staffed since the first resident crew, Expedition 1, entered the station on 2 November 2000. This has provided a permanent human presence in space for the last 23 years, 203 days.[16] Prior to May 2009, the station had the capacity for a crew of three. However, to fulfil an active research programme, it is to be staffed by a resident crew of six beginning with Expedition 20 (which launched May 27, 2009 and will board the station on May 29, 2009). The crew of Expedition 19 is currently aboard.[17][18]
Early crew members all came from the Russian and American space programmes until German ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter joined the Expedition 13 crew in July 2006, becoming the first crew member from another space agency. The station has been visited by astronauts from 16 different nations, and it was the destination of the first six space tourists.[19]
Purpose
The International Space Station serves primarily as a research laboratory and is the largest ever launched into orbit.[7] The station offers an advantage over spacecraft such as NASA's Space Shuttle because it is a long-term platform in the space environment, allowing long-duration studies to be performed, both on specific experiments and on the human crews that operate them. Long-term expedition crews conduct science daily (approximately 160 man-hours a week),[20] across a wide variety of fields, including human research, life sciences, physical sciences, and Earth observation, as well as education and technology demonstrations.[21] As of June 2006, 90 science investigations had been conducted on the ISS over 64 months of continuous research. In addition, there have been nine research racks and more than 7,700 kg (17,000 lb) of research equipment and facilities launched to the station. Scientific findings, in fields ranging from basic science to exploration research, are being published every month.[22]
The ISS also provides a testing location for efficient, reliable spacecraft systems that will be required for long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars, allowing for equipment to be evaluated in the relatively safe location of Low Earth Orbit. This provides experience in maintaining, repairing, and replacing systems on-orbit, which will be essential in operating spacecraft further from Earth. This aspect of ISS operations reduces mission risks, and advances the capabilities of interplanetary spacecraft.[22]
Finally, in addition to the scientific and research aspects of the station, there are numerous opportunities for educational outreach and international cooperation. The crews of the ISS provide educational opportunities for students back home on Earth, including student-developed experiments, educational demonstrations, student participation in classroom versions of ISS experiments, NASA investigator experiments, and ISS engineering activities. The ISS programme itself, and the international cooperation that it represents, allows 14 nations to live and work together in space, providing important lessons that can be taken forward into future multi-national missions.[23]
Scientific research
One of the main goals of the ISS is to provide a place to conduct experiments that require one or more of the unusual conditions present on the station. The main fields of research include biology, physics, astronomy, and meteorology.[24][25] The 2005 NASA Authorization Act designated the US segment of the International Space Station as a national laboratory with a goal to increase the utilisation of the ISS by other Federal entities and the private sector.[26]
One research goal is to improve the understanding of long-term space exposure on the human body. Subjects currently being studied include muscle atrophy, bone loss, and fluid shifts. The data obtained from these studies will be used to make space colonisation and lengthy space travel feasible. At the present time, current levels of bone loss and muscular atrophy would pose a significant risk of fractures and movement problems if astronauts landed on a planet following a lengthy space cruise.[27]
The effect of near-weightlessness on non-human subjects is being considered as well. Researchers are investigating the relation of the near-weightless environment of outer space to evolution, development and growth, and the internal processes of plants and animals. In response to some of this data, NASA wants to investigate microgravity's effects on the growth of three-dimensional, human-like tissues, and the unusual protein crystals that can be formed in space.[24]
Researchers are investigating the physics of fluids in microgravity, enabling them to better model the behaviour of fluids in the future. Due to the ability to almost completely combine fluids in microgravity, physicists are interested in investigating the combinations of fluids that will not normally mix well on Earth. In addition, by examining reactions that are slowed down by low gravity and temperatures, scientists also hope to gain new insight regarding superconductivity.[24]
Other areas of interest include the effect of the low gravity environment on combustion, studying the efficiency of burning and control of emissions & pollutants. These findings may improve our understanding of energy production, and in turn have an economic and environmental impact. There are also plans to use the ISS to examine aerosols, ozone, water vapour, and oxides in Earth's atmosphere, as well as cosmic rays, cosmic dust, antimatter, and dark matter in the universe.[24]
One component assisting in these various studies is the ExPRESS Logistics Carrier (ELC). Developed by NASA, there are currently 4 of these units set to be launched to the ISS. As currently envisioned, the ELCs will be delivered on two separate Space Shuttle missions. They will allow experiments to be deployed and conducted in the vacuum of space, and will provide the necessary electricity and computing to process experimental data locally. Delivery is currently scheduled for STS-129 in November 2009, and STS-133 in May 2010.[28]
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), a particle physics experiment, is also scheduled to be added to the station. This device will be launched on STS-134 in 2010, and will be mounted externally on the Integrated Truss Structure. The AMS will search for various types of unusual matter by measuring cosmic rays. The experiments conducted will help researchers study the formation of the universe, and search for evidence of dark matter and antimatter.[29]
Origins
Originating during the Cold War, the International Space Station represents a union of several space station projects from various nations. During the early 1980s, NASA had planned to launch a modular space station called Freedom as a counterpart to the Soviet Salyut and Mir space stations. In addition, the Soviets were planning a replacement for Mir to be constructed during the 1990s called Mir-2.[30] Due to budgetary and design constraints, however, Freedom never progressed past mock-ups and minor component tests.
With the fall of the Soviet Union ending the Cold War and Space Race, Freedom was nearly canceled by the United States House of Representatives. The post-Soviet economic chaos in Russia also led to the eventual cancellation of Mir-2, with only the base block of that station, DOS-8, having been constructed.[30] Similar difficulties were being faced by the U.S. and other nations with plans for space stations. This prompted U.S. administration officials to start negotiations with partners in Europe, Russia, Japan, and Canada in the early 1990s to begin a collaborative, multi-national, space station project.[30]
In June 1992, U.S. president George H. W. Bush and Russian president Boris Yeltsin agreed to cooperate on space exploration by signing the 'Agreement between the United States of America and the Russian Federation Concerning Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes'. This agreement called for setting up a short, joint space programme, during which one U.S. astronaut would board the Russian space station Mir and two Russian cosmonauts would board a space shuttle.[30]
In September 1993, U.S. Vice-president Al Gore and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin announced plans for a new space station, which eventually became the International Space Station.[31] They also agreed, in preparation for this new project, that the US would be heavily involved in the Mir programme in the years ahead, as part of an agreement that later became the Shuttle-Mir Programme.[32]
The ISS programme was planned to combine the proposed space stations of all participating space agencies, including Freedom, Mir-2 (with DOS-8 later becoming Zvezda), ESA's Columbus, and the Japanese Kibō laboratory. When the first module, Zarya, was launched in 1998, the station was expected to be completed by 2003. Due to delays, however, the estimated completion date has been put back to 2011.[28]
Space station
Assembly and structure
The assembly of the International Space Station, a major aerospace engineering endeavour, began in November 1998. As of March 2009 the station is approximately 81% complete.[3]
The first segment of the ISS, Zarya, was launched into orbit on 20 November 1998 on a Russian Proton rocket, followed two weeks later by the first of three 'node' modules, Unity, launched aboard STS-88. This bare 2-module core of the ISS remained unmanned for the next one and a half years until the Russian module Zvezda was added in July 2000, allowing a maximum crew of three people to occupy the ISS continuously. The first resident crew, Expedition 1, was sent later that year in November. The year 2000 also saw the arrival of two segments of the station's Integrated Truss Structure, the Z1 and P6 trusses, providing the embryonic station with communications, guidance, electrical grounding (on Z1), and power via a pair of solar array wings, located on the P6 truss.[33]
Over the next two years the station continued to expand with a Soyuz rocket delivering the Pirs docking compartment. Space Shuttles Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour delivered the Destiny laboratory and Quest airlock to orbit, in addition to the station's robot arm Canadarm2, and several more segments of the truss structure.[33]
The expansion schedule was brought to an abrupt halt, however, following the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-107 in 2003. The resulting hiatus in the Space Shuttle programme halted station assembly until the launch of Discovery on STS-114 in 2005.[34]
The official return to assembly was marked by the arrival of Atlantis, flying STS-115, delivering the station's second set of solar arrays. These were later followed by several more truss segments and a third set of arrays on STS-116, STS-117, and STS-118. This major expansion of the station's power generating capabilities meant that more pressurised modules could be accommodated, and as a result the Harmony node and Columbus European laboratory were added. These were followed shortly after by the first two components of Kibō, the Japanese Experiment Module. In March 2009, STS-119 marked the completion of the Integrated Truss Structure with the installation of the last and fourth set of solar arrays.[33]
As of March 2009, the station consisted of ten pressurised modules and the complete Integrated Truss Structure. Awaiting launch is the final section of Kibō, the third and final American node, Tranquility, the European Robotic Arm and several Russian modules. Also awaiting launch is the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), which is scheduled for launch on what is currently manifested as the final space shuttle flight, STS-134, in September 2010. Assembly is expected to be completed by 2011, by which point the station will have a mass in excess of 400 metric tons (440 short tons).[3][28]
Pressurised modules
When completed, the ISS will consist of fourteen pressurised modules with a combined volume of around 1,000 m³. These modules include laboratories, docking compartments, airlocks, nodes and living quarters. Ten of these components are already in orbit, with the remaining four awaiting launch. Each module was or will be launched either by the Space Shuttle, Proton rocket or Soyuz rocket.[33]
Module | Assembly mission | Launch date | Launch system | Nation | Isolated View | Station View |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Zarya (FGB) | 1A/R | 20 November 1998 | Proton-K | Russia (Builder) US (Financier) |
||
Provided electrical power, storage, propulsion, and guidance during initial assembly. Now serves as a storage module, both inside the pressurised section and in the externally mounted fuel tanks.[35] | ||||||
Unity (Node 1) | 2A | 4 December 1998 | Space Shuttle Endeavour, STS-88 | US | ||
The first 'node' module, connecting the American section of the station to the Russian section (via PMA-1), and providing berthing locations for the Z1 truss, Quest airlock, Destiny laboratory and Tranquility.[36] | ||||||
Zvezda (Service Module) | 1R | 12 July 2000 | Proton-K | Russia | ||
The station's service module, which provides the main living quarters for resident crews, environmental systems and attitude and orbit control. It also provides docking locations for Soyuz spacecraft, Progress spacecraft and the Automated Transfer Vehicle. The addition of the module rendered the ISS permanently habitable for the first time.[37] | ||||||
Destiny (US Laboratory) | 5A | 7 February 2001 | Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS-98 | US | ||
The primary research facility for US payloads aboard the ISS. Destiny provides a research facility for general experiments with space for 24 International Standard Payload Racks, some of which are used for environmental systems and crew daily living equipment. Destiny features a 20-inch (51 cm) optically perfect window, the largest such window ever produced for use in space, and serves as the mounting point for most of the station's Integrated Truss Structure.[38][39] | ||||||
Quest (Joint Airlock) | 7A | 12 July 2001 | Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS-104 | US | ||
The primary airlock for the ISS, hosting spacewalks with both US EMU and Russian Orlan spacesuits. Quest consists of two segments, the equipment lock that stores spacesuits and equipment, and the crew lock from which astronauts can exit into space.[40] | ||||||
Pirs (Docking Compartment) | 4R | 14 September 2001 | Soyuz-U | Russia | ||
Pirs provides the ISS with additional docking ports for Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, and allows egress and ingress for spacewalks by cosmonauts using Russian Orlan spacesuits, in addition to providing storage space for these spacesuits.[41] | ||||||
Harmony (Node 2) | 10A | 23 October 2007 | Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-120 | Europe (Builder) US (Financier) |
||
The second of the station's node modules, Harmony is the utility hub of the ISS. The module contains four racks that provide electrical power, bus electronic data, and acts as a central connecting point for several other components via its six Common Berthing Mechanisms (CBMs). The European Columbus and Japanese Kibō laboratories are permanently berthed to the module, and US Space Shuttle Orbiters dock to the ISS via PMA-2, attached to Harmony's front port. In addition, the module serves as a berthing port for the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules during logistics flights.[42] | ||||||
Columbus (European Laboratory) | 1E | 7 February 2008[43] | Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS-122 | Europe | ||
The primary research facility for European payloads aboard the ISS, Columbus provides a generic laboratory as well as facilities specifically designed for biology, biomedical research and fluid physics. Several mounting locations are affixed to the exterior of the module, which provide power and data to external experiments such as the European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF), Solar Monitoring Observatory, Materials International Space Station Experiment, and Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space. A number of expansions are planned to study quantum physics and cosmology.[44] | ||||||
Experiment Logistics Module (JEM-ELM) | 1J/A | 11 March 2008 | Space Shuttle Endeavour, STS-123 | Japan | ||
Part of the Kibō Japanese Experiment Module laboratory, the ELM provides storage and transportation facilities to the laboratory, with a pressurised section to serve internal payloads and an unpressurised section to serve external payloads.[45] | ||||||
Japanese Pressurised Module (JEM-PM) | 1J | 31 May 2008 | Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-124 | Japan | ||
Part of the Kibō Japanese Experiment Module laboratory, the PM is the core module of Kibō to which the ELM and Exposed Facility are berthed. The laboratory is the largest single ISS module and contains a total of 23 racks, including 10 experiment racks. The module is used to carry out research in space medicine, biology, Earth observations, materials production, biotechnology, and communications research. The PM also serves as the mounting location for an external platform, the Exposed Facility (EF), that allows payloads to be directly exposed to the harsh space environment. The EF is serviced by the module's own robotic arm, the JEM-RMS, which is also mounted on the PM.[45][46] | ||||||
Scheduled to be launched | ||||||
Module | Assembly mission | Launch date | Launch system | Nation | Isolated View | Station View |
Mini-Research Module 2 | 5R | 10 November 2009 | Soyuz-FG | Russia | ||
This Russian component of the ISS, MRM2 will be used for docking of Soyuz and Progress ships, as an airlock for spacewalks and as an interface for scientific experiments.[47] | ||||||
Tranquility (Node 3) |
20A | c. February 2010 | Space Shuttle Endeavour, STS-130 | Europe (Builder) US (Financier) |
||
The last of the station's US nodes, Tranquility will contain an advanced life support system to recycle wastewater for crew use and generate oxygen for the crew to breathe. The node also provides four berthing locations for more attached pressurised modules or crew transportation vehicles, in addition to the permanent berthing location for the station's Cupola.[48][49] | ||||||
Cupola | 20A | c. February 2010 | Space Shuttle Endeavour, STS-130 | Europe (Builder) US (Financier) |
||
The Cupola is an observatory module that will provide ISS crew members with a direct view of robotic operations and docked spacecraft, as well as an observation point for watching the Earth. The module will come equipped with robotic workstations for operating the SSRMS and shutters to prevent its windows from being damaged by micrometeorites.[50] | ||||||
Mini-Research Module 1 | ULF4 | c. May 2010 | Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS-132 | Russia | ||
MRM1 will be used for docking and cargo storage aboard the station.[28] | ||||||
Multipurpose Laboratory Module | 3R | c. December 2011 | Proton-M | Russia | ||
The MLM will be Russia's primary research module as part of the ISS and will be used for general microgravity experiments, docking, and cargo logistics. The module provides a crew work and rest area, and will be equipped with a backup attitude control system that can be used to control the station's attitude.[28][51] |
Cancelled modules
Several planned pressurised modules have been cancelled, including the Centrifuge Accommodations Module,[52] for producing varying levels of artificial gravity, the Habitation Module, which was to serve as the station's living quarters (sleep stations are now spread throughout the station),[53] and several Russian modules, including two Russian Research Modules, planned to be used for general experimentation.[54]
Power supply
The source of electrical power for the ISS is the Sun. Light is converted into electricity through the use of solar arrays. Before assembly flight 4A (space shuttle mission STS-97, launched 30 November 2000) the only power sources were the Russian solar panels attached to the Zarya and Zvezda modules. The Russian segment of the station uses 28 volts DC, as does the space shuttle. In the remainder of the station, electricity is provided by the solar arrays attached to the truss at a voltage ranging from 130 to 180 volts DC. These arrays are arranged as four pairs of wings, and each pair is capable of generating nearly 32.8 kW of DC power.[55]
Power is stabilised and distributed at 160 volts DC before being converted to the user-required 124 volts DC. This high-voltage distribution line allows for smaller power lines, thus reducing weight. Power can be shared between the two segments of the station using converters. This feature has become essential since the cancellation of the Russian Science Power Platform, because the Russian segment now depends on the US-built solar arrays for power.[56]
The solar arrays normally track the Sun to maximise the amount of solar power. Each array is about 375 m² (450 yd²) in area and 58 metres (190 ft) long. In the complete configuration, the solar arrays track the sun in each orbit by rotating the alpha gimbal, while the beta gimbal adjusts for the angle of the sun from the orbital plane. Until the main truss structure arrived, the arrays were in a temporary position perpendicular to the final orientation. In this configuration, as shown in the image to the right, the beta gimbal was used for the main solar tracking. Another tracking option, the Night Glider mode, can be used to reduce the effects of drag produced by the tenuous upper atmosphere, through which the station flies, by orienting the solar arrays edgewise to the velocity vector.[57]
Attitude control
The attitude (orientation) of the station is maintained by either of two mechanisms. Normally, a system using several control moment gyroscopes (CMGs) keeps the station oriented, with Destiny forward of Unity, the P truss on the port side, and Pirs on the earth-facing (nadir) side. When the CMG system becomes saturated—a situation whereby a CMG exceeds its operational range or cannot track a series of rapid movements—it can lose its ability to control station attitude.[58] In this event, the Russian attitude control system is designed to take over automatically, using thrusters to maintain station attitude, allowing the CMG system to desaturate. This scenario has only occurred once, during Expedition 10.[59] When a space shuttle is docked to the station, it can also be used to maintain station attitude. This procedure was used during STS-117 as the S3/S4 truss was being installed.[60]
Altitude control
The ISS is maintained at an orbit from a minimum altitude of 278 km (173 mi) to a maximum of 460 km (286 mi). The normal maximum limit is 425 km (264 mi) to allow Soyuz rendezvous missions. As the ISS constantly loses altitude because of slight atmospheric drag, it needs to be boosted to a higher altitude several times each year.[61] These effects vary from day-to-day, however, because of changes in the density of the outer atmosphere caused by changes in solar activity.[2] This reboost can be performed by the station's two main engines on the Zvezda service module, a docked space shuttle, a Progress resupply vessel, or by ESA's ATV. It takes approximately two orbits (three hours) to be boosted several kilometres higher.[61]
Microgravity
At the station's orbital altitude, the gravity from the Earth is 88% of that at sea level. The state of weightlessness is caused by the constant free fall of the ISS. Due to the equivalence principle, free fall is indiscernible from a state of zero gravity, however the environment on the station is instead often described as microgravity, as it is imperfect due to four effects:[62]
- The drag resulting from the residual atmosphere.
- Vibratory acceleration caused by mechanical systems and the crew on board the ISS.
- Orbital corrections by the on-board gyroscopes (or thrusters).
- The spatial separation from the real centre of mass of the ISS—any part of the ISS not at the exact centre of mass will tend to follow its own orbit. However, as each point is physically part of the station, this is impossible, and so each component is subject to small accelerations from the forces which keep them attached to the station as it orbits.[62]
Life support
The ISS Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) provides or controls elements such as atmospheric pressure, fire detection and suppression, oxygen levels, and water supply. The highest priority for the ECLSS is the ISS atmosphere, but the system also collects, processes, and stores waste and water produced and used by the crew. This process includes recycling fluid from the sink, shower, toilet, and condensation from the air. The Elektron system aboard Zvezda and a similar oxygen generation system in Destiny generate oxygen aboard the station.[63] If required, the crew has a backup option in the form of bottled oxygen and Solid Fuel Oxygen Generation (SFOG) canisters.[64] Carbon dioxide is removed from the air by the Vozdukh system in Zvezda. Other by-products of human metabolism, such as methane from the intestines and ammonia from sweat, are removed by activated charcoal filters.[64]
The atmosphere on board the ISS is maintained to have a composition similar to that of the Earth's atmosphere.[65] Normal air pressure on the ISS is 101.3 kPa (14.7 psi),[66] the same as at sea level on Earth.
Sightings
Because of the size of the International Space Station (about that of an American football field) and the large reflective area offered by its solar panels, ground based observation of the station is possible with the naked eye if the observer is in the right location at the right time—in many cases, the station is one of the brightest naked-eye objects in the sky, although it is visible only for brief periods of time, ranging from two to five minutes.[67][68]
In order to view the station, the following conditions need to be fulfilled, assuming the weather is clear: The station must be above the observer's horizon, and it must pass within about 2000 km of the observing site (the closer the better); it must be dark enough at the observer's location for stars to be visible; and the station must be in sunlight rather than in the Earth's shadow. It is common for the third condition to begin or end during what would otherwise be a good viewing opportunity. In the evening, this will cause the station to suddenly fade and disappear as it moves further from the dusk, going from west to east. In the reverse situation, it may suddenly appear in the sky as it approaches the dawn.[67][69]
Politics and financing
As a multinational project, the legal and financial aspects of the ISS are complex. Issues of concern include the ownership of modules, station utilisation by participating nations, and responsibilities for station resupply. The main legal document establishing obligations and rights between the ISS partners is the Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA). This international treaty was signed on 28 January 1998 by the primary nations involved in the Space Station project: the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.[70] This set the stage for a second layer of agreements, called Memoranda of Understanding (MOU), between NASA and ESA, CSA, RKA and JAXA. These agreements are then further split, such as for the contractual obligations between nations, and trading of partners rights and obligations.[70] Use of the Russian Orbital Segment is also negotiated at this level.[71]
Hardware allocation within the other sections of the station has been assigned as follows:
- Columbus: 51% for ESA, 46.7% for NASA and 2.3% for CSA.[70]
- Kibō: 51% for JAXA, 46.7% for NASA and 2.3% for CSA.[72]
- Destiny: 97.7% for NASA and 2.3% for CSA.[73]
- Crew time, electrical power and rights to purchase supporting services (such as data upload and download and communications) are divided 76.6% for NASA, 12.8% for JAXA, 8.3% for ESA, and 2.3% for CSA.[70][72][73]
In addition to these main intergovernmental agreements, Brazil has a contract with NASA to supply hardware. In return, NASA will fly one Brazilian to the station during the ISS programme.[9] Italy also has a separate contract with NASA to provide similar services, although Italy also takes part in the programme directly via its membership in the ESA.[10]
The most cited figure of an overall cost estimate for the ISS ranges from 35 billion to 100 billion USD.[74] ESA, the only agency actually stating potential overall costs, estimates €100 billion for the entire station over a period of 30 years.[75] Giving a precise cost estimate for the ISS is not straightforward, as it is difficult to determine which costs should actually be attributed to the ISS programme, or how the Russian contribution should be measured.[74]
End of mission/deorbit plans
A report in late May 2009 stated that RKK Energia has been asked to look at ways to remove the Russian modules from the station when the "end of mission" is reached some time between 2015 and 2020. NASA has responsibility for de-orbit and is said to intend this around 2020. As the Russian modules have the motors that would be used for controlled de-orbit, this poses a potential issue if Russia taken that capability to a new, on-going station. Other options include using a European Automated Transfer Vehicle. One option stated for an ongoing station is for Russia to build a ball-shaped, six-port module to which existing modules could be attached. Later modules would also be launched to provide a Russian outpost for later missions to the Moon and Mars. The report quotes an unnamed Russian engineer stated that experience from Mir indicates that, except for micrometeorite damage, a thirty year life should be possible, given that the Russian modules have been built with on-orbit refurbishment in mind.[76]
Life on board
Expeditions
Each permanent station crew is given a sequential Expedition number: Expedition 1, Expedition 2, and so on. Expeditions have an average duration of half a year, and they commence following the official handover of the station from one Expedition commander to another. Expeditions 1 through 6 consisted of three person crews, but the Columbia accident led to a reduction to two crew members from Expeditions 7 to 12. Expedition 13 saw the restoration of the station crew to three, and the station has been permanently staffed as such since. Whilst only three crew members are permanently on the station, however, several expeditions, such as Expedition 16, have consisted of up to six individual astronauts or cosmonauts, with individuals being flown up and down to the station on various individual flights.[77][78]
As of 26 March 2009, the current expedition to ISS is Expedition 19, which is planned to be the final three member expedition to the station. Following the arrival of Expedition 20, the station will be staffed by a resident crew of six, following expansion of the station's living volume and capabilities from STS-115 onwards.[77][78]
The International Space Station is the most-visited spacecraft in the history of space flight. As of 17 November 2008, it has had 213 non-distinct visitors comprising 167 individual people.[7] Mir had 137 non-distinct visitors.[30]
Crew schedule
The time zone used on board the ISS is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC, sometimes informally called GMT). The windows are covered at night hours to give the impression of darkness because the station experiences 16 sunrises and sunsets a day. During visiting space shuttle missions, the ISS crew will mostly follow the shuttle's Mission Elapsed Time (MET), which is a flexible time zone based on the launch time of the shuttle mission.[79][80] Because the sleeping periods between the UTC time zone and the MET usually differ, the ISS crew often has to adjust its sleeping pattern before the space shuttle arrives and after it leaves to shift from one time zone to the other in a practice known as sleep shifting.[81]
A typical day for the crew begins with a wake-up at 06:00, followed by post-sleep activities and a morning inspection of the station. The crew then breakfasts and takes part in a daily planning conference with Mission Control on the ground before starting work at around 08:10. The first scheduled exercise of the day follows, after which the crew continues work until 13:05. Following a one-hour lunch break, the afternoon consists of more exercise and work before the crew carries out its pre-sleep activities beginning at 19:30, including dinner and a crew conference. The scheduled sleep period begins at 21:30, when the daily schedule is complete. In general, the crew works 10 hours per day on a weekday, and 5 hours on Saturdays, with the rest of the time being their own for relaxation, games or work catch-up.[82]
Station operations
Mission control centres
As an international project, the various components of the ISS are operated and monitored by their respective space agencies at various control centres across the globe, including:
- NASA's Mission Control Center at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, serves as the primary control facility for the US segment of the ISS, and also controls the various Space Shuttle missions that visit the station.[83]
- NASA's Payload Operations and Integration Center at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, serves as the centre that coordinates all payload operations in the US Segment.[83]
- Roskosmos's TsUP at Korolyov, Moscow, controls the Russian Orbital Segment of the ISS, in addition to individual Soyuz and Progress missions.[83]
- ESA's Columbus Control Centre at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, controls the European Columbus research laboratory.[83]
- ESA's ATV Control Centre, at the Toulouse Space Centre (CST) in Toulouse, France, controls flights of the unmanned European Automated Transfer Vehicle.[83]
- JAXA's JEM Control Centre and HTV Control Centre at Tsukuba Space Centre (TKSC) in Tsukuba, Japan, are responsible for operating the Japanese Experiment Module complex and all flights of the unmanned Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle respectively.[83]
- CSA's MSS Control at Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada, controls and monitors the Mobile Servicing System, or Canadarm2.[83]
Visiting spacecraft
Spacecraft from three different space agencies visit the International Space Station, serving a variety of purposes. The Automated Transfer Vehicle from the European Space Agency has provided resupply services to the station. Also serving the station in this capacity is the Russian Roskosmos Progress spacecraft. In addition, Russia also supplies a Soyuz spacecraft, used for crew rotation and emergency evacuation, which is replaced every six months. Finally, the United States services the ISS through its Space Shuttle programme. Space shuttle missions provide resupply missions, assembly and logistics flights, and crew rotation. As of 28 March 2009, there have been 18 Soyuz, 32 Progress, 1 ATV and 28 Space Shuttle flights to the station.[1] Expeditions require, on average, 2,722 kg of supplies, and as of 28 March 2009, crews had consumed a total of 19,000 meals.[1] Soyuz crew rotation flights and Progress resupply flights visit the station on average twice three times annually respectively,[84] with the ATV planned to visit annually from 2010 onwards.
As of 6 May 2009,[84] there is one spacecraft docked with the ISS:
- Soyuz TMA-14 is at the Zvezda Service Module's aft docking port. The spacecraft has brought two members of Expedition 19, Russian Commander Gennady Padalka and American Flight Engineer Michael R. Barratt, to the station, in addition to Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi.[85]
- Progress 33 is at the Pirs Docking Compartment's nadir docking port. The spacecraft has brought new supplies for the Expeditions 19 and 20. It currently is used as a trash can of the ISS.
Throughout the remainder of the station's operating life, a variety of spacecraft by various ISS program members are planned with the intent to service the ISS. Currently under construction and planned for operation in 2009, is the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), which is intended as a resupply vehicle for the JAXA Kibō modules.[28] Still in initial funding stages is the Russian Kliper spacecraft, which, if it comes to fruition in 2012 as planned, is intended as a replacement of the Soyuz spacecraft. Being designed at this moment is the American Orion spacecraft, with plans to launch starting from 2014 as another resupply spacecraft and provide crew rotation. In hopes of bridging the gap between the Space Shuttle and Orion, NASA has started the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program to develop commercial spacecraft services dedicated to the station.[86][87]
Space tourism
As of 2008, six space tourists have visited the ISS, each paying around US$25 million. The tourists, or Spaceflight participants, were launched and returned via Russian crew rotation missions on Soyuz spacecraft. The last space tourist flight to the ISS took place in April 2009. After that, the station will be upgraded to a 6-person permanent crew, meaning that no more Soyuz seats will be available to Space Adventures, the company which runs the visits.[88]
Other projects
- Japanese scientists and origami masters propose to launch a flotilla of paper planes from the ISS in early 2009. The mission will take place during STS-127.[89] Around 30 planes will make the descent, each gliding downward over what is expected to be the course of several months. If one of the planes survives to Earth, it will have made the longest flight ever by a paper plane, traversing some 400 km (250 mi), and will have demonstrated the feasibility of slow-speed, low-friction atmospheric reentry. A prototype of the origami aeroplane passed a durability test in a wind tunnel in March 2008, and Japan's space agency adopted it for feasibility studies.[90]
- During an EVA in Expedition 14, a special golf ball equipped with a tracking device was hit from the station and sent into its own low Earth orbit. The stunt was paid for by a Canadian golf equipment manufacturer.[91]
- The ISS was the location for the first space wedding, during which Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, flying Expedition 7, married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, who was in Texas at the time.[92]
Notes
a. ^ Name of the ISS in the languages of participating countries:
- Danish: Den Internationale Rumstation
- Dutch: Internationaal ruimtestation
- English: International Space Station
- French: Station spatiale internationale
- German: Internationale Raumstation
- Italian: Stazione Spaziale Internazionale
- Japanese: 国際宇宙ステーション (Kokusai uchū sutēshon)
- Norwegian: Den internasjonale romstasjonen
- Portuguese: Estação Espacial Internacional
- Russian: Международная космическая станция (Myezhdunarodnaya kosmichyeskaya stantsiya)
- Spanish: Estación Espacial Internacional
- Swedish: Internationella rymdstationen
b. ^ Ten European countries are participating: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Austria, Finland, and Ireland chose not to participate, the United Kingdom withdrew from the preliminary agreement, and Portugal, Greece, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic joined ESA after the agreement had been signed.[8]
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External links
- Official International Space Station webpages of the participating space agencies
- NASA
- Roskosmos (in Russian)
- RKK Energia (in English)
- Canadian Space Agency
- European Space Agency
- Japanese Space Agency
- Italian Space Agency
- Brazilian Space Agency
- Interactive/Multimedia
- NASA's ISS interactive reference guide
- NASA's ISS image gallery search page
- Current position of the ISS
- ISS WebCam
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