BUILDING A SPACE STATION

In the wake of recent delays in the launch of the Russian Service Module, the International Space Station partners diligently continue with assembly plans for this massive satellite. As the station is prepared for its first crew, Aerospace Engineering looks ahead to the remaining assembly tasks planned for this year.

Plans to send a crew to occupy the International Space Station (ISS) this year have been threatened by recent delays in the launching of the Zvezda Service Module. The launch is on hold pending resolution of problems and recovery plans for the Proton booster, which will be used to lift the module into orbit. At press time, ISS managers planned to meet in February or March to determine the most likely launch target date for Zvezda. Revisions to the assembly schedule are expected.

The module, which is similar in layout to the core of the Russian Mir Space Station, will provide the early station living quarters and perform life support, electrical power distribution, data-processing, flight control, and propulsion functions (see Aerospace Engineering, July 1999). The addition of this module to the space station allows the ISS team to continue with the rest of the station's assembly as well as send a crew to live on board and help with assembly operations. At press time, the first ISS crew was scheduled to arrive at the space station sometime this year on board a Russian Soyuz spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazahkstan.