Some Assembly Required

STS-92's four spacewalks totaled 27 hours and 19 minutes. The Expedition One crew launched from Russia on a Soyuz rocket.  Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd kept a record of activities during his tour of duty onboard the International Space Station.

Click here to move through each of the assembly flights.

In March 2001, the first crew rotation flight arrived. STS-102 delivered the Expedition Two crew to the station and returned Expedition One to Earth. The Expedition One crew was replaced by the Expedition Two crew of Yury Usachev, Susan Helms, and Jim Voss. 

Also, STS-102 carried the first Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, Leonardo, to the station. Logistics modules are reusable cargo carriers built by the Italian Space Agency.

STS-100 delivered the station's robot arm, which is also known as the Space Station Remote Manipulator System, and the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module.

The Canadian SSRMS, a 58-foot (17.6-meter) robotic arm facilitates assembly and maintenance of the space station. The delivery of the arm was also in preparation for the arrival of the station's joint airlock, which was installed during STS-104's visit to the station in July 2001. The airlock enables station-based extravehicular activity (EVA) using both American and Russian spacesuits. The addition of the airlock signaled the completion of the early phase of station assembly in orbit. The orbiting station was now self-sufficient and had capabilities for full-fledged research in the attached laboratory module.  Click here for animation showing the U.S. Lab being maneuvered into place.

ISS expansion continued with the arrival of the Russian Docking Compartment in September 2001. The docking Compartment is called Pirs, which is the Russian word for pier.

The next flight to visit the Space Station was STS-108 . It arrived at the Station in early December 2001 and delivered the Expedition Four crew. Expedition Three returned to Earth on STS-108.

The first Shuttle mission to visit the Station in 2002 was STS-110 . The seven-member STS-110 crew installed the S0 (S-Zero) Truss onto the Station. The S0 was the second piece of the 11-piece Integrated Truss Structure delivered to the Station.

The second Shuttle mission of 2002 to visit the Station was STS-111 in mid-June. STS-111 delivered the Expedition Five crew and the Mobile Base System to the orbital outpost. Also, STS-111 returned the Expedition Four crew to Earth. Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch set the record for the longest U.S. space flight with 196 days in space during Expedition Four.

Outward expansion of the Station occurred during STS-112 , which is also known as ISS Assembly Flight 9A , with the delivery the S1 Truss. The S1 was attached to the starboard side of the S0 Truss.

The last Shuttle mission to visit the ISS during 2002 was STS-113 , which delivered the Expedition 6 crew and the P1 (P-One) Truss. The STS-113 crew performed three spacewalks to activate and outfit the P1 after it was attached to the port side of the S0 Truss. Expedition Five returned to Earth on Endeavour, wrapping up a six-month stay in space.

The ISS Soyuz 6 spacecraft delivered the Expedition 7 crew to the ISS on April 28, 2003, to replace Expedition 6, which returned to Earth aboard the ISS Soyuz 5 spacecraft. Expedition 7 was the Station's first two-person crew.

Expedition 8 arrived at the ISS on Oct. 20, 2003. Commander Michael Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri became the first Expedition crew to perform a spacewalk without a crewmember inside the Station.

The ISS Soyuz 8 spacecraft delivered the Expedition 9 crew to the Station on April 21, 2004. Commander Gennady Padalka and NASA ISS Science Officer Mike Fincke stayed on the ISS until they were replaced by Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov in October 2004.

The Expedition 11 crew -- Commander Sergei Krikalev and Flight Engineer and NASA ISS Science Officer John Phillips -- arrived aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in April 2005. Krikalev was the first crewmember to serve two long-duration tours of duty on the Station.

When the Shuttle returned to space on July 26, 2005, the STS-114 mission delivered a new control moment gyroscope, the External Stowage Platform-2 and tons of much-needed supplies to the Station. During three spacewalks, the crew installed the platform on the Quest airlock, replaced one gyroscope and repaired another.

The final phase of assembly will continue into 2010, when the crew size will expand to seven. Other elements that will be added to complete assembly are the Japanese laboratory, Kibo (meaning "hope"); the European attached pressurized module; and a centrifuge.  Click here to explore an ISS virtual-reality model of assembly complete.

Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin of Rosaviakosmos, Expedition Three flight engineer, plays a guitar among stowage bags in the hatch area of the Quest Airlock.

International Space Station operations centers know no sleep and are operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They are continuously interacting, preparing, initiating, monitoring, alerting, reacting, reporting, and directing the mission operations.

Operations centers^_working with space transportation crews on, for instance, the Space Shuttle and with ISS on board crews^_are responsible for the safe and successful preparation and execution of assembly, resupply, and on board operations. All of the international partners share those responsibilities.

An ISS mission control team operates in the NASA Space Station Control Center and in centers operated by the Canadian, European, Japanese, and Russian space agencies. Another team of controllers operates NASA's Payload Operations Integration Center at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. 

NASA Space Station Control Center, Mission Control Center, in Houston is responsible for overall operations and safety, including launch, rendezvous, docking and assembly of NASA elements and vehicles.

The Payload Operations Integration Center at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama handles the execution and coordination of all payload operations, planning, and safety.

Mission Control Center, Moscow, is responsible for the launch, rendezvous, docking, assembly, and control of Russian elements. In coordination with NASA, it directs ISS component launch activities at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Columbus Orbital Facility Control Center in Oberfafenhoffen, Germany, is a European Space Agency-provided ground control facility for the Columbus Orbital Facility and the automated transfer vehicle. It conducts planning, preparation, monitoring, and control of the two spacecraft and their payloads.

Space Station Integration and Control Center, Tsukuba Space Center, Tsukuba Science City, is the National Space Development Agency of Japan control facility for the Japanese experiment module. It is responsible for planning, readying, tracking and controlling the module's operations as well as other Agency ISS vehicles.

CSA Mobile Servicing System Operations Complex, St. Hubert, Quebec, is the Canadian Space Agency's Mobile Servicing Center operational support facility. The Agency monitors and supports the ISS's 58-ft. long robotic arm sfor NASA's Space Station Control Center.

Did you know that you can see the ISS in the night sky as it travels through space? When the ISS is lit by the Sun (and this can happen in orbit while it is night for you on Earth because of its orbital altitude and inclination) and is traveling over your area, it looks like a bright star moving slowly through the sky. You can see many satellites in this way, like the Hubble Space Telescope and even the Shuttle when it is flight! Click here for the viewing tables you will need to determine when the ISS is visible in your hometown!

To find out more about tracking the ISS and to watch a video about it click here.

Click here to take a fun, interactive quiz to test your knowledge about the ISS (from PBS).

Systems and Components

 

Let’s begin with an interactive tutorial from Nova to learn about the basic components of the ISS. You will have three views of the ISS to choose from (above, below, and the robotic arm).  Use your mouse to click on any part of the station to learn about it. When you are done, we will continue on with a more in-depth look at each component. Click here to begin.

From the Discovery Channel On-line check out Who Does What on the ISS and the Construction Timeline!

The ISS will eventually house six laboratory facilities:  the United States laboratory; the European Space Agency’s Columbus Orbital Facility; a Japanese experiment module, with centrifuge facility; and two Russian Research Modules.

The U.S. Laboratory

The U.S. Laboratory module is considered the centerpiece of the International Space Station.  It is a world-class, state-of-the-art research facility in a microgravity environment. The lab provides astronauts a year-round atmosphere for research in many areas including life sciences and microgravity sciences. It is designed to yield a steady stream of findings from hundreds of high-quality science and technology experiments.

The lab module is comprised of three cylindrical sections and two end-cones. Each end-cone contains a hatch opening through which the astronauts will enter and exit the lab. The module measures 28 feet by 14 feet, and weighs 32,000 pounds.

Inside, four "stand-off" structures provide space for power lines, data management systems, vacuum systems, air-conditioning ducts, water lines and more, all supporting the space station's racks. There are 24 racks inside the laboratory module, six on each side. Thirteen are scientific racks dedicated to various science experiments, and 11 racks provide power, cooling water, temperature, and humidity control as well as air revitalization to remove carbon dioxide and replenish oxygen. Each rack is 73 inches tall and 42 inches wide, basically the size of the average household closet. Made with a graphite composite shell, racks weigh around 1,200 pounds each. When it was launched aboard the Space Shuttle (flight 5A), the laboratory module had 5 of the 11 system racks inside it. Then on the following Shuttle flight (flight 5A.1), six additional system racks were delivered in a smaller module called the multipurpose logistics module (MPLM).

The Japanese Laboratory

The Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo", one of the ISS elements, is the first manned facility in which a maximum of four astronauts can perform experimental activities for a long period of time. The Kibo consists of four components: two experimental facilities, the Pressurized Module and Exposed Facility; logistics modules attached to each of them and, a Manipulator to be used for experiments or for ORU change out tasks. The Kibo will be launched and assembled in three separate flights beginning in 2006. The Japanese experiment module has an exposed platform for experiments that require direct contact with the space environment. The module also has a small robotic arm for payload operations on the exposed platform. 

Click to enlarge image. 

The European Laboratory

The science module Columbus is ESA's biggest single contribution to the International Space Station. Currently scheduled to launch in 2006, the 4.5-metre cylindrical module will give an enormous boost to the station's research capabilities. During its 10-year projected lifespan, Earth-based researchers  will be able to conduct thousands of experiments in life sciences, materials science, fluid physics and a whole host of other disciplines.

ESA, which can hold 10 payload racks, is developing a range of racks to offer European scientists across a wide range of disciplines full access to a weightless environment that cannot possibly be duplicated on Earth. Read more about Columbus!

The Russian Modules

The Universal Docking Module, UDM, would serve as a hub for additional modules of the Russian segment. It is intended to dock to the nadir docking port of the Zvezda service module. On the opposite end, the UDM would have a transfer section with docking ports for science modules and Docking Compartment-2. The UDM would also carry a powerful additional life-support system, which would allow longer duration crews onboard the ISS.  Since the mid 1990's, the development of the modules has stalled due to lack of funds.

Integrated Truss Structure

The integrated truss structure, the backbone of International Space Station, is formed by five pre-integrated truss segments. Each segment provides the foundation for subsystem hardware installation, utility distribution power generation, heat rejection, and external payload accommodations.

The first truss segment, the Z1 truss, was the first launched on flight 3a.

The first U.S. solar arrays were temporarily attached to the Z1 a month later on flight 4a. They provide power for the initial work on assembly of the integrated truss structure. When it is completed the truss will be the length of a football field, with its axis perpendicular to the station's main axis.

Wires and cables will snake through the truss to carry energy and information to the station's farthest reaches. It also will house batteries, radiators, antennas, and gyros. The truss includes a mobile transporter, which can be positioned along the truss for robotic assembly and maintenance operations, and is the site of the Canadian mobile servicing system.

In 2002, the center truss segment was attached to the U.S. Laboratory. From there, the station's integrated truss structure will begin extending into space until it reaches its full length of more than 300 ft. Eight Space Shuttle missions will be required to deliver and assemble the structure's 10 pre-integrated truss segments. The missions will be spread over four or five years.

The Zarya control module, also known as the functional cargo block and FGB, was the first component launched for the International Space Station.

This module was designed to provide the station's initial propulsion and power. The 42,600-pound pressurized module was launched on a Russian Proton rocket in November 1998 on flight 1a/r.

The U.S.-funded and Russian-built Zarya, which means 'sunrise', is considered a U.S. component of the station although it was built and launched by Russia. Only weeks after the Zarya reached orbit, the Space Shuttle Endeavour made a rendezvous and attached a U.S.-built connecting module to it called Node 1 on flight 2a. 

The Zarya module is 41.2 feet long and 13.5 feet wide at its widest point. It has an operational lifetime of at least 15 years. Its solar arrays and six nickel-cadmium batteries can provide an average of three kilowatts of electrical power.

Zarya was launched by a three-stage Proton rocket into a 137 by 211 statute mile orbit. After Zarya reached the initial elliptical orbit and separated from the Proton's third stage, a set of preprogrammed commands automatically activated the module's systems and deployed the solar arrays and communications antennas.  The Zarya module provided orientation control, communications and electrical power attached to the passive Node 1 for several months while the station awaited launch of the third component, a Russian-provided crew living quarters and early station core known as the service module or Zvezda. 

The Zvezda enhanced and replaced many functions of the Zarya. Later in the station's assembly sequence, the Zarya module will be used primarily for its storage capacity and external fuel tanks. The Zvezda service module is the first fully Russian contribution to the International Space Station, and it serves as the early cornerstone for the first human habitation of the station. The module provided the early station living quarters, electrical power distribution and life support, data processing, flight control and propulsion systems.

By using the Russian Kurs system, the Zarya performed an automated and remotely piloted rendezvous and docking with Zvezda in orbit. The module's 16 fuel tanks can hold more than six tons of propellant. The attitude control system for the module includes 24 large steering jets and 12 small steering jets. Two large engines are available for reboosting the spacecraft and for making major orbital changes. 

Click here for more videos of the ISS in construction.

The Unity Node

Zvezda Service Module

The Unity Node was delivered by the Space Shuttle with pressurized mating adapter 1 prefitted to its aft port. The Shuttle crew conducted three spacewalks to attach PMA 1 to Zarya. The node serves as a passageway to the U.S. laboratory module. It has six hatches that serve as docking ports for the other modules.

Unity is 18 feet long, 15 feet in diameter and holds four Equipment Racks. It is made of aluminum and contains more than 50,000 mechanical items, 216 lines to carry fluids and gases, and 121 internal and external electrical cables using 6 miles of wire.

The Brazilian EXPRESS Pallet

EXPRESS is the acronym for EXpedite The PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station, provided by the Brazilian Space Agency. The EXPRESS program consists of two separate systems, the EXPRESS rack for pressurized payloads and the EXPRESS pallet for attached payloads.

Attached EXPRESS pallet payloads are located outside of the pressurized volume of the space station on the truss or the Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility (JEMEF). The EXPRESS pallet can be located at any site on the truss segment, and has six robotically replaceable adapters for payloads or payload complements. The crew will interface using robotics for installation and removal of the attached payloads, with no nominal EVA operations anticipated.

The EXPRESS Rack system supports science payloads in several disciplines, including biology, chemistry, physics, ecology and medicine.  With its standardized hardware interfaces and streamlined approach, the EXPRESS Rack enables quick, simple integration of multiple payloads aboard the Station. EXPRESS Racks stay on orbit continually, while experiments are exchanged in and out of the EXPRESS Racks as needed — remaining on the Space Station for three months to several years, depending on the experiment's time requirements.

Each EXPRESS Rack is housed in an International Standard Payload Rack (ISPR) — a refrigerator-size container that acts as the EXPRESS Racks' exterior shell. Each rack can be divided into segments as large as half the entire rack or as small as as a breadbox. EXPRESS Racks 1 and 2 were delivered on STS-100, EXPRESS Racks 4 & 5 were delivered on STS-105.  Rack 3 was delivered on STS-111.  Click here for more images of the ISS.  Click here for more ISS videos from CNN.

Italian Multipurpose Laboratory Modules

The Italian multipurpose laboratory modules are used to carry all pressurized cargo and payloads launched on the Space Shuttle. The Italian Space Agency named the modules after Italian figures of enormous historical significance.  The first is named for Leonardo da Vinci, the extraordinary 16th-century inventor-scientist, civil engineer, architect, artist and military planner and weapons designer.  Raffaello is named for the 16th-century artist Raphaello Sanzio , the legendary Raphael; Donatello, for Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi , the 15th-century artist considered to be one of the greatest sculptors of all time and one of the founders of modern sculpture.

The modules can also carry refrigerator freezers for transporting experiment samples and food to and from the station. Although built in Italy, the logistics modules, technically known as multipurpose logistics modules or MPLMs, are owned by the U.S. and are provided in exchange for Italian access to U.S. research time on the station.   The first MPLM, named Leonardo, was launched on Shuttle mission STS-102 in March 2001. On that flight, Leonardo was filled with equipment and supplies to outfit the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module, which was carried to the station on STS-98. The second module, named Raffaello, was launched on STS-100. The STS-105 crew delivered the Leonardo module for supplies and equipment to the station in August of 2001.

Questions to think about:

Next... ISS Systems (pg 5 of 6)