International Space Station (ISS)
The International Space Station (ISS) is a research facility located in orbit around the Earth at an altitude of approximately 360 km (220 miles), a type of orbit usually termed low Earth orbit. It is a joint programme of five space agencies: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, United States), the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos, Russian Federation), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA, Japan), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA, Canada) and the European Space Agency (ESA, Europe), comprising 11 European countries.
The construction of the ISS started in November 1998 with the launch of the first section, “Zarya”, which provided electrical power, storage, propulsion, and guidance to the ISS for the initial stage of assembly.
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ISS December 1998 – Zarya (meaning “sunrise”) |
The construction is only expected to be completed in 2010. When fully completed, the ISS will consist of various science research modules supported by a truss structure. The truss structure will also provide support for the large solar arrays that will generate 110 kilowatts of power required by the station.
Interconnecting modules will allow for continuous access throughout these laboratories as well as logistic and support modules. Various docking and access/exit ports will allow access to the space station for visiting spacecraft as well as access to space for Extra Vehicular Activities (EVAs). The ISS will be the premiere research facility in space, and will be about four times larger than the Russian space station, Mir.
The mission of the ISS is to serve as a platform for Earth and space observation and where long term experiments in near zero gravity can be conducted.
The ISS will also serve as the gateway to new frontiers in human space exploration, a place where we can learn how to live and work "off planet." It will allow for the study of long-term effects of living in space on the human body and as a test bed to understand what adjustments need to be made to current methods before astronauts are sent to Mars and beyond. In addition, it will allow for critical research in fluids, combustion, life support systems and the radiation environment, which is needed for future human space exploration.
HISTORY
Russian background
With the loss of the moon race in 1969, the Russian government adopted the space station concept as the major direction for the Soviet manned program. Since then several generations of the Salyut, Almaz and finally Mir space stations had flown.
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Mir, which ended its service and de-orbited on March 23rd, 2001 |
US background
In 1972, Nixon administration approved the development of the reusable Space Shuttle as a main direction for the US manned space program. The Space Shuttle was envisioned as a cheap and reliable transportation system between Earth and low orbit. For NASA it meant the Space Shuttle would launch and service a space station -- the next "logical step" in the human exploration of space. However these dreams were stalled for years by the difficult birth of the Space Shuttle. Finally in 1984, President Reagan gave official green light to the ambitious project, which envisioned permanently manned space station by 1991.
The Co-operation
With the Cold War over, the Russian Space Agency proposed NASA to merge the US’ Freedom and the Russian’s Mir-2 projects. The inclusion of the Mir-2 core module into the Freedom design would allow early presence of the crew onboard, while the use of Progress cargo ships would provide much cheaper and reliable refueling and supply capabilities for the station, comparing to the use of the Space Shuttle. On Sept. 2 1993, Russian Prime Minister Victor Chernomurdin and US Vice President Al Gore signed an agreement to merge Freedom and Mir-2 projects. On November 20, 1998, the first section of the International Space Station, the Zarya Functional Cargo Block, which provided electrical power, storage, propulsion, and guidance to the ISS during the initial stage of assembly, was launched. Since then, over 50 flights to the ISS have been made including flights for assembly, crew rotation and logistical support.
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ISS as it appears now (December 2006) |
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How ISS will look like when completed |
ISS MISSIONS
The first manned mission to the ISS was by Expedition 1 in November 2000. Expedition 1 docked to the ISS on November 2, 2000, and consisted of U.S. astronaut William Shepherd and two Russian cosmonauts, Yuri Gidzenko, and Sergei Krikalev.
Until today, 15 crews had visited the ISS. The latest mission is Expedition 15, which arrived at the ISS on April 9, 2007.
Sources: http://www.angkasawan.com.my/mainatsb/atsb/humansspace.html
