The coming year will be the most challenging ever for construction of the International Space Station. Already more than two-thirds of the way through the assembly of its core structure, international crews face a full and busy construction schedule.
\n
\n
\n2003 will be about power for the Station. Electricity-
\ngenerating systems will almost triple in capacity during the
\nnext 12 months. The Station crew faces a unique challenge,
\nwhile almost continuously rewiring their orbiting home and
\nlaboratory, the electrical work must be done with virtually
\nall-household appliances and computers continuously running
\nwithout interruption.<\/p>\n
\n“The year ahead will be the most complex so far in the
\nhistory of the International Space Station and its
\nconstruction in orbit,” NASA Station Program Manager Bill
\nGerstenmaier said. “The Station literally becomes a new
\nspacecraft with each assembly mission, and that will be true
\nnext year with dramatic changes in the operations of its
\ncooling and power systems as well as in its appearance,” he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\nDuring 2003 three new research facilities will be delivered
\nto the U.S. Destiny Laboratory, bringing the total number of
\nresearch racks on orbit to 10. Approximately 30 experiments
\nare planned on board the Station in 2003. Crewmembers will
\nconduct biology, physics, chemistry, ecology, medicine, and
\nmanufacturing experiments and also study long-term effects
\nof space flight on humans. In addition, the continuous
\ndetailed measurement of the acceleration environment of the
\nStation will be extended to rigorously characterize
\nbackground levels that could affect research data.<\/p>\n
\n2003 is planned to be the final full year of assembly of the
\nStation’s core structure, with orbital assembly of the
\ncomplex scheduled to be well into the home stretch as the
\nyear draws to a close. Five NASA Space Shuttle flights are
\nscheduled to launch more than 80,000 pounds of components,
\nsupplies and experiments to the Station. The Shuttle
\nmissions will launch four new sections of the Station’s
\nbackbone, or truss, to extend its length from the present
\n134 feet to 310 feet by the end of 2003.<\/p>\n
\nThe new truss segments will include two new huge sets of
\nsolar array wings for the complex, totaling almost 6,300
\nsquare feet of surface area containing more than 65,000
\nindividual solar power cells. The new truss segments include
\ngiant rotary joints to allow the tips of the Station
\n“backbone” to continuously move, as the massive panels track
\nthe sun. The increased power will allow scientific
\nexperiments to expand aboard the complex in the years to
\ncome, far surpassing any previous research capability in
\nspace.<\/p>\n
\n“Today’s station, after four years of orbital assembly, is
\nunprecedented and spectacular,” Gerstenmaier said. “But the
\ncomplex in orbit today pales in comparison to what it is
\nplanned to become by early 2004 – a research facility with
\nunmatched capabilities,” he said.<\/p>\n
\nPlans call for astronauts to conduct a world record 24
\nspacewalks next year for Station assembly; 18 of those while
\nthe Shuttle is docked to the Station, and six while the
\nStation is flying solo. 2003 will be the third consecutive
\nyear to set a single-year record for the number of
\nspacewalks. The installation of the new truss segments and
\nunfurling of the arrays also will require unprecedented
\nrobotic operations. Those operations will use both the
\nShuttle and Station arms. The operations will rely heavily
\non the capabilities of the Station’s space railway to move
\nthe Station’s robotic arm along the truss to position new
\ncomponents.<\/p>\n
\nThree Expedition crews will live aboard the station during
\n2003, including the current Expedition Six crew of Commander
\nKen Bowersox, NASA Station Science Officer Don Pettit and
\nFlight Engineer Nikolai Budarin. They will ring in the New
\nYear in orbit. Another 31 people, representing at least five
\nnationalities, are set to visit the Station during 2003
\naboard the Shuttle and aboard Soyuz spacecraft taxi
\nmissions. Those visitors include Educator Astronaut Barbara
\nMorgan, whose inspirational mission in late 2003 will carry
\nstudents to the heights of orbit.<\/p>\n
\nAs NASA looks toward an exciting 2003, a tremendously
\nsuccessful year of Station assembly is closing. Four Shuttle
\nmissions traveled to the station in 2002, delivering almost
\n90,000 pounds of new components.<\/p>\n
\n The deliveries included three new segments of the Station’s
\ntruss backbone. The segments stretch 134 feet across the
\norbiting outpost and incorporate station “air conditioning,”
\nthermal control systems and radiators. The flights also
\ndelivered key components of the first “space railroad,” a
\nrailcar that travels up and down a railway on the truss
\ncarrying a Canadian mobile base for the robotic arm. Also
\ninstalled were two astronaut “handcars” to ease the
\ntransport of spacewalkers and their gear up and down the
\nrailway. Astronauts conducted a record 22 spacewalks during
\n2002.<\/p>\n
\nThe final segment of the Station’s backbone is scheduled for
\nlaunch in January 2004. It will boost the completed length
\nof the truss to 354 feet. The Station’s mass will approach a
\nhalf-million pounds.<\/p>\n
\nA look at the year ahead for the International Space
\nStation:
\n(Russian Progress flights not listed)<\/p>\n
\nShuttle Mission STS-114 (Atlantis)
\nLaunch: March 1, 2003
\nObjectives: ISS ULF 1 \u00ad Deliver new Station crew;
\ndeliver research and logistics equipment
\nand install new Control Moment Gyroscope
\nSpacewalks: Three
\nCrew: Commander Eileen Collins
\n Pilot Jim Kelly
\n Mission Specialist Soichi Noguchi
\n Mission Specialist Steve Robinson<\/p>\n
\n Expedition Seven Crew (Up):
\n Commander Yuri Malenchenko
\n Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri
\n NASA ISS Science Officer Ed Lu<\/p>\n
\n Expedition Six Crew (Down):
\n Commander Ken Bowersox
\n Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin
\n NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit<\/p>\n
\nSoyuz 6
\nLaunch: April 26, 2003
\nObjectives: Deliver fresh Soyuz crew rescue vehicle
\nCrew: Commander Gennady Padalka
\n Flight Engineer Pedro Duque
\n Third crewmember TBD<\/p>\n
\nShuttle Mission STS-115 (Endeavour)
\nLaunch: May 23, 2003
\nObjectives: ISS 12A \u00ad Install Port-side truss section
\n consisting of segments 3 and 4 (P3\/P4),
\n including solar array wings, batteries and
\nelectronics
\nSpacewalks: Four
\nCrew: Commander Brent Jett
\nPilot Christopher Ferguson
\nMission Specialist Dan Burbank
\n Mission Specialist Steve MacLean
\n Mission Specialist Heidemarie Stefanshyn-Piper
\n Mission Specialist Joe Tanner<\/p>\n
\nShuttle Mission STS-116 (Atlantis)
\nLaunch: July 24, 2003
\nObjectives: ISS 12A.1 \u00ad Deliver new station crew;
\ndeliver Portside truss section number 5 (P5)
\nSpacewalks: Four
\nCrew: Commander Terry Wilcutt
\n Pilot Bill Oefelein
\n Mission Specialist Bob Curbeam
\n Mission Specialist Christer Fuglesang<\/p>\n
\n Expedition Eight Crew (Up):
\n Commander Mike Foale
\n Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev
\n NASA ISS Science Officer Bill McArthur<\/p>\n
\n Expedition Seven Crew (Down):
\n Commander Yuri Malenchenko
\n Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri
\n NASA ISS Science Officer Ed Lu<\/p>\n
\nShuttle Mission STS-117 (Endeavour)
\nLaunch: Oct. 2, 2003
\nObjectives: ISS 13A — Deliver starboard-side truss
\n consisting of segments 3 and 4 (S3\/S4),
\nincluding solar array wings, batteries and electronics
\nSpacewalks: Four<\/p>\n
\nCrew: Commander Rick Sturckow
\n Pilot Mark Polansky
\n Mission Specialist Jim Reilly
\n Mission Specialist Rick Mastracchio
\n Mission Specialist Joan Higginbotham
\n Mission Specialist Pat Forrester<\/p>\n
\nSoyuz 7
\nLaunch: Oct. 18, 2003
\nObjectives: Deliver fresh Soyuz crew rescue vehicle
\nCrew: Three-person taxi crew TBD<\/p>\n
\nShuttle Mission STS-118 (Columbia)
\nLaunch: No earlier than Nov. 13, 2003
\nObjectives: ISS 13A.1 \u00ad Deliver Starboard-side truss
\n segment 5 (S5); Educator Astronaut flight
\nSpacewalks: Three
\nCrew: Commander Scott Kelly
\n Pilot Charlie Hobaugh
\n Mission Specialist Scott Parazynski
\n Mission Specialist David Williams
\n Mission Specialist Lisa Nowak
\n Educator Astronaut Barbara Morgan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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