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International Space Station

The International Space Station is a habitable artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. It follows the Salyut, Almaz, Skylab and Mir stations as the ninth space station to be inhabited. Wikipedia

Orbit height: 370 km

Speed on orbit: 7.71 km/s

Launch date: November 20, 1998

Cost: 150 billion USD

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THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION-
The ISS is a modular

structure whose first component was launched in 1998. Like many artificial satellites, the station can be seen with the naked eye from Earth without any special equipment. The ISS consists of pressurized modules, external trusses, solar arrays and other components. ISS components have been launched by American Space Shuttles as well as Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets.

Budget constraints led to the merger of three space station projects with the Japanese Kibō module and Canadian robotics. In 1993 the partially built Soviet/Russian Mir-2, the proposed American Freedom, and the proposed European Columbus merged into a single multinational program.
The ISS serves as a micro gravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology and other fields.
The station is suited for the testing of spacecraft systems and equipment required for missions to the Moon and Mars.
The station has been continuously occupied for 12 years and 86 days, having exceeded the previous record of almost 10 years (or 3,634 days) held by Mir, in 2010. The station is serviced by Soyuz spacecraft, Progress spacecraft, the Automated Transfer Vehicle, the H-II Transfer Vehicle, and formerly the Space Shuttle. It has been visited by astronauts and cosmonauts from 15 different nations.[16] On 25 May 2012, SpaceX became the world's first privately held company to send a cargo load, via the Dragon spacecraft, to the International Space Station.

The ISS programme is a joint project between five participating space agencies: NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency, JAXA, ESA, and CSA. The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements. The station is divided into two sections, the Russian orbital segment (ROS) and the United States orbital segment (USOS), which is shared by many nations. The ISS is maintained at an orbital altitude of between 330 km (205 mi) and 410 km (255 mi). It completes 15.7 orbits per day.
The ISS is funded until 2020, and may operate until 2028. The Russian Federal Space Agency (RSA/RKA) has proposed using ISS to commission modules for a new space station, called OPSEK, before the remainder of the ISS is de-orbited. Station structure Expedition 18 commander Michael Fincke's video tour of the habitable part of the ISS from January 2009 Station layout, photographed from Soyuz TMA-20, with NASA's Endeavour docked The ISS follows Salyut and Almaz series, Cosmos 557, Skylab, and Mir as the 11th space station launched, as the Genesis prototypes were never intended to be manned. The ISS is a third generation modular space station. Other examples of modular station projects include the Soviet/Russian Mir, Russian OPSEK, and Chinese space station.

The first space station, Salyut 1, and other one-piece or 'monolithic' first generation space stations, such as Salyut 2,3,4,5, DOS 2, Kosmos 557, Almaz and NASA's Skylab stations were not designed for re-supply.[64] Generally, each crew had to depart the station to free the only docking port for the next crew to arrive, Skylab had more than one docking port but was not designed for resupply. Salyut 6 and 7 had more than one docking port and were designed to be resupplied routinely during crewed operation. Modular stations can allow the mission to be changed over time and new modules can be added or removed from the existing structure, allowing greater flexibility. The blue areas are pressurized sections accessible by the crew without using spacesuits. The station's pressurized superstructure is indicated in red. Other pressurized components are yellow.

Did you know that people have been living and working in space around the clock, every single day, for more than ten years? During the past decade, 15 nations have come together, setting aside boundaries and differences, to design, assemble, occupy, and conduct research inside and outside of the largest and longest inhabited object to ever orbit the Earth - the International Space Station.

During August 2011, an observatory mounted on Kibō, which utilises the ISS's orbital motion to image the whole sky in the X-ray spectrum, detected for the first time the moment a star was swallowed by a black hole.[82][83]

The laboratory contains a total of 23 racks, including 10 experiment racks and has a dedicated airlock for experiments. In a 'shirt sleeves' environment, crew attach an experiment to the sliding drawer within the airlock, close the inner, and then open the outer hatch. By extending the drawer and removing the experiment using the dedicated robotic arm, payloads are placed on the external platform. The process can be reversed and repeated quickly, allowing access to maintain external experiments without the delays caused by EVA's. Only the Russian and Japanese laboratories have this feature.
A smaller pressurised module is attached to the top of Kibō, serving as a cargo bay. The dedicated Interorbital communications system allows large amounts of data to be beamed from Kibō's ICS, first to the Japanese KODAMA satellite in geostationary orbit, then to Japanese ground stations. When a direct communication link is used, contact time between the ISS and a ground station is limited to approximately 10 minutes per visible pass. When KODAMA relays data between a LEO spacecraft and a ground station, real-time communications are possible in 60% of the flight path of the spacecraft. Ground staff use tele-present robotics to conduct on-orbit research without crew intervention. A short, cylindrical module, covered in white insulation, suspended in space on the end of a white robotic arm. A smaller white cylinder is attached at one end, and a folded square radiator is mounted at the other. Antennas and poles project from the module, and the Earth forms the backdrop. The Cupola's design has been compared to the Millennium Falcon from the motion picture Star Wars. Dmitri Kondratyev and Paolo Nespoli in the Cupola. Background left to right, Progress M-09M, Soyuz TMA-20, the Leonardo module and HTV-2. Tracy Caldwell Dyson poses for a photo in the Cupola, admiring the view of the Earth. Cupola is a seven window observatory, used to view Earth and docking spacecraft. Its name derives from the Italian word cupola, which means "dome". The Cupola project was started by NASA and Boeing, but cancelled due to budget cuts. A barter agreement between NASA and the ESA resulted in the Cupola's development being resumed in 1998 by the ESA. The module comes equipped with robotic workstations for operating the station's main robotic arm and shutters to protect its windows from damage caused by micrometeorites. It features 7 windows, with a 80-centimetre (31 in) round window, the largest window on the station. The distinctive design has been compared to the 'turret' of the fictitious Millennium Falcon in the motion picture Star Wars;[84][85] the original prop lightsaber used by actor Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in the 1977 film was flown to the station in 2007,[86] and the Falcon rockets commercial ships that come to the station use, are named after the Millennium Falcon itself. Rassvet (Russian: Рассве́т; lit. "dawn"), also known as the Mini-Research Module 1 (MRM-1) (Russian: Малый исследовательский модуль, МИМ 1) and formerly known as the Docking Cargo Module (DCM), is similar in design to the Mir Docking Module launched on STS-74 in 1995. Rassvet is primarily used for cargo storage and as a docking port for visiting spacecraft. It was flown to the ISS aboard NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-132 mission and connected in May 2010,[87][88] Rassvet is the only Russian owned module launched by NASA, to repay for the launch of Zarya, which is Russian designed and built, but partially paid for by NASA.[89] Rassvet was launched with the Russian Nauka Laboratory's Experiments airlock temporarily attached to it, and spare parts for the European Robotic Arm. Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) The three NASA Space Shuttle MPLM cargo containers Leonardo, Raffaello and Donatello, were built for NASA in Turin, Italy by Alcatel Alenia Space, now Thales Alenia Space.[90] The MPLMs are provided to the ISS programme by the Italy (independent of Italy's role as a member state of ESA) to NASA and are considered to be U.S. elements. In a bartered exchange for providing these containers, the U.S. has given Italy research time aboard the ISS out of the U.S. allotment in addition to that which Italy receives as a member of ESA.[91] The Permanent Multipurpose Module was created by converting Leonardo into a module that could be permanently attached to the station. [92][93][94] Scheduled additional modules Nauka (Russian: Нау́ка; lit. Science), also known as the Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) or FGB-2, (Russian: Многофункциональный лабораторный модуль, or МЛМ), is the major Russian laboratory module. It is scheduled to arrive at the station in 2014[95] and will replace PIRS. Prior to the arrival of the Nauka, a progress robot spacecraft will dock with PIRS, depart with that module, and both will be discarded. It contains an additional set of life support systems and orientation control. Originally it would have routed power from the single Science-and-Power Platform, but that single module design changed over the first ten years of the ISS mission, and the two science modules which attach to Nauka via the Node Module each incorporate their own large solar arrays to power Russian science experiments in the ROS. Nauka's mission has changed over time. During the mid-1990s, it was intended as a backup for the FGB, and later as a universal docking module (UDM); its docking ports will be able to support automatic docking of both space craft, additional modules and fuel transfer. Nauka is a module in the 20 ton class and has its own engines. Smaller ISS modules (less than 10 tons) which dock to the ROS do not have engines of their own, but rely for propulsion upon the spaceship that brings them to the station. Zvezda and Zarya, like Nauka, weigh about 20 tons each and are launched by the larger Proton rockets rather than by Soyuz rockets. They are the only 3 modules on the ISS that contain engines, or navigation computers with star, sun and horizon sensors, to enable flight and station-keeping. Nauka will be separated from the ISS before de-orbit, together with support modules, and become the OPSEK space station. Node Module (UM)/(NM) This 4-ton ball shaped module will support the docking of two scientific and power modules during the final stage of the station assembly and provide the Russian segment additional docking ports to receive Soyuz TMA (transportation modified anthropometric) and Progress M spacecraft. NM is to be incorporated into the ISS in 2014. It will be integrated with a special version of the Progress cargo ship and launched by a standard Soyuz rocket. The Progress would use its own propulsion and flight control system to deliver and dock the Node Module to the nadir (Earth-facing) docking port of the Nauka MLM/FGB-2 module. One port is equipped with an active hybrid docking port, which enables docking with the MLM module. The remaining five ports are passive hybrids, enabling docking of Soyuz and Progress vehicles, as well as heavier modules and future spacecraft with modified docking systems. However more importantly, the node module was conceived to serve as the only permanent element of the future Russian successor to the ISS, OPSEK. Equipped with six docking ports, the Node Module would serve as a single permanent core of the future station with all other modules coming and going as their life span and mission required.[96][97] This would be a progression beyond the ISS and Russia's modular MIR space station, which are in turn more advanced than early monolithic first generation stations such as Skylab, and early Salyut and Almaz stations. Science Power Modules 1 & 2 (NEM-1, NEM-2) (Russian: Научно-Энергетический Модуль-1 и -2) Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is part of a contract with Bigelow Aerospace to provide a Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which is scheduled to arrive at the space station in 2015 for a two-year technology demonstration.[98] BEAM is an inflatable module developed by Bigelow Aerospace will be attached to the International Space Station attached to the aft hatch of the port-side Tranquility module. During its two-year test run, instruments will measure its structural integrity and leak rate, along with temperature and radiation levels. The hatch leading into the module will remain mostly closed except for periodic visits by space station crew members for inspections and data collection. Following the test run, the module will be detached and jettisoned from the station.[99] Cancelled components The US Habitation Module would have served as the station's living quarters. Instead, the sleep stations are now spread throughout the station.[100] The US Interim Control Module and ISS Propulsion Module were intended to replace functions of Zvezda in case of a launch failure.[101] The Russian Universal Docking Module, to which the cancelled Russian Research modules and spacecraft would have docked.[102] The Russian Science Power Platform would have provided the Russian Orbital Segment with a power supply independent of the ITS solar arrays,[102] and two Russian Research Modules that were planned to be used for scientific research.[103] Ground Facilities
An overall view of the space station flight control room in the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Credit: NASA

JSC2009-E-156744: International Space Station flight control room

The International Space Station Program’s greatest accomplishment is as much a human achievement as a technological one. The global partnership of space agencies exemplifies meshing of cultural differences and political intricacies to plan, coordinate, provide, and operate the complex elements of the station. The program also brings together international flight crews and globally distributed launch, operations, training, engineering, communications networks, and scientific research communities.

Maintaining the ISS is an arduous task, requiring an international fleet of vehicles and launch locations to rotate crew members; replenish propellant; provide science experiments, necessary supplies, and maintenance hardware; and remove and dispose of waste. All of these important deliveries sustain a constant supply line crucial to the operation of the station.

United States of America
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

NASA Headquarters (HQ)
NASA headquarters, in Washington, D.C., exercises management over the NASA Field Centers, establishes management policies, and analyzes all phases of the ISS program.

Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Johnson Space Center in Houston, directs the station program. Mission control operates the U.S. on-orbit segment (USOS) and manages activities across the station in close coordination with the international partner control centers. JSC is the primary center for spacecraft design, development, and mission integration. JSC is also the primary location for crew training.

Kennedy Space Center (KSC)
Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Fla., prepares the station modules and space shuttles for each mission, coordinates each countdown, and manages space shuttle launch and post-landing operations.

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
Marshall Space Flight Center’s Payload Operations and Integration Center (POIC) controls the operation of U.S. experiments and coordinates partner experiments aboard the station. MSFC oversaw development of most U.S. modules and the station’s Environmental Control Life Support System.

Telescience Support Centers (TSCs)
Telescience Support Centers around the country are equipped to conduct science operations on board the station. These TSCs are located at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.; Ames Research Center (ARC) in Moffett Field, Calif.; Glenn Research Center (GRC) in Cleveland; and Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Russia
Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency

Roscosmos oversees all Russian human space flight activities.

Moscow Mission Control Center (TsUP)
Moscow Mission Control Center is the primary Russian facility for the control of Russian human spaceflight activities and operates the station’s Russian segment. It is located in Korolev, outside of Moscow, at the Central Institute of Machine building (TsNIIMASH) of Roscosmos.

Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC)
The Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC), at Zvezdny Gorodok (Star City), near Moscow, provides full-size trainers and simulators of all Russian station modules, a water pool used for spacewalk training, centrifuges to simulate g-forces during liftoff, and a planetarium used for celestial navigation.

Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan is the chief launch center for both piloted and unpiloted space vehicles. It supports the Soyuz and Proton launch vehicles and plays an essential role in the deployment and operation of the station.

Canada
Canadian Space Agency (CSA)

Mobile Servicing System (MSS ) Operations Complex (MOC)
Located in Saint Hubert, Quebec, the MSS Operations Complex is composed of the following facilities:

Space Operations Support Center (SOSC)
MSS Operations and Training System (MOTS)
Virtual Operations Training Environment (VOTE)
Canadian MSS Training Facility (CMTF)

These facilities provide the resources, equipment and expertise for the engineering and monitoring of the MSS and provide crew training on Canadian systems.

Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS ) Design and Development
The SSRMS was designed and built for the CSA by MDA of Brampton, Ontario.

Payload Telescience Operations Centre (PTOC)
The PTOC in Saint Hubert supports real time operations for Canadian Payloads onboard the station.

Europe
European Space Agency (ESA)

European Space Research and Technology Center (ESTEC)
The European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, is the largest ESA establishment, a test center and hub for European space activities. It has responsibility for the technical preparation and management of ESA space projects and provides technical support to ESA’s ongoing satellite, space exploration, and human space activities.

Columbus Control Center (COL-CC) and Automated Transfer Vehicle Control Center (ATV-CC)
Two ground control centers are responsible for controlling and operating the European contribution to the station program. These are the Columbus Control Centre and the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Control Center. The COl-CC, located at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), in Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich, Germany, controls and operate the Columbus laboratory and coordinates the operation of the European experiments. The ATV-CC, located in Toulouse, France, on the premises of the French space agency, Centre national d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), operates the European ATV during the active and docked mission phases of the ATV.

Guiana Space Center (GSC)
Europe’s Spaceport is situated in the northeast of South America in French Guiana. Initially created by CNES, it is jointly funded and used by both the French space agency and ESA as the launch site for the Ariane 5 vehicle.

European Astronaut Center (EAC)
The European Astronaut Centre of the European Space Agency is situated in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1990 and is the home base of the 13 European astronauts who are members of the European astronaut corps.

User Centers
User Support and Operation Centers (USOCs) are based in national centers distributed throughout Europe. These centers are responsible for the use and implementation of European payloads aboard the ISS.

Japan
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

In addition to the JAXA headquarters in Tokyo and other field centers throughout the country, Tsukuba Space Center and Tanegashima launch Facility are JAXA’s primary ISS facilities.

Tskuba Space Center (TKSU)
JAXA’s Tsukuba Space Center (TKSU), located in Tsukuba Science City, opened its doors in 1972. The TKSC is a consolidated operations facility with world-class equipment, testing facilities, and crew training capabilities. The Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) or “Kibo,” which translates in English as “Hope,” was developed and tested at TKSC for the station. The Kibo Control Center plays an important role in control and tracking of the Japanese laboratory.

Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC)
The Tanegashima Space Center is the largest rocket launch complex in Japan and is located in the south of Kagoshima Prefecture, along the southeast coast of Tanegashima. The Yoshinobu launch complex is on site for H-IIA and H-IIB launch vehicles. There are also related developmental facilities for test firings of liquid- and solid-fuel rocket engines.

Research and Technology Facilities

Managing the international laboratory’s scientific assets, as well as the time and space required to accommodate experiments and programs from a host of private, commercial, industry and government agencies nationwide, makes the job of coordinating space station research critical.

Teams of controllers and scientists on the ground continuously plan, monitor and remotely operate experiments from control centers around the globe. Controllers staff payload operations centers around the world, effectively providing for researchers and the station crew around the clock, seven days a week.

State-of-the-art computers and communications equipment deliver up-to-the-minute reports about experiment facilities and investigations between science outposts across the United States and around the world. The payload operations team also synchronizes the payload time lines among international partners, ensuring the best use of valuable resources and crew time.

The control centers of NASA and its partners are:

NASA - Payload Operations and Integration Center (POIC), Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.;
NASA – Mission Control Center (MCC), Houston;
Roscosmos – Flight Control Center (TsUP), Korolev, Russia;
Roscosmos – Transport Vehicle Control Room, Korolev, Russia;
Japan Experiment Module Mission Control (JEMMC), Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki, Japan;
ESA - Columbus Control Center (Col-CC), Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany (near Munich);
ESA ATV – Control Center, Toulouse, France;
ESA – European User Support Operations Centers:
- CADMOS, Toulouse, France
- MARS, Naples, Italy
- MUSC, Cologne, Germany
- B-USOC, Brussels, Belgium
- E-USOC, Trondheim, Norway
- DAMEC, Odense, Denmark
- BIOTESC, Zurich, Switzerland
- ERASMUS, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
CSA-Payloads Operations Telesciences Center, St. Hubert, Quebec, Canada;
Canadian Space Agency Mission Control Center (CSA-MCC), Longueuil, Quebec, Canada

NASA’s Payload Operations Center serves as a hub for coordinating much of the work related to delivery of research facilities and experiments to the space station as they are rotated in and out periodically when space shuttles or other vehicles make deliveries and return completed experiments and samples to Earth.

The payload operations director leads the POIC’s main flight control team, known as the "cadre," and approves all science plans in coordination with Mission Control in Houston, the international partner control centers and the station crew.

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