International Space Station

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International Space Station

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INTRODUCTION
International Space Station (ISS), permanent habitable space station in low Earth orbit. The ISS is being jointly constructed by the United States through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and by Russia, with additional contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA), Canada, Japan, and Brazil. Assembly of the ISS in orbit began in 1998, with completion set for 2010. The primary purpose of the ISS is to conduct research in science, technology, and medicine in a nearly weightless environment. The ISS is also used to study the long-term effects of the space environment on humans and for training astronauts to live and work in space.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE ISS

The ISS orbits Earth at an average altitude of about 400 km (250 mi), reaching 51.6 degrees north and south of the equator. It can be seen as a brilliant moving point of light in the night sky from most of the inhabited world. Because of air drag from the thin outer edge of the atmosphere, the ISSs orbit gradually loses altitude. The station needs to be periodically boosted to a higher orbit by rocket engines on a Russian module segment of ISS or by a visiting space shuttle. A Russian Soyuz capsule is permanently attached to the ISS to allow the crew to return to Earth in case of an emergency. Sections of the ISS are carried to orbit either in the cargo bay of the space shuttle or atop Russian rockets. When complete, the ISS will have a mass of about 450 metric tons (about 1 million lbs) and will be 88.4 m (290 ft) long. The solar panels that provide power span 108.5 m (356 ft) and cover a greater area than a football field. A Canadian-built robot arm 17 m (55 ft) long moves around the outside, carrying out assembly and repair tasks. There are six planned laboratories housing research facilities: the U.S. Destiny module and a Centrifuge Accommodations Module (CAM); the Japanese Experiment Module Kibo; the European Space Agency laboratory Columbus; and two Russian research modules. The internal pressurized volume of the completed space station is equivalent to that of a 747 jumbo jet. Astronauts inside the ISS can live and work in a comfortable shirt-sleeve environment. Exercise equipment helps astronauts counteract bone and muscle loss from lack of gravity. Shielded portions of the station can protect humans against bursts of radiation from solar activity or other particles in space. Spacesuits permit the astronauts to leave the ISS and work on the outside, making repairs or installing new equipment. Crews of astronauts are ferried to the ISS aboard Russian capsules and the U.S. space shuttle. NASAs new Constellation program for human space flight will take astronauts to the ISS in the Orion capsule, launched on the Ares booster rocket. The ISS has special docking ports for the space shuttle and for piloted capsules that land back on Earth with parachutes. Unpiloted cargo vehicles regularly dock with the station, bringing up supplies such as food, water, fuel, and spare parts. The unpiloted vehicles also carry away waste and trash, burning up in Earths atmosphere on reentry.

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International Space Station

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III

RESEARCH CONDUCTED ON THE ISS

Both scientific and economic benefits are expected from the ISS. Complex experiments can be conducted more flexibly and reliably in space when human experimenters are present to control them. In particular, the ISS allows experiments to be conducted in a virtually weightless environment unattainable on Earth. The orbital velocity of the ISS matches the acceleration of Earths gravity for objects inside the station, carrying them along in free fall. Although they float, objects in reality experience microgravity rather than true zero gravity. The edge of the atmosphere slows the orbiting ISS a tiny amount, causing objects inside to feel about one-millionth of the gravitational pull detected at Earths surface. Research done aboard the space station includes work in fluid dynamics (how fluids behave), materials science and technology (substances that cannot be made in full gravity conditions), and combustion science (how substances burn in microgravity). Biomedicine and biotechnology are areas of particular importance. Major topics of study are the growth of muscle and bone, functioning of the nervous system, production of proteins, and development of cells. In addition to learning how the human body responds to the long-term effects of the weightlessness (see Aerospace Medicine), researchers may discover important insights into diseases such as osteoporosis, or how viruses and bacteria develop and respond to new environments. The ISS is also a platform for observing Earth and space. Weather and climate, the chemistry and structure of the atmosphere, and interactions between the Sun and Earth can be studied from the ISS. Telescopes and other equipment allow astronauts to study objects in space without distortion or interference from Earths atmosphere.

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HISTORY OF THE ISS

Design work for a long-term space station began at NASA in 1975 with the Settlement Design Study. The project was given the official go-ahead in 1984 and in 1988 President Ronald Reagan declared that the station was to be called Freedom. However, budget cuts by successive administrations necessitated major redesigns, with accompanying name changes. In 1993 President Bill Clinton instructed that there should be more international involvement, and the station was renamed the International Space Station when Russia joined the project. Construction in orbit began with the launch of the first module, the Russian-built Zarya (Sunrise), by a Proton rocket in November 1998. Zarya provided the stations early propulsion and communications. The following month a shuttle mission, STS-88, added the U.S.-built Unity connecting module. Another Proton rocket launch in July 2000 delivered the Russian Zvezda service module, which contained living quarters for the first crew of three, who arrived aboard a Russian Soyuz ferry craft in November 2000. During the first crews four-month stay the ISS was considerably enlarged by the addition of the U.S. Destiny laboratory module, the centerpiece for future research in the station, delivered by the space shuttle Atlantis. Since then, the station has been permanently occupied, with crews changing over every few months, while additional construction flights have continued to expand the station around them. Funding issues and setbacks such as the loss of the Columbia space shuttle in 2003 have

Microsoft Encarta 2009. 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

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delayed some stages in the completion of the ISS. Microsoft Encarta 2009. 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Microsoft Encarta 2009. 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.