International Space Station

▪ space station

  space station assembled in low Earth orbit largely by the United States and Russia, with assistance and components from a multinational consortium.

 The project, which began as an American effort, was long delayed by funding and technical problems. Originally called Freedom in the 1980s by President Ronald Reagan (Reagan, Ronald W.), who authorized the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to build it within 10 years, it was redesigned in the 1990s to reduce costs and expand international involvement, at which time it was renamed. In 1993 the United States and Russia agreed to merge their separate space station plans into a single facility integrating their respective modules and incorporating contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan.

   Assembly of the ISS began with the launches of the Russian control module Zarya on Nov. 20, 1998, and the U.S.-built Unity connecting node the following month, which were linked in orbit by U.S. space shuttle astronauts. In mid-2000 the Russian-built module Zvezda, a habitat and control centre, was added, and on November 2 of that year the ISS received its first resident crew, comprising two Russians and an American, who flew up in a Soyuz spacecraft. A NASA microgravity laboratory called Destiny and other elements were subsequently joined to the station, with the overall plan calling for the assembly, over a period of several years, of a complex of laboratories and habitats crossed by a long truss supporting four units that held large solar-power arrays and thermal radiators. Aside from the United States and Russia, station construction involved Canada, Japan, Brazil, and 11 ESA members. Russian modules were carried into space by Russian expendable launch vehicles, after which they automatically rendezvoused with and docked to the ISS. Other elements were ferried up by space shuttle and assembled in orbit during space walks. Both shuttles and Russian Soyuz spacecraft transported people to and from the station, and a Soyuz remained docked to the ISS at all times as a “lifeboat.”

 Much of the early research work by ISS astronauts was to focus on long-term life-sciences and material-sciences investigations in the weightless environment. After the breakup of the space shuttle orbiter Columbia in February 2003, the shuttle fleet was grounded, which effectively halted expansion of the station. Meanwhile, the crew was reduced from three to two, and their role was restricted mainly to caretaker status, limiting the amount of science that could be done. Crews flew up to and returned from the ISS in Soyuz spacecraft, and the station was serviced by automated Progress ferries.

 After the shuttle resumed regular flights in 2006, the ISS crew size was increased to three. Construction resumed in September of that year, with the addition of a pair of solar wings and a thermal radiator. The European-built American node, Harmony, was placed on the end of Destiny in October 2007. Harmony has a docking port for the space shuttle and connecting ports for a European laboratory, Columbus, and a Japanese laboratory, Kibo. In February 2008 Columbus was mounted on Harmony's starboard side. Columbus was Europe's first long-duration manned space laboratory and contained experiments in such fields as biology and fluid dynamics. In the following month, an improved variant of the Ariane V rocket launched Europe's heaviest spacecraft, the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), which carried 7,700 kg (17,000 pounds) of supplies to the ISS. Also in March 2008 shuttle astronauts brought the Canadian robot, Dextre, which was so sophisticated that it would be able to perform tasks that previously would have required astronauts to make spacewalks, and the first part of Kibo. In June 2008 the main part of Kibo was installed. An external platform was scheduled to be attached to the far end of Kibo in 2009. Also in 2009 the ISS will begin hosting a six-person crew, which will require two Soyuz lifeboats to be docked with the ISS at all times. In 2009 a third node will be installed, and mounted on this will be a cupola, whose robotic work station and many windows will better enable astronauts to supervise external operations. After the completion of the ISS, the shuttle will be retired from service. Thereafter the ISS will be serviced by Russia's Progress, Europe's ATV, and a variety of commercial cargo vehicles that are currently under development in the United States. Until NASA's Orion (Constellation program) spacecraft launches in 2015, astronauts will use Soyuz spacecraft to reach the ISS.

David M. Harland

 

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