About the International Space Station Alpha
International space station Alpha
The International Space Station program promises a new era of space exploration
and space-based scientific research, and will come to fruition through an
unprecedented level of international cooperation. When complete, the Space
Station will be permanently occupied by a crew of six, and it is anticipated
that it will remain fully operational for ten years following its planned
completion in June, 2002.
Space Station facts
| Science
|
| Pressurized Laboratory Module:
|
7 -- European, Japanese, Russian, U.S.
|
| Microgravity (Mg) Environment:
|
All racks less than 2 Mg half less than 1 Mg
|
| Crew
|
| Habitation Module:
|
U.S.-built, contains galley, toilet, shower, sleep stations and medical
facilities
|
| Assured Crew Return:
|
Two vehicles at assembly complete
|
| Operations
|
| Assembly Flights:
|
21 U.S., 13 Russian, 1 ESA
|
| Orbit:
|
220 miles altitude, 51.6 degree
|
| Power:
|
110 kilowatts average annual power
|
| Ground Control:
|
Mission Control in Houston
|
| Ops Language:
|
English
|
| Crew Size:
|
Six
|
| Re-boost:
|
Four re-boost events per year
|
Development of the International Space Station (ISS) is proceeding apace
-- with teams around the globe preparing for first-element launch next
year.
Boeing is prime contractor to NASA for
the design, development and on-orbit performance of the U.S. components
of the International Space Station. This unique orbiting laboratory --
which will enable beneficial scientific research that cannot be performed
on Earth -- will be placed in orbit beginning in late 1997.
The International Space Station is the largest and most ambitious space
program since the Apollo moon landings -- and the largest peaceful, scientific
joint effort among nations in history. In addition to its science value,
the successful assembly and operation of the station is in many respects
the essential prerequisite to an eventual mission to Mars by a human crew.
Boeing and NASA in 1995 signed a $5.63 billion prime contract for the Space
Station. Under it, Boeing directs an international contractor team that
includes McDonnell Douglas Aerospace,
Rocketdyne division of Rockwell
International, Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and
a host of smaller firms from coast to coast. The unprecedented international
effort involves the early and significant participation of the Russian
Space Agency (RSA), numerous nations of the European Space Agency (ESA),
and the space agencies of Canada (CSA) and Japan (NASDA).
Phase I shuttle flights nearing completion
U.S. astronaut living on Mir
While engineering teams on the ground continue manufacturing the components
that will make up the International Space Station in orbit, the space station
team already is enjoying successful Shuttle-to-Mir missions, despite the
complexity of the development effort, and the challenge of multi-national
relationships. Since being redesigned in 1993, the station has remained
within cost and schedule constraints set by Congress. Meanwhile, Phase
One of the program -- flights of the U.S. Space Shuttle to the Russian
Mir space station -- has enhanced confidence and renewed optimism about
the prospects for the program and the future of humans in space.
To date, the Space Shuttle has flown four times to Mir -- one rendezvous
mission and three docking flights. Astronaut Shannon Lucid currently is
living and working aboard Mir. This unprecedented level of cooperation
with Russia has yielded countless dividends, not the least of which is
the fine-tuning of a multi-national working relationship that must proceed
like clockwork during the daunting task of Space Station assembly. These
missions are providing joint flight experience and early scientific research.
Additional shuttle-to-Mir flights are scheduled through 1998.
Meanwhile, NASA has named the first two of three crewmembers to occupy
the International Space Station beginning in May 1998. It will include
U.S. astronaut Bill Shepherd and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev. They
will be launched to the Station aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur
cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
ISS program and flight status
The components that will be carried to space during the first four U.S.
assembly flights are in various stages of manufacture at sites around the
globe. Over the next several years, hundreds of thousands of pounds of
hardware will be shipped to launch sites for final checkout and assembly.
(Once on orbit, the station will weigh some 900,000 pounds and span an
area the size of one and three-quarters football fields.) In parallel with
development and construction of the International Space Station, NASA is
moving ahead with development of a suite of research facilities that will
equip the Station as a science and engineering research laboratory. The
pool of principal investigators (research scientists) who will use these
facilities has grown to almost 700 investigators and will exceed 900 by
the time the Space Station is completed in 2002. Planning and scheduling
efforts to ensure maximize scientific return once the Space Station begins
to function as a laboratory -- already are in full swing.
Countdown to Launch: Flight 1A/R
The Functional Energy Block -- called FGB from the Russian translation
-- will be the first element orbited during the construction of the International
Space Station. In 1995, Boeing and Russia's Khrunichev State Research and
Production Space Center signed a $190 million contract for all phases of
development and production of this spacecraft. This 20-ton pressurized
spacecraft will be launched on a Russian Proton rocket in November 1997.
The FGB module's outer shell was completed in April; secondary structures
and subsystems currently are being installed. Assembly of the flight article
will be complete this November and testing of subsystems -- electronics,
data management, etc. -- will begin. Once launched, the FGB will orbit
for nine days until the arrival of the Space Shuttle and the Boeing-built
node on the second flight (designated 2A).
Flight 2A
The node -- the second Space Station element in orbit -- is scheduled for
launch in December 1997. It will be outfitted with a Pressurized Mating
Adapter at both ends. One of these will join the node with the FGB. Subsequent
modules will be "docked" to radial ports -- berthing stations
circling the node at its girth.
Flight 3A
On this third U.S. assembly flight, scheduled for June 1998, the shuttle
brings up the first segment (designated Z1) of the Space Station's "truss"
structure. Also orbited are a third Pressurized Mating Adapter, parts of
the S-band communication system, the Ku-band antenna, gyroscopes to help
stabilize the station, and tools to assist space-walking astronauts (extravehicular
activity or EVA) with on-orbit assembly of components. During this flight,
the Shuttle crew will conduct four such space walks to attach components
to the station. The Z-1 truss is being fabricated by Rocketdyne. Qualification
units for the gyros and communication antennas are being fabricated by
McDonnell Douglas -- who also will complete welding of the Pressurized
Mating Adapter by the end of this year.
Flight 4A
This assembly flight will bring electrical power allowing increased production
of power -- up until now supplied entirely by the FGB -- as a shuttle crew
delivers the first of four huge photo-voltaic (solar cell) arrays. This
equipment will be attached in a temporary location on the truss until a
later assembly flight -- when it will be moved to a permanent location
on the truss. This mission is scheduled for September 1998.
Facts
| What new
| Building
| Assembly Flights |
Phases |
Futures |
Gallery
Main page
Back to my space page|
Back to my home page
