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International Space Station

Overview

The International Space Station (ISS) stands as a global partnership of sixteen nations. It orbits over two hundred miles above the earth's surface and, when completed, the million-pound space station will include six laboratories and provide more space for research than any spacecraft ever built. Internal volume of the space station will be roughly equal to the passenger cabin volume of a 747 jumbo jet.

International Space Station Reports

More than forty space flights over five years and at least three space vehicles-the US Space Shuttle, the Russian Soyuz rocket and the Russian Proton rocket-will deliver the various space station components to Earth orbit. Assembling all of these components requires a complex engineering effort that includes a combination of human space walks and robot technologies to assemble the more than one hundred space station parts.

The Soyuz spacecraft undocking from the International Space Station on October 31, 2001

As NASA describes it, the ISS "will provide an orbital laboratory for long-term research, where one of the fundamental forces of nature-gravity-is greatly reduced [and where] world class research in biology, chemistry, physics, ecology and medicine can be conducted using the most modern tools available." It aims to provide a venue for researchers from around the world to conduct experiments in microgravity, life science, space science, earth sciences, engineering research and technology, and commercial product development. To this end, the nations that are participating in the ISS are working to 1) Find solutions to crucial problems in medicine, ecology and other areas of science; 2) Lay the foundation for developing space-based commerce and enterprise; 3) Create greater worldwide demand for space-related education at all levels by cultivating the excitement, wonder and discovery that the ISS symbolizes; and 4) Foster world peace through high-profile, long-term international cooperation in space.

Assembly

Zarya, the first component of the International Space Station (ISS), launched flawlessly at 1:40 a.m. (EST) on November 20, 1998, from Kazahkstan. Atop a Russian Proton rocket, the Zarya Module was lifted into orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazahkstan.

The flight that began the construction of the ISS in space took place in November of 1998 when a Russian Proton rocket lifted off and placed the first module in orbit: the Russian-made Zarya module ("Zarya" means "sunrise" in Russian). In early December of that same year, the Space Shuttle Endeavour then attached the US-made Unity module to Zarya, thereby initiating the first ISS assembly sequence. In June of 1999, Space Shuttle Discovery supplied the two modules with tools and cranes, followed by the fourth and fifth flights, which put the Russian-made Zvezda Service Module in place, making it possible to house the station's first permanent crew. Zvezda docked with the station on July 25, 1999, and the station's first permanent crew arrived on November 2. The next major component to be put in was the US Destiny Laboratory Module, which arrived in February of 2001 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavor.

In March of 2001, the first crew rotation flight arrived, delivering the Expedition Two crew to the station and returning Expedition One to Earth, which had been on board the ISS for four and-a-half months. That same mission carried the first Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, Leonardo, to the station, which is a reusable cargo carrier built by the Italian Space Agency. Shuttle Mission 100 then delivered the station's robot arm, known as the Space Station Remote Manipulator System, and the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module in April. The delivery of the arm set the stage for the arrival of the station's joint airlock, which was installed during in July of 2001, followed by the mid-August arrival of the Expedition Three crew.

Cosmonaut Yury V. Usachev (center), Expedition Two mission commander, is flanked by the other crew members--astronauts James S. Voss and Susan J. Helms

ISS expansion continued with the arrival of the Russian Docking Compartment on Sept. 16, 2001, called Pirs, the Russian word for pier. In December of 2001, the Expedition Four crew was delivered to the ISS and the next mission is scheduled for March of 2002.

The United States and Russia have partnered in space together since 1994, performing nine dockings between the Space Shuttle and the Russian space station, Mir, during 1994-1998. The Shuttle-Mir program provided valuable insight for both sides and made an important contribution to US and Russian cooperation on the ISS.

International Partners

*United States*
	NASA is the initiator, integrator and leader of the international ISS effort. Its ISS hardware includes the truss structures that provide the station's framework, four pairs of large solar arrays, three nodes with ports for spacecraft and for passage to other ISS elements, and an airlock that accommodates U.S. and Russian space suits. NASA also is providing US Laboratory, Habitation and Centrifuge Accommodation modules. It has also funded construction of Russia's Control Module Zarya. Integrated services provided by the Agency will include power, communications and data services, thermal control, environmental control and life support, and crew health maintenance. NASA gyros will be at the heart of ISS position ("attitude") control.
*Russia*
	Rosaviacosmos is supplying about a third of the mass of the ISS in the form of a Service Module, Universal Docking Module, Science Power Platform, Docking Compartment and Research Modules. Russia's Service Module provides early living quarters for ISS crews, while its Universal Docking Module provides docking for both Russian and US space vehicles. Rosaviacosmos will provide logistics re-supply and station re-boosting with its Progress and other vehicles, as well as crew transfers on the Soyuz. Russia provided the first ISS element to be launched into orbit, Control Module Zarya, whose construction was funded by NASA.
*Japan*
	The National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) is providing the Japanese Experiment Module, Kibo ("Kibo" means "hope" in Japanese). It houses the Pressurized Module, Exposed Facility, a Remote Manipulator System, and an Experiment Logistic Module. The Space Shuttle began delivery of these elements in 2001. The Pressurized Module comprises a laboratory that can accommodate 10 racks for holding experiments. The Exposed Facility is an external platform for up to 10 unpressurized experiments in the vacuum of space. The 32-foot Remote Manipulator System is used for servicing the Exposed Facility system and changing payloads. And the Experiment Logistic Module will be used for pressurized and unpressurized logistics re-supply missions.
*Canada*
	The Quebec-based Canadian Space Agency is providing the Mobil Servicing System, a 55-foot, 125-ton capacity robotic arm called the "Space Station Remote Manipulator System," as well as a 12-foot "Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator" arm. The Mobil Servicing System will aid in ISS assembly and Maintenance. Canada also will supply the Space Vision System, a Space Shuttle-tested advanced camera that will assist Astronauts in viewing the Space Station Remote Manipulator System.
European Space Agency

	The European Space Agency is providing the Columbus Orbital Facility, the Automated Transfer Vehicle, and cooperation on development of the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle. It also is providing the European Robotic Arm for Russia's Science and Power Platform, and the Data Management System for the Service Module. The Columbus Orbital Facility will carry ten refrigerator-size "racks" for holding experiments, half of them European research projects. The Automated Transfer Vehicle will be used for logistics and propellant re-supply, as well as for re-boost of the ISS. It will be launched on an Ariane 5 rocket in 2003. The following are the European Partners on the ISS: Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy The Netherlands Norway Spain Sweden Switzerland The United Kingdom
*Italy*
	In addition to Italian participation in the European Space Agency's efforts, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) independently is providing three Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules. They will be used on the Space Shuttle to carry pressurized cargo and payloads to the ISS. The structural design of the Modules forms the basis for the design of the European Space Agency's Columbus Orbital Facility. The agency also will supply Nodes 2 and 3 to NASA.
*Brazil*
	Under the direction of the Brazilian Space Agency, the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) in San Jose dos Campos is providing six items that in essence constitute attachment devices and a pallet on which experiments and equipment will ride in Space Shuttle missions to the ISS. Brazil's "Technology Experiment Facility" will provide long-term space exposure for selected experiments, while "Window Observation Research Facility 2" will be devoted to observation and remote sensing development.
*All photographs courtesy NASA