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Module 3 - Zvezda



Zvezda (, also known as the Zvezda Service Module, is a component of the International Space Station (ISS). It was the third module launched to the station, and provides some of the station's life support systems, as well as living quarters for two crew members. It is the structural and functional center of the Russian portion of the station - the Russian Orbital Segment.
The module was manufactured by S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia and is currently the only fully Russian-built and funded module besides Pirs. (Zarya was built by Russia, but was funded and is owned by the United States). Zvezda was launched on a Proton rocket on July 12, 2000 and docked with the Zarya module on July 26. The rocket used for the launch was one of the first to carry advertising; it was emblazoned with the logo of the fast food chain Pizza Hut, for which the company paid US$1 million.[citation needed]

Origins


The basic structural frame of Zvezda, known as "DOS-8", was initially built in the mid-1980s to be the core of the Mir-2 space station. This means that Zvezda is similar in layout to the core module (DOS-7) of the Mir space station. It was in fact labeled as "Mir-2" for quite some time in the factory. Its design lineage thus extends back to the original Salyut stations. The space frame was completed in February 1985 and major internal equipment was installed by October 1986.

Design


Zvezda consists of a cylindrical "Work Compartment" where the crews work and live, a cylindrical "Transfer Chamber" which has one docking port, an unpressurized "Assembly Compartment" surrounding the Transfer Chamber, and a spherical "Transfer Compartment" with three docking ports. The component weights 18,051 kg (42,000 lb) and had a length of 13.1 meters (43 feet). The solar panels extend 29.7 meters (97.5 feet).
The "Transfer Compartment" attaches to the Zarya module, and has docking ports intended for the Science Power Platform and the Universal Docking Module. Currently the lower port contains the Russian Docking Compartment and the other is empty. It could be used as an airlock; however, if the hatch failed, it would be impossible to travel to the rest of the station, so this capability has never been used. Once the Multipurpose Laboratory Module comes, before the launch, two crewmembers of Expedition 18 will remove the Docking Compartment, relocate it on the zenith port of Zvezda, and install and activate the Multipurpose Laboratory and the European Robotic Arm.
The "Assembly Compartment" holds external equipment such as thrusters, antennas, and propellant tanks.
The "Transfer Chamber" is equipped with automatic docking equipment and is used to service Soyuz and Progress spacecraft.
Zvezda contains sleeping quarters for two cosmonauts, a NASA-provided treadmill and a bicycle for exercise, toilet and other hygiene facilities and a galley with a refrigerator and freezer. It contains the primary Russian computers for guidance and navigation. It has a total of 14 windows -- three 9-inch diameter windows in the forward Transfer Compartment, a 16-inch window in the Working Compartment, one in each crew compartment, and several more. It also contains the Elektron system that electrolyzes condensed humidity and waste water to provide hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is expelled into space and the oxygen is used for breathing air. The condensed water and the waste water can be used for drinking in an emergency, but ordinarily fresh water from Earth is used. There are 16 small thrusters and two large thrusters for propulsion, and eight batteries for storing power.
The Elektron system has required significant maintenance work, having failed several times and requiring the crew to use Solid Fuel Oxygen Generator canisters (commonly called "Oxygen Candles", which were the cause of a fire on Mir) when it has been broken for extended amounts of time. It also contains the Vozdukh, a system which removes carbon dioxide from the air based on the use of regenerable adsorbers of carbon dioxide gas. Zvezda has been criticized for being excessively noisy and the crew has been observed wearing earplugs inside it.


Connection to the ISS

On July 26, 2000, Zvezda became the third component of the ISS when it docked at the aft port of Zarya. (Zarya had already been attached to the U.S. Unity module.) Later in July, the computers aboard Zarya handed over ISS commanding functions to computers on Zvezda.
On September 11, 2000, two members of the STS-106 Space Shuttle crew completed final connections between Zvezda and Zarya: during a 6 hour, 14 minute extravehicular activity (EVA), astronaut Ed Lu and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko connected nine cables between Zvezda and Zarya, including four power cables, four video and data cables and a fiber-optic telemetry cable. The next day, STS-106 crew members floated into Zvezda for the first time, at 12:20 a.m. CDT on September 12, 2000.
Zvezda provided early living quarters, a life support system, a communication system (Zvezda introduced a 10Mbit/s Ethernet network to the ISS), electrical power distribution, a data processing system, a flight control system, and a propulsion system. These quarters and systems have since been supplemented by additional ISS components.
The two main engines on Zvezda can be used to raise the station's altitude. This was done on 25 April 2007. This was the first time the engines had been fired since Zvezda arrived in 2000.

Launch risks

Due to Russian financial problems, Zvezda was launched with no backup and no insurance. Due to this risk, NASA had constructed an Interim Control Module in case it was delayed significantly or destroyed on launch.

Unity (ISS module) - Module2



The Unity connecting module was the first U.S.-built component of the International Space Station. It is cylindrical in shape, with six berthing locations (forward, aft, port, starboard, zenith, and nadir) facilitating connections to other modules. Unity measures 4.57 meters (15 ft) in diameter, is 5.47 meters (18 ft) long, and was built for NASA by The Boeing Company in a manufacturing facility at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Sometimes referred to as Node 1, Unity is the first of three such connecting modules that will be part of the completed statio

Launch and initial berthing

Unity was carried into orbit as the primary cargo of the Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-88, the first Space Shuttle mission dedicated to assembly of the station. On December 6, 1998, the STS-88 crew mated the aft berthing port of Unity with the forward hatch of the already orbiting Zarya module. (Zarya was a mixed Russian-US funded and Russian-built component launched earlier aboard a Russian Proton rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.) This was the first connection made between two station modules.


Connections to other station components

In addition to connecting to the Zarya module, Unity currently connects to the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module (added on STS-98), the Z1 truss (an early exterior framework for the station added on STS-92), the PMA-3 (also added on STS-92), and the Quest Joint Airlock (added on STS-104). In addition, the Leonardo and Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules have each been berthed to Unity on multiple missions. Node 3, with its multi-windowed cupola, will be attached to Unity during the STS-132 mission. During STS-120 the Harmony connecting module was temporarily berthed to the port-side hatch of Unity.


Details

Essential space station resources such as fluids, environmental control and life support systems, electrical and data systems are routed through Unity to supply work and living areas of the station. More than 50,000 mechanical items, 216 lines to carry fluids and gases, and 121 internal and external electrical cables using six miles of wire were installed in the Unity node. Unity is made of aluminum.
Prior to its launch aboard Endeavour, conical Pressurized Mating Adapters (PMAs) were attached to the aft and forward berthing mechanisms of Unity. Unity and the two mating adapters together weighed about 25,600 pounds. The adapters allow the docking systems used by the Space Shuttle and by Russian modules to attach to the node's hatches and berthing mechanisms. PMA-1 now permanently attaches Unity to Zarya, while PMA-2 provides a Shuttle docking port. Attached to the exterior of PMA-1 are computers, or multiplexer-demultiplexers (MDMs), which provide early command and control of Unity. Unity also is outfitted with an early communications system that allows data, voice and low data rate video with Mission Control, Houston, to supplement Russian communications systems during the early station assembly activities. PMA-3 was attached to Unity's port hatch by the crew of STS-102.[1]
[edit]Other nodes

The two remaining station connecting modules, or nodes, have been built in Italy by Alenia Aerospazio, as part of an agreement between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). Harmony (formerly known as Node 2) and Node 3 are slightly longer than Unity, measuring almost 6.4 meters (21 ft) long. In addition to their six berthing ports each will hold eight International Standard Payload Racks (ISPRs). Unity, in comparison, holds four ISPRs. ESA built nodes 2 and 3 as partial payment for the launch aboard the Shuttle of the Columbus laboratory module, and other ESA equipment.

Specifications

Length: 5.49 m
Diameter: 4.57 m
Mass: 11,612 kg

Module 1 -Zarya

Zarya , also known as the Functional Cargo Block or the FGB was the first module of the International Space Station to be launched. The FGB provided electrical power, storage, propulsion, and guidance to the ISS during the initial stage of assembly. As other modules with more specialized functionality are constructed, the Zarya's role will primarily be storage, both inside the pressurized section and in the externally mounted fuel tanks. The Zarya is a descendant of the TKS spacecraft designed for the Russian Salyut program. The name "Zarya", meaning "Dawn" in Russian, was given to the FGB because it signified the dawn of a new era of international cooperation in space.


Construction
 It is owned and paid for by the United States and was built from December 1994 to January 1998 in Russia in the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center (KhSC) in Moscow. It was included as part of the plan instead of Lockheed's 'Bus-1' option because it would be significantly cheaper ($220 million vs. $450 million). As part of the contract Khrunichev constructed most of an identical module (referred to as "FGB-2") for contingency purposes. This has been proposed for a variety of projects, including a potential replacement for Progress spacecraft, the Docking and Storage module, the Universal Docking module, a commercial space module, or an independent space station.
Design
Zarya weighs 19,300 kg (42,600 pounds), is 12.55 m (41.2 feet) long and 4.1 m (13.5 feet) wide at its widest point.Zarya has three docking ports, one on each end, and one on the side. Zvezda is attached to the aft port, the Pressurized Mating Adapter attached to the forward port connects to the Unity Module, and the side (axial or nadir) port is used to dock with either a Russian Soyuz or a Progress spacecraft, until the Docking Cargo Module is docked there permanently. Zarya has two solar arrays, measuring 10.67 m by 3.35 m, and six nickel-cadmium batteries that can provide on average 3 kilowatts of power. Zarya has 16 external fuel tanks that can hold over 6 metric tons of propellant, with 24 large steering jets, 12 small steering jets, and two large engines for reboost and major orbital changes.



Specifications
Length: 12.56 m
Diameter: 4.11 m
Solar array length: 10.67 m
Solar array width: 3.35 m
Mass: 42,600 lb (19,300 kg)
Launch of Zarya module

Station statistics

Station statistics
Call sign:Alpha (only by NASA)
Crew:3
Launch:1998-Present
Launch pad:KSC LC-39,
Baikonur LC-1/5 & 81/23
Mass:277,598 kg
(612,000 lb)
(2008-06-14)
419,600 kg (925,000 lb)upon completion[1]
Length:58.2 m (191 ft)
along truss
(2007-02-22)
Width:44.5 m (146 ft)
from Destiny to Zvezda
73.15 m (240 ft)
span of solar arrays
(2007-02-22)
Height:27.4 m (90 ft)
(2007-02-22)
Living volume:424.75 m³
(15,000 ft³)
Atmospheric pressure:1013 hPa (29.91 inHg)
Perigee:331.0 km (183.2 nmi)
(2008-02-15)
Apogee:341.9 km (184.6 nmi)
(2008-02-15)
Orbitinclination:51.6410 degrees
(2008-02-15)
Typical orbit altitude:340.5 km (183.86 nmi)
Average speed:27,743.8 km/h
(17,239.2 mi/h, 7706.6 m/s)
Orbital period:91.34 minutes
Orbits per day:15.78224218
(2008-02-15)
Days in orbit:3533 (23 July 2008)
Days occupied:2822 (23 July 2008)
Number of orbits:55758 (23 July 2008)
Distance travelled:2,000,000,000 km
(1,100,000,000 nmi)

International Space Station - Assembly & Pressurized modules


Assembly

The assembly of the International Space Station is a major aerospace engineering endeavor. When assembly is complete the ISS will have a pressurized volume of approximately 1,000 cubic meters. Assembly began in November 1998 with the launch of Zarya – the first ISS module – on a Proton rocket, and as of July 2008 assembly is about 75% complete.
Two weeks after Zarya was launched, the STS-88 shuttle mission followed, bringing Unity, the first of three node modules, and connecting it to Zarya. This bare 2-module core of the ISS remained unmanned for the next one and a half years, until in July 2000 the Russian module Zvezda was added, allowing a maximum crew of three astronauts or cosmonauts to be on the ISS permanently.

Pressurized modules

The ISS is currently under construction, and will eventually consist of fourteen pressurized modules with a combined volume of around 1,000 cubic metres. These modules include laboratories, docking compartments, airlocks, nodes and living quarters, nine of which are already in orbit, with the remaining five awaiting launch on the ground. Each module is launched either by Space Shuttle, Proton rocket or Soyuz rocket,

International Space Station - Origins


In the early 1980s, NASA planned Space Station Freedom as a counterpart to the Soviet Salyut and Mir space stations. It never left the drawing board and, with the end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War, it was cancelled. The end of the space race prompted the U.S. administration officials to start negotiations with international partners Europe, Russia, Japan and Canada in the early 1990s in order to build a truly international space station. This project was first announced in 1993 and was called Space Station Alpha. It was planned to combine the proposed space stations of all participating space agencies: NASA's Space Station Freedom, Russia's Mir-2 (the successor to the Mir Space Station, the core of which is now Zvezda) and ESA's Columbus that was planned to be a stand-alone spacelab.
The first section, the Zarya Functional Cargo Block, was put in orbit in November 1998 on a Russian Proton rocket. Two further pieces (the Unity Module and Zvezda service module) were added before the first crew, Expedition 1, was sent. Expedition 1 docked to the ISS on November 2, 2000, and consisted of two Russian cosmonauts, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, and U.S. astronaut William Shepherd.

International Space Station


The International Space Station (ISS) is a research facility being assembled in space. Its on-orbit assembly began in 1998. The space station is in a low Earth orbitand can be seen from Earth with the naked eye: it has an altitude of about 350 km (217 mi) above the surface of the Earth, and travels at an average speed of 27,700 km (17,210 statute miles) per hour, completing 15.77 orbits per day.


The International Space Station (ISS) is a research facility being assembled in space. Its on-orbit assembly began in 1998. The space station is in a low Earth orbitand can be seen from Earth with the naked eye: it has an altitude of about 350 km (217 mi) above the surface of the Earth, and travels at an average speed of 27,700 km (17,210 statute miles) per hour, completing 15.77 orbits per day.

The ISS is a joint project among the space agencies of the United States (NASA), Russia (RKA), Japan (JAXA),Canada (CSA) and eleven European countries (ESA).The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB, Brazil) participates through a separate contract with NASA. The Italian Space Agency similarly has separate contracts for various activities not done in the framework of ESA's ISS works (where Italy also fully participates). China has reportedly expressed interest in the project, especially if it is able to work with the RKA, though it is not currently involved.

The ISS is a continuation of several other previously planned space stations: Russia's Mir 2, the U.S. Space Station Freedom, the European Columbus, and Kibo, theJapanese Experiment Module. The projected completion date is 2010, with the station remaining in operation until around 2016. As of 2008, the ISS is larger than any previous space station.

The ISS has been continuously staffed since the first resident crew entered the station on November 2, 2000, thereby providing a permanent human presence in space. The crew of Expedition 17 are currently aboard. At present the station has a capacity for a crew of three. In order to fulfill an active research program it will eventually hold 6 crew members Early crew members all came from the Russian and U.S. space programs. German ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter joined the Expedition 13 crew in July 2006, becoming the first crew member from another space agency. The station has, however, been visited by astronauts from 16 countries. The ISS was also the destination of the first five space tourists.

The station is serviced primarily by Russian Soyuz andProgress spacecraft and by U.S. Space Shuttle orbiters. On March 9, 2008, the European Space Agency ESAlaunched an Ariane 5 with the first Automated Transfer Vehicle, Jules Verne, toward the ISS carrying over 8,000 kilograms of cargo. Successful docking took place at 14:40 GMT on April 3, 2008.

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