The International Space Station's Multi-Purpose Logistics Module: Thermal Performance of the First Five Flights

The Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) is the primary carrier for “pressurized” logistics to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Transported in the payload bay of the Space Shuttle, the 15 foot diameter and 20 feet long habitable module is removed and docked to the ISS for unloading and reloading of contents within the ISS shirt sleeve environment. It is then placed back into the Space Shuttle for return to Earth. Within this role, a unique opportunity exists for collection and evaluation of data on the current hardware performance. This data can then be used to tune the current system's performance, as well as determining how future carrier systems can be developed, to provide an optimized hardware and process solution for a space-based logistics transportation system. This paper will focus directly on the thermal performance of the first five MPLM flights, occurring over a fifteen-month period and displayed in Table 1. An overall summary for each mission will be provided along with significant events and details on the MPLM flight performance. Flight performance will include the pre-flight analysis with comparison to the flight data.