| Revision as of 04:41, 15 March 2019 editThurifer (talk | contribs)384 edits Updated info for today’s launch.Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 00:07, 21 January 2025 edit undoRickyCourtney (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers47,075 edits →Scheduled missions: Add callsign | ||
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| {{Short description|Inhabited space station in low Earth orbit (1998–present)}} | |||
| {{redirect|ISS}} | |||
| {{ |
{{Redirect|ISS}} | ||
| {{Pp-pc|small=yes}} | |||
| {{short description|Habitable artificial satellite in low Earth orbit}} | |||
| {{Use British English|date= |
{{Use British English|date=May 2022}} | ||
| {{Use dmy dates|date= |
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}} | ||
| {{Infobox space station | {{Infobox space station | ||
| | station |
| station = International Space Station (ISS) | ||
| | station_image |
| station_image = The station pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon 1.jpg | ||
| | station_image_alt = A view of the International Space Station. In view are the station's sixteen paired red-coloured main solar array wings, eight on either side of the station, mounted to a central integrated truss structure. Spaced along the truss are ten white radiators. Mounted to the base of the two rightmost main solar arrays pairs, there are two smaller paired light brown-coloured ISS Roll-out Solar Arrays. Attached to the centre of the truss is a cluster of pressurised modules arranged in an elongated T shape. A set of solar arrays are mounted to the module at the aft end of the cluster. | |||
| | station_image_size = 300px | |||
| | station_image_caption = Oblique underside view in November 2021 | |||
| | station_image_alt = A rearward view of the International Space Station backdropped by the limb of the Earth. In view are the station's four large, gold-coloured solar array wings, two on either side of the station, mounted to a central truss structure. Further along the truss are six large, white radiators, three next to each pair of arrays. In between the solar arrays and radiators is a cluster of pressurised modules arranged in an elongated T shape, also attached to the truss. A set of blue solar arrays are mounted to the module at the aft end of the cluster. | |||
| | |
| insignia = ] | ||
| | insignia_caption = ] emblem with flags of the original signatory states<ref>{{Cite web |title=ISS logos executive summary |url=https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2012/02/ISS_logos_executive_summary |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323041817/https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2012/02/ISS_logos_executive_summary |archive-date=23 Mar 2024 |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=www.esa.int |publisher=] |language=en}}</ref> | |||
| | extra_image_alt = The flags of the participating countries: United States, United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Brazil, Japan, Norway, and Russia. | |||
| | sign = ''Alpha'', ''Station'' | |||
| | station_image_caption = The International Space Station on 23 May 2010 as seen from the departing {{OV|104}} during ] | |||
| | |
| crew = {{Unbulleted indent list | ||
| | <u>'''Expedition'''</u> | |||
| | NSSDC_ID = 1998-067A | |||
| | ]: ] | |||
| | SATCAT = 25544 | |||
| | Currently aboard: 7 (], ]) | |||
| | sign = ''Alpha'', ''Station'' | |||
| | ]: ] (]) | |||
| | crew = Fully crewed: 6 <br /> Currently aboard: 6 <br /> (]) | |||
| | <u>'''Non-expedition'''</u> | |||
| | launch = {{start date and age|1998|11|20|df=yes}} | |||
| | Visitors: 0<!--Do not remove, just set to zero--> | |||
| | launch_pad = {{plainlist| | |||
| }} | |||
| * {{nowrap|] ] and ]}} | |||
| | launch = {{start date and age|1998|11|20|p=yes|df=yes}} | |||
| * {{nowrap|] ]}} | |||
| | launch_pad = {{Unbulleted indent list | |||
| | ], Sites ], ], ] and ] | |||
| | ], ] | |||
| | ], ] and ] | |||
| }} | |||
| | reentry = <!--{{end-date|df=yes|}}--> | |||
| | mass = {{cvt|450000|kg|lb}}<ref name="esa-iss">{{Cite web|url=https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/International_Space_Station/ISS_International_Space_Station|title=ISS: International Space Station|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810145735/https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/International_Space_Station/ISS_International_Space_Station|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref> | |||
| | length = {{cvt|358|ft|order=flip}} (overall), {{cvt|310|ft|order=flip}} (truss)<ref name="ISS_stats">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/facts-and-figures|title=About the Space Station: Facts and Figures|last=Garcia|first=Mark|date=5 January 2023|publisher=]|access-date=13 January 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206183926/https://www.nasa.gov/feature/facts-and-figures/|archive-date=6 February 2023}}</ref> | |||
| | width = {{cvt|239|ft|order=flip}} (solar array)<ref name="ISS_stats" /> | |||
| | volume = {{cvt|35491|cuft|order=flip}}<ref name="ISS_stats" /> | |||
| | pressure = {{convert|1|atm|kPa psi|1|abbr=on|lk=on}} 79% nitrogen, 21% oxygen | |||
| | perigee = {{cvt|413|km|mi|1}} ]<ref name="heavens-above">{{cite web|last=Peat|first=Chris|date=21 May 2021|title=ISS – Orbit|url=http://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=25544|access-date=21 May 2021|website=]|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225055512/https://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=25544|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| | apogee = {{cvt|422|km|mi|1}} AMSL<ref name="heavens-above" /> | |||
| | inclination = 51.64°<ref name="heavens-above" /> | |||
| | speed = {{convert|27600|km/h|km/s km/h mph|abbr=on|disp=out|sigfig=3}}<ref name="spotthestation">{{Cite web|url=https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/tracking_map.cfm|title=Live Space Station Tracking Map|publisher=]|access-date=2 May 2024|archive-date=10 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510180547/https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/tracking_map.cfm|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| | period = 92.9 minutes<ref name="satellite-tracking">{{cite web|last=Holman|first=Joseph|date=12 October 2022|title=ISS (ZARYA)|url=https://karhukoti.com/webtracker?s=25544|access-date=12 October 2022|publisher=Satellite Tracking|archive-date=12 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012161445/https://karhukoti.com/webtracker?s=25544|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| | orbits_day = 15.5<ref name="heavens-above" /> | |||
| | in_orbit = {{time interval|20 November 1998 06:40|show=ymd|sep=,}} as of {{TODAY}} | |||
| | occupied = {{time interval|2 November 2000 09:21|show=ymd|sep=,}} as of {{TODAY}} | |||
| | orbits = 141,117 | |||
| {{as of|2023|08|lc=y}}<ref name="ARISS TLE"/> | |||
| | decay = {{cvt|2|km/month|mi/month}} | |||
| | orbit_epoch = 16 August 16:19:30<ref name="ARISS TLE">{{cite web|date=16 August 2023|title=ARISS TLE|url=https://live.ariss.org/tle/|access-date=16 August 2023|website=ARISS TLE|archive-date=2 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402085409/https://live.ariss.org/tle/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| | apsis = gee | |||
| | as_of = 22 December 2022<br />(unless noted otherwise) | |||
| | stats_ref = <ref name="ISS_stats" /><ref name="heavens-above" /><ref name="OnOrbit" /><ref name="sts-132-press-kit">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/451029main-sts132-press-kit2.pdf|title=STS-132 Press Kit|date=7 May 2010|publisher=]|access-date=19 June 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012175219/https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/451029main-sts132-press-kit2.pdf|archive-date=12 October 2023}}</ref><ref name="sts-133-fd04">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/521138main_fd04_ep.pdf|title=STS-133 FD 04 Execute Package|date=27 February 2011|publisher=]|access-date=27 February 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127012806/https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/521138main_fd04_ep.pdf|archive-date=27 November 2020}}</ref> | |||
| | configuration_image = File:ISS configuration 2022-12 en.svg | |||
| | configuration_alt = The components of the ISS in an exploded diagram, with modules on-orbit highlighted in orange. | |||
| | configuration_caption = Station elements {{As of|2022|12|lc=on}}<br />(]) | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| | reentry = <!--{{end-date|df=yes|}}--> | |||
| | mass = ≈ {{convert|419725|kg|lb|abbr=on}}<ref name="ISS_stats">{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/facts-and-figures |title=About the Space Station: Facts and Figures |last=Garcia |first=Mark |publisher=] |date=9 May 2018 |accessdate=21 June 2018}}</ref> | |||
| | length = {{convert|72.8|m|ft|abbr=on}} | |||
| | width = {{convert|108.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} | |||
| | height = ≈ {{convert|20|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} <br /> <small>nadir–zenith, arrays forward–aft</small> <br /> <small>(27 November 2009){{Update after|2010|05|23|reason=MRM-1 & MRM-2}}</small> | |||
| | volume = {{convert|32898|cuft|m3|order=flip|sigfig=5|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2wdNxCvLiw&t=2m14s |title=Space to Ground: Friending the ISS: 06/03/2016 |publisher=NASA |work=YouTube.com |date=3 June 2016}}</ref> <br /> <small>(28 May 2016)</small> | |||
| | pressure = {{convert|101.3|kPa|inHg atm|1|abbr=on|lk=on}} | |||
| | perigee = {{convert|403|km|mi|abbr=on}} ]<ref name="heavens-above"/> | |||
| | apogee = {{convert|408|km|mi|abbr=on}} ]<ref name="heavens-above"/> | |||
| | inclination = 51.64 ]<ref name="heavens-above"/> | |||
| | speed = {{convert|7.66|km/s|km/h mph|abbr=on|disp=x|<ref name="heavens-above"/><br /><small>(|)</small>}} | |||
| | period = 92.68 minutes<ref name="heavens-above"/> | |||
| | orbits_day = 15.54<ref name="heavens-above"/> | |||
| | in_orbit = {{time interval|20 November 1998 06:40|show=ymd|sep=,}} <br /> <small>({{TODAY}})</small> | |||
| | occupied = {{time interval|2 November 2000 09:21|show=ymd|sep=,}} <br /> <small>({{TODAY}})</small> | |||
| | orbits = 113,456 {{as of|2018|09|lc=y}}<ref name="heavens-above"/> | |||
| | decay = 2 km/month | |||
| | orbit_epoch = 28 November 2018, 14:37:49 UTC<ref name="heavens-above">{{cite web |url=http://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=25544 |title=ISS – Orbit |last=Peat |first=Chris |website=] |date=28 September 2018 |accessdate=28 September 2018}}</ref> | |||
| The '''International Space Station''' ('''ISS''') is a large ] that was ] and is maintained in ] by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: ] (United States), ] (Russia), ] (Europe), ] (Japan), and ] (Canada). As the largest space station ever constructed, it primarily serves as a platform for conducting scientific experiments in ] and studying the ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 May 2023 |title=ISS |url=https://www.nasa.gov/reference/international-space-station/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516133907/https://www.nasa.gov/reference/international-space-station/ |archive-date=16 May 2024 |access-date=9 May 2024 |website=nasa.gov}}</ref> | |||
| | Time_Zone = ] 0 | |||
| | as_of = 9 March 2011<br />(unless noted otherwise) | |||
| | stats_ref = <ref name="ISS_stats" /><ref name="heavens-above" /><ref name="OnOrbit" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/451029main_sts132_press_kit.pdf |publisher=NASA |accessdate=19 June 2010 |title=STS-132 Press Kit |date=7 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/521138main_fd04_ep.pdf |publisher=NASA |date=27 February 2011 |accessdate=27 February 2011 |title=STS-133 FD 04 Execute Package}}</ref> | |||
| | configuration_image = ISS configuration 2017-06 en.svg | |||
| | configuration_size = 300px | |||
| | configuration_alt = The components of the ISS in an exploded diagram, with modules on-orbit highlighted in orange, and those still awaiting launch in blue or pink | |||
| | configuration_caption = Station elements {{As of|2017|06|lc=on}} <br /> (]) | |||
| }} | |||
| The station is divided into two main sections: the ] (ROS), developed by Roscosmos, and the ] (USOS), built by NASA, ESA, JAXA, and CSA. A striking feature of the ISS is the ], which connect the station’s vast system of ]s and ] to its pressurized modules. These modules support diverse functions, including scientific research, crew habitation, storage, spacecraft control, and airlock operations. The ISS has eight ] for visiting spacecraft. The station orbits the Earth at an average altitude of {{convert|400|km|abbr=off}}<ref>{{cite web|date=14 February 2019|title=NASA – Higher Altitude Improves Station's Fuel Economy|url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition26/iss_altitude.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225215323/https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition26/iss_altitude.html|archive-date=25 December 2021|access-date=29 May 2019|website=nasa.gov}}</ref> and circles the Earth in roughly 93 minutes, completing {{Orbit|daily orbits|15.5}} orbits per day.<ref name="tracking2">{{Cite web|date=15 December 2008|title=Current ISS Tracking data|url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225022741/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/index.html|archive-date=25 December 2015|access-date=28 January 2009|publisher=]}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> | |||
| The '''International Space Station''' ('''ISS''') is a ], or a habitable ], in ]. Its first component was launched into orbit in 1998, with the first long-term residents arriving in November 2000.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/International_Space_Station/First_crew_starts_living_and_working_on_the_International_Space_Station |work=European Space Agency |title=First crew starts living and working on the International Space Station |date=31 October 2000}}</ref> It has been inhabited continuously since that date.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/oct-31-2000-launch-of-first-crew-to-international-space-station |title=Oct. 31, 2000, Launch of First Crew to International Space Station |work=NASA |date=28 October 2015}}</ref> The last pressurised module was fitted in 2011, and an experimental ] was added in 2016. The station is expected to operate until 2030.<ref name=nelson-20181020 /> Development and assembly of the station continues, with several new elements scheduled for launch in 2019. The ISS is the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit and can often be seen with the ] from Earth.<ref>{{cite web |title=Central Research Institute for Machine Building (FGUP TSNIIMASH) Control of manned and unmanned space vehicles from Mission Control Centre Moscow |publisher=Russian Federal Space Agency |url=ftp://130.206.92.88/Espacio/Mesa%20Redonda%205%20-%20R3%20-%20TSNIIMASH%20-%20V%20M%20IVANOV.pdf |accessdate=26 September 2011}}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/help.html |title=NASA Sightings Help Page |publisher=Spaceflight.nasa.gov |date=30 November 2011 |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> The ISS consists of pressurised habitation modules, structural trusses, ], radiators, docking ports, experiment bays and robotic arms. ISS components have been launched by Russian ] and ] rockets and American ]s.<ref name="ISSBook">{{cite book |url={{Google books|VsTdriusftgC|page=|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}} |title=The International Space Station: Building for the Future |publisher=Springer-Praxis |first=John E. |last=Catchpole |date=17 June 2008 |isbn=978-0-387-78144-0}}</ref> | |||
| The ] combines two previously planned crewed Earth-orbiting stations: the United States' ] and the Soviet Union's'' ]''. The ] was launched in 1998, with major components delivered by ] and ] rockets and the ]. Long-term occupancy began on 2 November 2000, with the arrival of the ] crew. Since then, the ISS has remained continuously inhabited for {{age in years and days|2 November 2000|sep=and}}, the longest continuous human presence in space. {{As of|2024|03|bare=yes|pre=By}}, 279 individuals from 22 countries had visited the station.<ref>{{Cite web|title=International Space Station Visitors by Country – NASA|url=https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-visitors-by-country/|access-date=2023-03-19|archive-date=23 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123004512/https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-visitors-by-country/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| The ISS serves as a ] and ] research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name="ISS overview">{{cite web |url=http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/ISS_OVR/index.htm |title=International Space Station Overview |publisher=ShuttlePressKit.com |date=3 June 1999 |accessdate=17 February 2009}}</ref><ref name="NASA Fields of Research">{{cite web |url=http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/A-fieldsresearch/index.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123150641/http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/A-fieldsresearch/index.html |archivedate=23 January 2008 |title=Fields of Research |date=26 June 2007 |publisher=NASA}}</ref><ref name="NASA ISS Goals">{{cite web |url=http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/B-gettingonboard/index.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208091537/http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/B-gettingonboard/index.html |archivedate=8 December 2007 |title=Getting on Board |date=26 June 2007 |publisher=NASA}}</ref> The station is suited for the testing of spacecraft systems and equipment required for missions to the Moon and Mars.<ref name="ResProg">{{cite web |url=http://spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/Advanced/ISSResearch/ |title=ISS Research Program |publisher=NASA |accessdate=27 February 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213140014/http://spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/Advanced/ISSResearch/ |archivedate=13 February 2009}}</ref> The ISS ] of between {{convert|330|and|435|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} by means of reboost manoeuvres using the engines of the '']'' module or visiting spacecraft. It circles the Earth in roughly 92 minutes and completes {{Orbit|daily orbits|15.5}} orbits per day.<ref name="tracking" /> | |||
| Future plans for the ISS include the addition of at least one module, ]'s ]. The station is expected to remain operational until the end of 2030, after which it will be de-orbited using ].<ref name=":2b">{{Cite web|title=NASA Selects International Space Station US Deorbit Vehicle – NASA|url=https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-international-space-station-us-deorbit-vehicle/|access-date=2024-06-26}}</ref> | |||
| The ] is a joint project between five participating space agencies: ] (]), ] (]), ] (]), ] (]), and ] (]).<ref name="ISSRG" /><ref name="PartStates">{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/esaHS/partstates.html |title=Human Spaceflight and Exploration—European Participating States |accessdate=17 January 2009 |publisher=European Space Agency (ESA) |year=2009}}</ref> The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements.<ref name="ESA-IGA">{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/International_Space_Station/International_Space_Station_legal_framework |title=International Space Station legal framework |publisher=European Space Agency (ESA) |accessdate=21 February 2015 |date=19 November 2013}}</ref> The station is divided into two sections, the ] (ROS) and the ] (USOS), which is shared by many nations. {{asof|2018|January}}, operations of the American segment were funded until 2025.<ref name="trump-budget-request" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1003/11station/ |title=Space station partners set 2028 as certification goal |last=Clark |first=Stephen |date=11 March 2010 |work=Spaceflight Now |accessdate=1 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/02/29/science-international-space-station.html |work=CBC News |title=Canada's space station commitment renewed |date=29 February 2012}}</ref> Roscosmos has endorsed the continued operation of ISS through 2024,<ref name="sn20150225" /> but has proposed using elements of the Russian segment to construct a new Russian space station called ].<ref name="moscow20141117">{{cite news |url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/russia-may-be-planning-national-space-station-to-replace-iss/511299.html |title=Russia May Be Planning National Space Station to Replace ISS |work=The Moscow Times |first=Matthew |last=Bodner |date=17 November 2014 |accessdate=3 March 2015}}</ref> In December 2018, the ] extended ISS funding until 2030.<ref name=nelson-20181020>{{cite tweet |user=SenBillNelson |author-link=Bill Nelson |number=1075840067569139712 |title=The Senate just passed my bill to help commercial space companies launch more than one rocket a day from Florida! This is an exciting bill that will help create jobs and keep rockets roaring from the Cape. It also extends the International Space Station to 2030! |date=20 December 2018 |access-date=21 December 2018}}</ref> | |||
| == Conception == | |||
| The ISS is the ninth space station to be inhabited by crews, following the Soviet and later Russian '']'', '']'', and '']'' stations as well as '']'' from the US. The station has been continuously occupied for {{age in years and days|2 November 2000|sep=and}} since the arrival of ] on 2 November 2000. This is the longest continuous human presence in ], having surpassed the previous record of {{age in years and days|5 September 1989|28 August 1999|sep=and}} held by ''Mir''. It has been visited by astronauts, cosmonauts and ]s from ]. After the American ] programme ended in 2011, ] became the only provider of transport for astronauts at the ISS. | |||
| {{Excerpt|International Space Station programme#Conception}} | |||
| The station is serviced by a variety of visiting spacecraft: the Russian ] and ], the American ] and ], the Japanese ],<ref name="ISSRG" /> and formerly the American ] and the European ]. The Dragon spacecraft allows the return of pressurised cargo to Earth (]), which is used for example to repatriate scientific experiments for further analysis. The Soyuz return capsule has minimal downmass capability next to the astronauts. | |||
| {{TOC limit|limit=2}} | |||
| ==Purpose== | ==Purpose== | ||
| The ISS was originally intended to be a laboratory, observatory, and factory while providing transportation, maintenance, and a ] staging base for possible future missions to the Moon, Mars, and asteroids. However, not all of the uses envisioned in the initial ] between ] and ] have been realised.<ref name="RSA-MOU">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/nasa_rsa.html|title=Memorandum of Understanding Between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States of America and the Russian Space Agency Concerning Cooperation on the Civil International Space Station|publisher=]|access-date=19 April 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151215114755/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/nasa_rsa.html|archive-date=15 December 2015}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> In the ], the ISS was given additional roles of serving commercial, diplomatic,<ref name="payette-2012">{{Cite journal|url=https://www.sciencediplomacy.org/article/2012/research-and-diplomacy-350-kilometers-above-earth|title=Research and Diplomacy 350 Kilometers above the Earth: Lessons from the International Space Station|last=Payette|first=Julie|date=10 December 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306143438/https://www.sciencediplomacy.org/article/2012/research-and-diplomacy-350-kilometers-above-earth|archive-date=6 March 2013|issue=4|journal=Science & Diplomacy|volume=1}}</ref> and educational purposes.<ref name="USNSP">{{Cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/national_space_policy_6-28-10.pdf|title=National Space Policy of the United States of America|date=28 June 2010|publisher=]|access-date=20 July 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027102640/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/national_space_policy_6-28-10.pdf|archive-date=27 October 2023}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> | |||
| ===Scientific research=== | ===Scientific research=== | ||
| {{Main|Scientific research on the International Space Station}} | {{Main|Scientific research on the International Space Station}} | ||
| {{multiple image |
{{multiple image | ||
| | align = right | |||
| |image1=Iss030e015472 Edit.jpg |caption1=] photographed by ] commander ] | |||
| | total_width = 300 | |||
| |image2=ISS-08 Michael Foale conducts an inspection of the Microgravity Science Glovebox.jpg |caption2=] Commander and Science Officer ] conducts an inspection of the ] | |||
| | image1 = Iss030e015472 Edit.jpg | |||
| | caption1 = ] photographed during ] | |||
| | image2 = ISS-08 Michael Foale conducts an inspection of the Microgravity Science Glovebox.jpg | |||
| | caption2 = ] conducts an inspection of the ] during ]. | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{multiple image |
{{multiple image | ||
| | align = right | |||
| |image1=STS-134 EVA4 view to the Space Shuttle Endeavour.jpg |caption1=Fisheye view of several labs | |||
| | total_width = 300 | |||
| |image2=NanoRacksCubeSatLaunch ISS038-E-056389.jpg |caption2=]s are deployed by the ] | |||
| | image1 = STS-134 EVA4 view to the Space Shuttle Endeavour.jpg | |||
| | caption1 = Fisheye view of several labs and the Space Shuttle | |||
| | image2 = NanoRacksCubeSatLaunch ISS038-E-056389.jpg | |||
| | caption2 = ]s are deployed by the ]. | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| The ISS provides a platform to conduct scientific research. Small |
The ISS provides a platform to conduct scientific research, with power, data, cooling, and crew available to support experiments.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Paravano |first1=Alessandro |last2=Locatelli |first2=Giorgio |last3=Trucco |first3=Paolo |date=2024 |title=Creating and Claiming Social Value by Joining the Governance of Science-Driven Capital Projects: An Investigation in the New Space Economy |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10598303 |journal=IEEE Engineering Management Review |pages=1–44 |doi=10.1109/EMR.2024.3428327 |issn=0360-8581|doi-access=free }}</ref> Small uncrewed spacecraft can also provide platforms for experiments, especially those involving zero gravity and exposure to space, but space stations offer a long-term environment where studies can be performed potentially for decades<!--<ref name="jaxa">{{Cite web|url=https://iss.jaxa.jp/iss/doc01_e.html|title=What is International Space Station?|date=19 January 2004|publisher=iss.jaxa.jp|access-date=27 May 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730041558/https://iss.jaxa.jp/iss/doc01_e.html|archive-date=30 July 2023}}</ref>-->, combined with ready access by human researchers.<ref name="10th">{{Cite press release|url=https://www3.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/nov/HQ_08-296_ISS_10th_Anniversary.html|title=Nations Around the World Mark 10th Anniversary of International Space Station|last1=Trinidad|first1=Katherine|last2=Humphries|first2=Kelly|date=17 November 2008|publisher=]|id=08-296|access-date=6 March 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521030300/https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/nov/HQ_08-296_ISS_10th_Anniversary.html|archive-date=21 May 2022}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref name="Worldbook at NASA" /> | ||
| The ISS simplifies individual experiments by |
The ISS simplifies individual experiments by allowing groups of experiments to share the same launches and crew time. Research is conducted in a wide variety of fields, including ], ], ]s, ], ], ], and ] including ] and the ]s.<ref name="NASA Fields of Research">{{cite web|date=26 June 2007|title=Fields of Research|url=http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/A-fieldsresearch/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123150641/http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/A-fieldsresearch/index.html|archive-date=23 January 2008|publisher=NASA}}</ref><ref name="NASA ISS Goals">{{Cite web|date=26 June 2007|title=Getting on Board|url=http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/B-gettingonboard/index.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208091537/http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/B-gettingonboard/index.html|archive-date=8 December 2007|publisher=]}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|year=2008|title=Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI)|url=http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/forefront/2009/ueno/index.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722111152/http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/forefront/2009/ueno/index.shtml|archive-date=22 July 2011|access-date=12 March 2011|publisher=JAXA}}</ref><ref name="esa-20110311">{{Cite web|url=https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Research/SOLAR_three_years_observing_and_ready_for_solar_maximum|title=SOLAR: three years observing and ready for solar maximum|date=11 March 2011|publisher=]|access-date=4 June 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131833/https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Research/SOLAR_three_years_observing_and_ready_for_solar_maximum|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref> Scientists on Earth have timely access to the data and can suggest experimental modifications to the crew. If follow-on experiments are necessary, the routinely scheduled launches of resupply craft allows new hardware to be launched with relative ease.<ref name="Worldbook at NASA" /> Crews fly ] of several months' duration, providing approximately 160 man-hours per week of labour with a crew of six. However, a considerable amount of crew time is taken up by station maintenance.<ref name="Science in School">{{Citation|url=https://www.scienceinschool.org/article/2009/the-international-space-station-life-in-space/|title=The International Space Station: life in space|last1=Hartevelt-Velani|first1=Shamim|last2=Walker|first2=Carl|last3=Elmann-Larsen|first3=Benny|date=23 November 2009|publisher=Science in School|access-date=17 February 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203232623/https://www.scienceinschool.org/article/2009/the-international-space-station-life-in-space/|archive-date=3 February 2023|issue=10}}</ref> | ||
| Perhaps the most notable ISS experiment is the ] (AMS), which is intended to detect dark matter and answer other fundamental questions about our universe. According to NASA, the AMS is as important as the ]. Currently docked on station, it could not have been easily accommodated on a free flying satellite platform because of its power and bandwidth needs.<ref name="nasa-20110318">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/amsprocessing.html|title=AMS to Focus on Invisible Universe|date=18 March 2011|publisher=]|access-date=8 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305123234/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/amsprocessing.html|archive-date=5 March 2023}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref name="nasa-20090814">{{Cite web|url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2009/14aug_ams/|title=In Search of Antimatter Galaxies|date=14 August 2009|publisher=]|access-date=8 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114162151/https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2009/14aug_ams/|archive-date=14 January 2023}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> On 3 April 2013, scientists reported that hints of ] may have been detected by the AMS.<ref name="APS-20130403">{{Cite journal|url=https://boa.unimib.it/bitstream/10281/44680/1/2013_PhysRevLett.110.141102_positron_fraction.pdf|title=First Result from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station: Precision Measurement of the Positron Fraction in Primary Cosmic Rays of 0.5–350 GeV|last=Aguilar, M. et al. (AMS Collaboration)|date=3 April 2013|page=141102|bibcode=2013PhRvL.110n1102A|doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.141102|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810132812/https://boa.unimib.it/bitstream/10281/44680/1/2013_PhysRevLett.110.141102_positron_fraction.pdf|archive-date=10 August 2023|journal=]|volume=110|issue=14|pmid=25166975|doi-access=free|issn=0031-9007}}</ref><ref name="AMS-20130403">{{cite web|last=Staff|date=3 April 2013|title=First Result from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Experiment|url=http://www.ams02.org/2013/04/first-results-from-the-alpha-magnetic-spectrometer-ams-experiment/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408185229/http://www.ams02.org/2013/04/first-results-from-the-alpha-magnetic-spectrometer-ams-experiment/|archive-date=8 April 2013|access-date=3 April 2013|website=AMS Collaboration}}</ref><ref name="AP-20130403">{{Cite news|last1=Heilprin|first1=John|last2=Borenstein|first2=Seth|date=3 April 2013|title=Scientists find hint of dark matter from cosmos|agency=Associated Press|url=http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130403/DA5E6JAG3.html|url-status=dead|access-date=3 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510152050/http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130403/DA5E6JAG3.html|archive-date=10 May 2013}}</ref><ref name="BBC-20130403">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22016504|title=Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer zeroes in on dark matter|last=Amos|first=Jonathan|date=3 April 2013|access-date=3 April 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812222642/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22016504|archive-date=12 August 2023|publisher=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="NASA-20130403">{{Cite press release|url=https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-tv-briefing-discusses-alpha-magnetic-spectrometer-results/|title=NASA TV Briefing Discusses Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Results|last1=Perrotto|first1=Trent J.|last2=Byerly|first2=Josh|publisher=]|id=M13-054|access-date=3 April 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109114859/https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-tv-briefing-discusses-alpha-magnetic-spectrometer-results/|archive-date=9 November 2023}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref name="NYT-20130403">{{Cite news|last=Overbye|first=Dennis|date=3 April 2013|title=Tantalizing New Clues into the Mysteries of Dark Matter|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/science/space/new-clues-to-the-mystery-of-dark-matter.html|url-status=live|access-date=3 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820032900/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/science/space/new-clues-to-the-mystery-of-dark-matter.html|archive-date=20 August 2017}}</ref> According to the scientists, "The first results from the space-borne Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer confirm an unexplained excess of high-energy positrons in Earth-bound cosmic rays".{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} | |||
| The space environment is hostile to life. Unprotected presence in space is characterised by an intense radiation field (consisting primarily of protons and other subatomic charged particles from the ], in addition to ]s), high vacuum, extreme temperatures, and microgravity.<ref name="Space Microbiology">{{ |
The space environment is hostile to life. Unprotected presence in space is characterised by an intense radiation field (consisting primarily of protons and other subatomic charged particles from the ], in addition to ]s), high vacuum, extreme temperatures, and microgravity.<ref name="Space Microbiology">{{Cite journal|last1=Horneck|first1=Gerda|last2=Klaus|first2=David M.|last3=Mancinelli|first3=Rocco L.|date=March 2010|title=Space Microbiology|url=http://syntheticbiology.arc.nasa.gov/files/SpaceMicrobiology%20MMBR%201.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews|publisher=]|volume=74|issue=1|pages=121–156|bibcode=2010MMBR...74..121H|doi=10.1128/MMBR.00016-09|pmc=2832349|pmid=20197502|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830095643/http://syntheticbiology.arc.nasa.gov/files/SpaceMicrobiology%20MMBR%201.pdf|archive-date=30 August 2011|access-date=4 June 2011}} See Space Environment on p. 122.</ref> Some simple forms of life called ]s,<ref name="Beer microbes">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11039206|title=Beer microbes live 553 days outside ISS|last=Amos|first=Jonathan|date=23 August 2010|access-date=4 June 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811163449/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-11039206|archive-date=11 August 2023|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> as well as small invertebrates called ]s<ref name="Waterbears">{{Cite journal|last=Ledford|first=Heidi|date=8 September 2008|title=Spacesuits optional for 'water bears'|journal=]|doi=10.1038/news.2008.1087}}</ref> can survive in this environment in an extremely dry state through ]. | ||
| Medical research improves knowledge about the effects of long-term space exposure on the human body, including ], ], and fluid shift. |
Medical research improves knowledge about the effects of long-term space exposure on the human body, including ], ], and fluid shift. These data will be used to determine whether high duration ] and ] are feasible. In 2006, data on bone loss and muscular atrophy suggested that there would be a significant risk of fractures and movement problems if astronauts landed on a planet after a lengthy interplanetary cruise, such as the six-month interval required to ].<ref name="JCB">{{Cite book|first=Jay|last=Buckey|title=Space Physiology|date=23 February 2006|publisher=Oxford University Press USA|isbn=978-0-19-513725-5}}</ref><ref name="newscientist-20090722">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17476-ion-engine-could-one-day-power-39-day-trips-to-mars/|title=Ion engine could one day power 39-day trips to Mars|last=Grossman|first=List|date=22 July 2009|access-date=8 January 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015103957/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17476-ion-engine-could-one-day-power-39-day-trips-to-mars/|archive-date=15 October 2023|magazine=]}}</ref> | ||
| Medical studies are conducted aboard the ISS on behalf of the ] (NSBRI). Prominent among these is the ] study in which astronauts perform ultrasound scans under the guidance of remote experts. The study considers the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions in space. Usually, there is no physician on board the ISS and diagnosis of medical conditions is a challenge. It is anticipated that remotely guided ultrasound scans will have application on Earth in emergency and rural care situations where access to a trained physician is difficult.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/ADUM.html |date=1 May 2009 |accessdate=1 October 2009 |author=Brooke Boen |publisher=NASA |title=Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity (ADUM) |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029061057/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/ADUM.html |archivedate=29 October 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=A Pilot Study of Comprehensive Ultrasound Education at the Wayne State University School of Medicine |journal=Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine |first1=Sishir |last1=Rao |first2=Lodewijk |last2=van Holsbeeck |first3=Joseph L. |last3=Musial |first4=Alton |last4=Parker |first5=J. Antonio |last5=Bouffard |first6=Patrick |last6=Bridge |first7=Matt |last7=Jackson |first8=Scott A. |last8=Dulchavsky |display-authors=1 |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=745–749 |date=May 2008 |pmid=18424650 |doi=10.7863/jum.2008.27.5.745}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Evaluation of Shoulder Integrity in Space: First Report of Musculoskeletal US on the International Space Station |journal=Radiology |first1=E. Michael |last1=Fincke |first2=Gennady |last2=Padalka |first3=Doohi |last3=Lee |first4=Marnix |last4=van Holsbeeck |first5=Ashot E. |last5=Sargsyan |first6=Douglas R. |last6=Hamilton |first7=David |last7=Martin |first8=Shannon L. |last8=Melton |first9=Kellie |last9=McFarlin |first10=Scott A. |last10=Dulchavsky |display-authors=1 |volume=234 |issue=2 |pages=319–322 |date=February 2005 |pmid=15533948 |doi=10.1148/radiol.2342041680}}</ref> | |||
| Medical studies are conducted aboard the ISS on behalf of the ] (NSBRI). Prominent among these is the ] study in which astronauts perform ultrasound scans under the guidance of remote experts. The study considers the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions in space. Usually, there is no physician on board the ISS and diagnosis of medical conditions is a challenge. It is anticipated that remotely guided ultrasound scans will have application on Earth in emergency and rural care situations where access to a trained physician is difficult.<ref name="nasa-adum">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/ADUM.html|title=Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity (ADUM)|last=Boen|first=Brooke|date=1 May 2009|publisher=]|access-date=1 October 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029061057/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/ADUM.html|archive-date=29 October 2009}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rao|first1=Sishir|last2=van Holsbeeck|first2=Lodewijk|last3=Musial|first3=Joseph L.|last4=Parker|first4=Alton|last5=Bouffard|first5=J. Antonio|last6=Bridge|first6=Patrick|last7=Jackson|first7=Matt|last8=Dulchavsky|first8=Scott A.|display-authors=1|date=May 2008|title=A Pilot Study of Comprehensive Ultrasound Education at the Wayne State University School of Medicine|journal=Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine|volume=27|issue=5|pages=745–749|doi=10.7863/jum.2008.27.5.745|pmid=18424650|s2cid=30566494|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fincke|first1=E. Michael|last2=Padalka|first2=Gennady|last3=Lee|first3=Doohi|last4=van Holsbeeck|first4=Marnix|last5=Sargsyan|first5=Ashot E.|last6=Hamilton|first6=Douglas R.|last7=Martin|first7=David|last8=Melton|first8=Shannon L.|last9=McFarlin|first9=Kellie |last10=Dulchavsky |first10=Scott A.|display-authors=1|date=February 2005|title=Evaluation of Shoulder Integrity in Space: First Report of Musculoskeletal US on the International Space Station|journal=Radiology|volume=234|issue=2|pages=319–322|doi=10.1148/radiol.2342041680|pmid=15533948}}</ref> | |||
| ====Free fall==== | |||
| Gravity at the altitude of the ISS is approximately 90% as strong as at Earth's surface, but objects in orbit are in a continuous state of ], resulting in an apparent state of weightlessness.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is-microgravity-58.html |title=What Is Microgravity? |series=NASA Knows! (Grades 5-8) |editor-first=Sandra |editor-last=May |date=15 February 2012 |accessdate=3 September 2018}}</ref> This perceived weightlessness is disturbed by five separate effects:<ref name="gravity">{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Human_Spaceflight_Research/European_User_Guide_to_Low-Gravity_Platforms |title=European Users Guide to Low Gravity Platforms |accessdate=22 March 2013 |date=6 December 2005 |publisher=European Space Agency |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402225556/http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Human_Spaceflight_Research/European_User_Guide_to_Low-Gravity_Platforms |archivedate=2 April 2013}}</ref> | |||
| In August 2020, scientists reported that ] from Earth, particularly '']'' bacteria, which is highly resistant to ]s, were found to survive for three years in ], based on studies conducted on the International Space Station. These findings supported the notion of ], the hypothesis that ] exists throughout the ], distributed in various ways, including ], ]s, ]s, ]s, ]s or ] ].<ref name="CNN-20200826">{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/26/world/earth-mars-bacteria-space-scn/index.html|title=Bacteria from Earth can survive in space and could endure the trip to Mars, according to new study|last=Strickland|first=Ashley|date=26 August 2020|access-date=26 August 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811171442/https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/26/world/earth-mars-bacteria-space-scn/index.html|archive-date=11 August 2023|publisher=CNN}}</ref><ref name="FM-20200826">{{Cite journal|last=Kawaguchi|first=Yuko|display-authors=et al.|date=26 August 2020|title=DNA Damage and Survival Time Course of Deinococcal Cell Pellets During 3 Years of Exposure to Outer Space|journal=]|volume=11|page=2050|doi=10.3389/fmicb.2020.02050|pmid=32983036|pmc=7479814|s2cid=221300151|doi-access=free}}</ref> | |||
| * Drag from the residual atmosphere; when the ISS enters the Earth's shadow, the main solar panels are rotated to minimise this aerodynamic drag, helping reduce ]. | |||
| * Vibration from movements of mechanical systems and the crew. | |||
| ] of the Earth, astronomy, and deep space research on the ISS have significantly increased during the 2010s after the completion of the ] in 2011. Throughout the more than 20 years of the ISS program, researchers aboard the ISS and on the ground have examined ]s, ], ], and ]s in Earth's atmosphere, as well as the ], cosmic rays, ], ], and dark matter in the universe. Examples of Earth-viewing remote sensing experiments that have flown on the ISS are the ], ], ], the ], and the ]. ISS-based astronomy telescopes and experiments include ], the ], the ], the ], and the ].<ref name="NASA Fields of Research" /><ref name="eol-rss">{{Cite web|url=https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ESRS/ISS_Remote_Sensing_Systems/|title=Earth Science & Remote Sensing Missions on ISS|publisher=]|access-date=9 December 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131526/https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ESRS/ISS_Remote_Sensing_Systems/|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref> | |||
| * Actuation of the on-board attitude ]s. | |||
| * ] firings for attitude or orbital changes. | |||
| * ], also known as ] effects. Items at different locations within the ISS would, if not attached to the station, follow slightly different orbits. Being mechanically interconnected these items experience small forces that keep the station moving as a ]. | |||
| ====Freefall==== | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] (left) and in a free fall environment, such as that found on the ISS (right)]] | ] (left) and in a free fall environment, such as that found on the ISS (right)]] | ||
| Gravity at the altitude of the ISS is approximately 90% as strong as at Earth's surface, but objects in orbit are in a continuous state of ], resulting in an apparent state of ].<ref name="nasa-whatismicrogravity">{{Cite web|last=May|first=Sandra|date=15 February 2012|title=What Is Microgravity?|url=https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/for-kids-and-students/what-is-microgravity-grades-5-8/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107174300/https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/for-kids-and-students/what-is-microgravity-grades-5-8/|archive-date=7 November 2023|access-date=3 September 2018|series=NASA Knows! (Grades 5–8)|publisher=]}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> This perceived weightlessness is disturbed by five effects:<ref name="gravity">{{cite web|date=6 December 2005|title=European Users Guide to Low Gravity Platforms|url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Human_Spaceflight_Research/European_User_Guide_to_Low-Gravity_Platforms|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402225556/http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Human_Spaceflight_Research/European_User_Guide_to_Low-Gravity_Platforms|archive-date=2 April 2013|access-date=22 March 2013|publisher=European Space Agency}}</ref> | |||
| Researchers are investigating the effect of the station's near-weightless environment on the evolution, development, growth and internal processes of plants and animals. In response to some of this data, NASA wants to investigate ]'s effects on the growth of three-dimensional, human-like tissues, and the unusual ]s that can be formed in space.<ref name="NASA Fields of Research" /> | |||
| * Drag from the residual atmosphere. | |||
| * Vibration from the movements of mechanical systems and the crew. | |||
| * Actuation of the on-board attitude ]s. | |||
| * ] firings for attitude or orbital changes. | |||
| * ], also known as ] effects. Items at different locations within the ISS would, if not attached to the station, follow slightly different orbits. Being mechanically connected, these items experience small forces that keep the station moving as a ]. | |||
| Researchers are investigating the effect of the station's near-weightless environment on the evolution, development, growth and internal processes of plants and animals. In response to some of the data, NASA wants to investigate ]'s effects on the growth of three-dimensional, human-like tissues and the unusual ]s that can be formed in space.<ref name="NASA Fields of Research" /> | |||
| Investigating the physics of fluids in microgravity will provide better models of the behaviour of fluids. Because fluids can be almost completely combined in microgravity, physicists investigate fluids that do not mix well on Earth. |
Investigating the physics of fluids in microgravity will provide better models of the behaviour of fluids. Because fluids can be almost completely combined in microgravity, physicists investigate fluids that do not mix well on Earth. Examining reactions that are slowed by low gravity and low temperatures will improve our understanding of ].<ref name="NASA Fields of Research" /> | ||
| The study of ] is an important ISS research activity, with the objective of reaping economic benefits through the improvement of techniques used on |
The study of ] is an important ISS research activity, with the objective of reaping economic benefits through the improvement of techniques used on Earth.<ref name="nasa-materials-science-101">{{Cite web|url=https://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/msad15sep99_1.htm|title=Materials Science 101|date=15 September 1999|publisher=]|access-date=18 June 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614033947/http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/msad15sep99_1.htm|archive-date=14 June 2009}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> Other areas of interest include the effect of low gravity on combustion, through the study of the efficiency of burning and control of emissions and pollutants. These findings may improve knowledge about energy production and lead to economic and environmental benefits.<ref name="NASA Fields of Research" /> | ||
| ===Exploration=== | ===Exploration=== | ||
| ] complex, used for ground-based experiments |
] complex, used for conducting ground-based experiments that complement ISS-based preparations for a ]]] | ||
| The ISS provides a location in the relative safety of Low Earth Orbit to test spacecraft systems that will be required for long-duration missions to ] and ]. This provides experience in operations, maintenance as well as repair and replacement activities on-orbit, which will be essential skills in operating spacecraft farther from Earth, mission risks can be reduced and the capabilities of interplanetary spacecraft advanced.<ref name="ResProg"/> Referring to the ] experiment, ESA states that "Whereas the ISS is essential for answering questions concerning the possible impact of weightlessness, radiation and other space-specific factors, aspects such as the effect of long-term isolation and confinement can be more appropriately addressed via ground-based simulations".<ref name="esa mars500 ">{{cite web |title=Mars500 study overview |publisher=ESA |date=4 June 2011 |url=http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Mars500/SEM7W9XX3RF_0.html}}</ref> Sergey Krasnov, the head of human space flight programmes for Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, in 2011 suggested a "shorter version" of MARS-500 may be carried out on the ISS.<!--there are better refs for this including the mention of 2014–2015 I think --><ref name="Mars thing on ISS">{{cite web |title=Space station may be site for next mock Mars mission |url=https://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/11/space-station-may-be-site-for.html |date=4 November 2011 |work=New Scientist}}</ref> | |||
| The ISS provides a location in the relative safety of low Earth orbit to test spacecraft systems that will be required for long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars. This provides experience in operations, maintenance, and repair and replacement activities on-orbit. This will help develop essential skills in operating spacecraft farther from Earth, reduce mission risks, and advance the capabilities of interplanetary spacecraft.<ref name="ResProg">{{cite web|title=ISS Research Program|url=http://spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/Advanced/ISSResearch/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213140014/http://spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/Advanced/ISSResearch/|archive-date=13 February 2009|access-date=27 February 2009|publisher=NASA}}</ref> Referring to the ] experiment, a crew isolation experiment conducted on Earth, ESA states, "Whereas the ISS is essential for answering questions concerning the possible impact of weightlessness, radiation and other space-specific factors, aspects such as the effect of long-term isolation and confinement can be more appropriately addressed via ground-based simulations".<ref name="esa mars500">{{Cite web|url=https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Mars500/Mars500_study_overview|title=Mars500: study overview|date=4 June 2011|publisher=]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230819135747/https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Mars500/Mars500_study_overview|archive-date=19 August 2023}}</ref> Sergey Krasnov, the head of human space flight programmes for Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, in 2011 suggested a "shorter version" of MARS-500 may be carried out on the ISS.<!--there are better refs for this including the mention of 2014–2015 I think --><ref name="Mars thing on ISS">{{cite web|date=4 November 2011|title=Space station may be site for next mock Mars mission|url=https://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/11/space-station-may-be-site-for.html|website=New Scientist|access-date=1 September 2017|archive-date=11 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711030614/https://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/11/space-station-may-be-site-for.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| In 2009, noting the value of the partnership framework itself, Sergey Krasnov wrote, "When compared with partners acting separately, partners developing complementary abilities and resources could give us much more assurance of the success and safety of space exploration. The ISS is helping further advance near-Earth space exploration and realisation of prospective programmes of research and exploration of the Solar system, including the Moon and Mars."<ref name=IAF2009>{{cite web |title=The Sustainable Utilisation of the ISS Beyond 2015 |url=http://www.iafastro.org/docs/2009/ISS2015.pdf |publisher=International Astronautical Congress |accessdate=15 December 2011 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426051318/http://www.iafastro.org/docs/2009/ISS2015.pdf |archivedate=26 April 2012}}</ref> ] may be a multinational effort involving space agencies and countries outside the current ISS partnership. In 2010, ESA Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain stated his agency was ready to propose to the other four partners that China, India and South Korea be invited to join the ISS partnership.<ref name="ESAproposesInvite">{{cite news |url=http://spacenews.com/esa-chief-lauds-renewed-us-commitment-space-station-earth-science/ |title=ESA Chief Lauds Renewed U.S. Commitment to Space Station, Earth Science |work=Space News |first=Peter B. |last=de Selding |date=3 February 2010}}</ref> NASA chief ] stated in February 2011, "Any mission to Mars is likely to be a global effort".<ref name="Mars a global effort">{{cite web |title=Charlie Bolden |publisher=space.com |date=4 June 2011 |url=http://www.space.com/11335-nasa-mars-exploration-space-station.html}}</ref> Currently, American legislation prevents NASA co-operation with China on space projects.<ref name="justice1">{{citation |first=Virginia |last=Seitz |title=Memorandum Opinion for the General Counsel, Office of Science and Technology Policy |url=http://www.justice.gov/olc/2011/conduct-diplomacy.pdf |journal=Office of Legal Counsel |volume=35 |date=11 September 2011 |accessdate=23 May 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713080223/http://www.justice.gov/olc/2011/conduct-diplomacy.pdf |archivedate=13 July 2012}}</ref><!--page3--> | |||
| In 2009, noting the value of the partnership framework itself, Sergey Krasnov wrote, "When compared with partners acting separately, partners developing complementary abilities and resources could give us much more assurance of the success and safety of space exploration. The ISS is helping further advance near-Earth space exploration and realisation of prospective programmes of research and exploration of the Solar system, including the Moon and Mars."<ref name="IAF2009">{{cite web|title=The Sustainable Utilisation of the ISS Beyond 2015|url=http://www.iafastro.org/docs/2009/ISS2015.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426051318/http://www.iafastro.org/docs/2009/ISS2015.pdf|archive-date=26 April 2012|access-date=15 December 2011|publisher=International Astronautical Congress}}</ref> ] may be a multinational effort involving space agencies and countries outside the current ISS partnership. In 2010, ESA Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain stated his agency was ready to propose to the other four partners that China, India, and South Korea be invited to join the ISS partnership.<ref name="ESAproposesInvite">{{Cite news|last=de Selding|first=Peter B.|date=3 February 2010|title=ESA Chief Lauds Renewed U.S. Commitment to Space Station, Earth Science|work=Space News|url=http://spacenews.com/esa-chief-lauds-renewed-us-commitment-space-station-earth-science/}}</ref> NASA chief ] stated in February 2011, "Any mission to Mars is likely to be a global effort."<ref name="Mars a global effort">{{Cite news|url=https://www.space.com/11335-nasa-mars-exploration-space-station.html|title=Space Station Crucial for Going to Mars, NASA Chief Says|last=Chow|first=Denise|date=8 April 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811162758/https://www.space.com/11335-nasa-mars-exploration-space-station.html|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=]}}</ref> Currently, ] prevents NASA co-operation with China on space projects without approval by the ] and Congress.<ref name="justice1">{{cite web|last=Seitz|first=Virginia A.|title=Memorandum Opinion for the General Counsel, Office of Science and Technology Policy|date=19 September 2011|url=https://www.justice.gov/olc/2011/conduct-diplomacy.pdf|website=justice.gov|publisher=]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713080223/http://www.justice.gov/olc/2011/conduct-diplomacy.pdf|access-date=23 May 2012|archive-date=13 July 2012|url-status=dead|page=3}}</ref> | |||
| ===Education and cultural outreach=== | ===Education and cultural outreach=== | ||
| ] manuscripts displayed by crew inside the ] (Automated Transfer Vehicle)]] | |||
| ] berthing]] | |||
| The ISS crew provides opportunities for students on Earth by running student-developed experiments, making educational demonstrations, allowing for student participation in classroom versions of ISS experiments, and directly engaging students using radio, videolink and email.<ref name="ISSRG" /><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Gro Mjeldheim Sandal |author2=Dietrich Manzey |title=Cross-cultural issues in space operations: A survey study among ground personnel of the European Space Agency |journal=Acta Astronautica |volume=65 |date=December 2009 |pages=1520–1529 |doi=10.1016/j.actaastro.2009.03.074 |issue=11–12 |bibcode=2009AcAau..65.1520S}}</ref> ESA offers a wide range of free teaching materials that can be downloaded for use in classrooms.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/Education/Online_material |title=Online Materials |publisher=European Space Agency |accessdate=3 April 2016}}</ref> In one lesson, students can navigate a 3-D model of the interior and exterior of the ISS, and face spontaneous challenges to solve in real time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/Education/ISS_3-D_Teaching_Tool_Spaceflight_Challenge_I |title=ISS 3-D Teaching Tool: Spaceflight Challenge I |publisher=European Space Agency |date=24 May 2011 |accessdate=8 October 2011}}</ref> | |||
| The ISS crew provides opportunities for students on Earth by running student-developed experiments, making educational demonstrations, allowing for student participation in classroom versions of ISS experiments, and directly engaging students using radio, and email.<ref name="ISSRG">{{Cite book|last=Kitmacher|first=Gary|title=Reference Guide to the International Space Station|publisher=]|year=2006|isbn=978-1-894959-34-6|series=Apogee Books Space Series|location=Canada|pages=71–80|issn=1496-6921}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sandal|first1=Gro M.|last2=Manzey|first2=Dietrich|date=December 2009|title=Cross-cultural issues in space operations: A survey study among ground personnel of the European Space Agency|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222963564|journal=Acta Astronautica|volume=65|issue=11–12|pages=1520–1529|bibcode=2009AcAau..65.1520S|doi=10.1016/j.actaastro.2009.03.074|issn=0094-5765}}</ref> ESA offers a wide range of free teaching materials that can be downloaded for use in classrooms.<ref name="esa-education-material">{{Cite web|url=https://www.esa.int/Education/Online_material|title=Online Materials|publisher=European Space Agency|access-date=3 April 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811162359/https://www.esa.int/Education/Online_material|archive-date=11 August 2023}}</ref> In one lesson, students can navigate a ] of the interior and exterior of the ISS, and face spontaneous challenges to solve in real time.<ref name="esa-iss-3d">{{Cite web|url=https://www.esa.int/Education/ISS_3-D_Teaching_Tool_Spaceflight_Challenge_I|title=ISS 3-D Teaching Tool: Spaceflight Challenge I|date=24 May 2011|publisher=]|access-date=8 October 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811164504/https://www.esa.int/Education/ISS_3-D_Teaching_Tool_Spaceflight_Challenge_I|archive-date=11 August 2023}}</ref> | |||
| The ] (JAXA) aims to inspire children to "pursue craftsmanship" and to heighten their "awareness of the importance of life and their responsibilities in society".<ref name="jaxa-peaceinyounggminds">{{Cite conference|url=https://www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/copuos2010/tech-17E.pdf|title=Building Peace in Young Minds through Space Education|date=June 2010|publisher=]|location=Vienna, Austria|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811162718/https://www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/copuos2010/tech-17E.pdf|archive-date=11 August 2023|conference=Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space|volume=53}}</ref> Through a series of education guides, students develop a deeper understanding of the past and near-term future of crewed space flight, as well as that of Earth and life.<ref name="jaxa-sunflower-seeds">{{Cite web|url=http://www.edu.jaxa.jp/education/international/ISS/SSK/en/|title=JAXA Spaceflight Seeds Kids I : Spaceflight Sunflower seeds – Let's make them flower! and learn freshly the Earth environment just by contrast with the Space one|year=2006|publisher=]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318025859/http://www.edu.jaxa.jp/education/international/ISS/SSK/en/|archive-date=18 March 2012}}</ref><ref name="jaxa-asagao">{{Cite web|url=http://www.edu.jaxa.jp/education/international/ISS/SIS/en/|title=JAXA Seeds in Space I : Let's Cultivate Spaceflight Asagao (Japanese morning glory), Miyako-gusa (Japanese bird's foot trefoil) Seeds and Identify the Mutants!|year=2006|publisher=]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318025023/http://www.edu.jaxa.jp/education/international/ISS/SIS/en/|archive-date=18 March 2012}}</ref> In the JAXA "Seeds in Space" experiments, the mutation effects of spaceflight on plant seeds aboard the ISS are explored by growing sunflower seeds that have flown on the ISS for about nine months. In the first phase of ''Kibō'' utilisation from 2008 to mid-2010, researchers from more than a dozen Japanese universities conducted experiments in diverse fields.<ref>{{cite web|first=Keiji|last=Murakami|date=14 October 2009|title=JEM Utilization Overview|url=http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/images/stories/Micro%20Oct%2009%20JEM.pdf|publisher=JAXA. Steering Committee for the Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space|access-date=27 September 2011|archive-date=29 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111129141828/http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/images/stories/Micro%20Oct%2009%20JEM.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| Cultural activities are another major objective of the ISS programme. Tetsuo Tanaka, the director of JAXA's Space Environment and Utilization Center, has said: "There is something about space that touches even people who are not interested in science."<ref name="jaxa2">{{cite web|first=Tetsuo|last=Tanaka|title=Kibo: Japan's First Human Space Facility|url=http://www.jaxa.jp/article/special/kibo/tanaka01_e.html|access-date=8 October 2011|publisher=JAXA|archive-date=29 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111129145716/http://www.jaxa.jp/article/special/kibo/tanaka01_e.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| JAXA aims both to "Stimulate the curiosity of children, cultivating their spirits, and encouraging their passion to pursue craftsmanship", and to "Heighten the child's awareness of the importance of life and their responsibilities in society."<ref>{{cite conference |url=http://www.unoosa.org/pdf/pres/copuos2010/tech-17E.pdf |title=Building Peace in Young Minds through Space Education |conference=Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, 53rd Session. June 2010. Vienna, Austria. |publisher=JAXA |date=June 2010}}</ref> Through a series of education guides, a deeper understanding of the past and near-term future of manned space flight, as well as that of Earth and life, will be learned.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.edu.jaxa.jp/education/international/ISS/SSK/en/ |title=JAXA Spaceflight Seeds Kids I : Spaceflight Sunflower seeds – Let's make them flower! and learn freshly the Earth environment just by contrast with the Space one |publisher=JAXA |date=2006 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318025859/http://www.edu.jaxa.jp/education/international/ISS/SSK/en/ |archivedate=18 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.edu.jaxa.jp/education/international/ISS/SIS/en/ |title=JAXA Seeds in Space I : Let's Cultivate Spaceflight Asagao (Japanese morning glory), Miyako-gusa (Japanese bird's foot trefoil) Seeds and Identify the Mutants! |publisher=JAXA |date=2006 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318025023/http://www.edu.jaxa.jp/education/international/ISS/SIS/en/ |archivedate=18 March 2012}}</ref> In the JAXA Seeds in Space experiments, the mutation effects of spaceflight on plant seeds aboard the ISS is explored. Students grow sunflower seeds which flew on the ISS for about nine months as a start to 'touch the Universe'. In the first phase of ''Kibō'' utilisation from 2008 to mid-2010, researchers from more than a dozen Japanese universities conducted experiments in diverse fields.<ref>{{cite web |author=Keiji Murakami |url=http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/images/stories/Micro%20Oct%2009%20JEM.pdf |title=JEM Utilization Overview |publisher=JAXA. Steering Committee for the Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space |date=14 October 2009}}</ref> | |||
| ] (ARISS) is a volunteer programme that encourages students worldwide to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, through ] communications opportunities with the ISS crew. ARISS is an international working group, consisting of delegations from nine countries including several in Europe, as well as Japan, Russia, Canada, and the United States. In areas where radio equipment cannot be used, ]s connect students to ground stations which then connect the calls to the space station.<!--second mention of this ref, needs proper combining --><ref>{{cite web|date=6 June 2011|title=Amateur Radio on the International Space Station|url=http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527071557/http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm|archive-date=27 May 2011|access-date=10 June 2011}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| ] |
] on the subject of the ISS, produced in November 2017 for Misplaced Pages]] | ||
| '']'' is a 2011 feature-length documentary film about ], the first crewed space flight around the Earth. By matching the orbit of the ISS to that of Vostok 1 as closely as possible, in terms of ground path and time of day, documentary filmmaker ] and ESA astronaut ] were able to film the view that ] saw on his pioneering orbital space flight. This new footage was cut together with the original Vostok 1 mission audio recordings sourced from the Russian State Archive. Nespoli is credited as the ] for this documentary film, as he recorded the majority of the footage himself during ]/].<ref name="guardian-20110411">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2011/apr/11/yuri-gagarin-first-orbit-vostok|title=What Yuri Gagarin saw: First Orbit film to reveal the view from Vostok 1|last=Riley|first=Christopher|date=11 April 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810132648/https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2011/apr/11/yuri-gagarin-first-orbit-vostok|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=The Guardian}}</ref> The film was streamed in a global YouTube premiere in 2011 under a free licence through the website ''firstorbit.org''.<ref name="firstorbit-faq">{{Cite web|url=https://www.firstorbit.org/first-orbit-faqs|title=Yuri Gagarin's First Orbit – FAQs|publisher=The Attic Room Ltd|access-date=1 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131924/http://www.firstorbit.org/first-orbit-faqs|archive-date=10 August 2023|website=firstorbit.org}}</ref> | |||
| Cultural activities are another major objective. Tetsuo Tanaka, director of JAXA's Space Environment and Utilization Center, says "There is something about space that touches even people who are not interested in science."<ref name="jaxa2">{{cite web |author=Tetsuo Tanaka |url=http://www.jaxa.jp/article/special/kibo/tanaka01_e.html |title=Kibo: Japan's First Human Space Facility |publisher=JAXA |accessdate=8 October 2011}}</ref> | |||
| In May 2013, commander ] shot a music video of ]'s "]" on board the station, which was released on YouTube.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Warr|first=Philippa|date=13 May 2013|title=Commander Hadfield bids farewell to ISS with Reddit-inspired Bowie cover|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/13/commander-hadfield-space-oddity|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012212949/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/13/commander-hadfield-space-oddity|archive-date=12 October 2013|access-date=22 October 2013|magazine=]}}</ref><ref name="bbc-20130513">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/science-environment-22506395|title=Astronaut bids farewell with Bowie cover version (inc. video)|date=13 May 2013|access-date=24 September 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811163327/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-22506395|archive-date=11 August 2023|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> It was the first music video filmed in space.<ref name="gizmodo-20130512">{{Cite web|url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/chris-hadfield-sings-space-oddity-in-the-first-music-503764317|title=Chris Hadfield sings 'Space Oddity' in the first music video in space|last=Davis|first=Lauren|date=12 May 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811163440/https://gizmodo.com/chris-hadfield-sings-space-oddity-in-the-first-music-503764317|archive-date=11 August 2023|website=]}}</ref> | |||
| ] (ARISS) is a volunteer programme which encourages students worldwide to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics through ] communications opportunities with the ISS crew. ARISS is an international working group, consisting of delegations from nine countries including several countries in Europe as well as Japan, Russia, Canada, and the United States. In areas where radio equipment cannot be used, speakerphones connect students to ground stations which then connect the calls to the station.<!--second mention of this ref, needs proper combining --><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm |title=Amateur Radio on the International Space Station |date=6 June 2011 |accessdate=10 June 2011 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527071557/http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm |archivedate=27 May 2011}}</ref> | |||
| In November 2017, while participating in ]/] on the ISS, ] made two recordings of his spoken voice (one in English and the other in his native Italian), for use on ] articles. These were the first content made in space specifically for Misplaced Pages.<ref name="Mabbett">{{Cite web|url=https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/11/29/astronaut-spoken-voice/|title=Close encounters of the Misplaced Pages kind: Astronaut is first to specifically contribute to Misplaced Pages from space|last=Mabbett|first=Andy|date=29 November 2017|publisher=Wikimedia foundation|access-date=4 December 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604132523/https://diff.wikimedia.org/2017/11/29/astronaut-spoken-voice/|archive-date=4 June 2023|website=Diff}}</ref><ref name="Petris">{{Cite news|url=https://www.meteoweb.eu/2017/12/primo-contributo-extraterrestre-wikipedia-nespoli/1009617/|title=Primo contributo 'extraterrestre' su Misplaced Pages: è di Nespoli|trans-title=First 'Extraterrestrial' Contribution on Misplaced Pages: It's by Nespoli.|last=Petris|first=Antonella|date=1 December 2017|language=it-IT|access-date=4 December 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811173118/https://www.meteoweb.eu/2017/12/primo-contributo-extraterrestre-wikipedia-nespoli/1009617/|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=Meteo Web}}</ref> | |||
| '']'' is a feature-length documentary film about ], the first manned space flight around the Earth. By matching the orbit of the International Space Station to that of Vostok 1 as closely as possible, in terms of ground path and time of day, documentary filmmaker Christopher Riley and ESA astronaut ] were able to film the view that ] saw on his pioneering orbital space flight. This new footage was cut together with the original Vostok 1 mission audio recordings sourced from the Russian State Archive. Nespoli, during Expedition 26/27, filmed the majority of the footage for this documentary film, and as a result is credited as its ].<ref>{{cite news |last=Riley |first=Christopher |title=What Yuri Gagarin saw: First Orbit film to reveal the view from Vostok 1 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2011/apr/11/yuri-gagarin-first-orbit-vostok |newspaper=The Guardian |date=11 April 2011 |location=London}}</ref> The film was streamed through the website firstorbit.org in a global YouTube premiere in 2011, under a free licence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.firstorbit.org/first-orbit-faqs |title=Yuri Gagarin's First Orbit – FAQs |publisher=Firstorbit.org |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> | |||
| In November 2021, a ] exhibit called The Infinite featuring life aboard the ISS was announced.<ref name="spacecom-20211123">{{Cite news|url=https://www.space.com/the-infinite-space-station-vr-houston|title='The Infinite' VR space station tour to premiere spacewalk in Houston|last=Pearlman|first=Robert Z.|date=23 November 2021|access-date=27 November 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810144311/https://www.space.com/the-infinite-space-station-vr-houston|archive-date=10 August 2023|website=]}}</ref> | |||
| In May 2013, commander ] shot a music video of ]'s "]" on board the station; the film was released on YouTube.<ref>{{cite web |last=Warr |first=Philippa |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/13/commander-hadfield-space-oddity |title=Commander Hadfield bids farewell to ISS with Reddit-inspired Bowie cover |publisher=Wired.co.uk |date=13 May 2013 |accessdate=22 October 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012212949/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/13/commander-hadfield-space-oddity |archivedate=12 October 2013}}</ref> It was the first music video ever to be filmed in space.<ref>{{cite web |last=Davis |first=Lauren |title=Chris Hadfield sings 'Space Oddity' in the first music video in space |url=http://io9.com/chris-hadfield-sings-space-oddity-in-the-first-music-503764317 |publisher=io9}}</ref> | |||
| ==Construction== | |||
| In November 2017, while participating in Expedition 52/53 on the ISS, Paolo Nespoli made two recordings (one in English the other in his native Italian) of his spoken voice, for use on ] articles. These were the first content made specifically for Misplaced Pages, in space.<ref name="Mabbett">{{cite web |last1=Mabbett |first1=Andy |title=Close encounters of the Misplaced Pages kind: Astronaut is first to specifically contribute to Misplaced Pages from space – Wikimedia Blog |url=https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/11/29/astronaut-spoken-voice/ |publisher=[Wikimedia foundation |accessdate=4 December 2017 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Petris">{{cite news |last1=Petris |first1=Antonella |title=Primo contributo 'extraterrestre' su Misplaced Pages: è di Nespoli |url=http://www.meteoweb.eu/2017/12/primo-contributo-extraterrestre-wikipedia-nespoli/1009617/ |accessdate=4 December 2017 |work=Meteo Web |date=1 December 2017 |language=it-IT}}</ref> | |||
| ===Manufacturing=== | |||
| {{main|Manufacture of the International Space Station}} | |||
| ] in the ]]] | |||
| The International Space Station is a product of global collaboration, with its components manufactured across the world. | |||
| ==Manufacturing== | |||
| ] | |||
| Since the International Space Station is a multi-national collaborative project, the components for in-orbit assembly had to be manufactured in various factories around the world. The U.S. Modules (''Destiny'',''Tranquillity'', ''Unity'' and ''Harmony'') as well as the ] and ] were fabricated at the ] and the ], beginning in the mid 1990s. The modules were delivered to the ], and the ] at ] for final assembly and processing for launch.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/stations/images/manufacturing-key-parts-of-ISS-unity-and-destiny |title=Manufacturing Key Parts of the International Space Station: Unity and Destiny |publisher=NASA |editor-first=Jennifer |editor-last=Harbaugh |date=19 February 2016 |accessdate=15 February 2019}}</ref> Steel and aluminium sections of the truss were part contracted by ] and ], along with ]. | |||
| The modules of the ], including '']'' and '']'', were produced at the ] in Moscow. ''Zvezda'' was initially manufactured in 1985 as a component for the '']'' space station, which was never launched.<ref name=":4">{{cite web|title=Building ISS|url=https://nara.getarchive.net/collections/building-iss-timeline|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028222416/https://nara.getarchive.net/collections/building-iss-timeline|archive-date=28 October 2021|access-date=28 October 2021|website=U.S. National Archives & DVIDS}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=<!--Not stated-->|title=ISS Zvezda|url=http://www.astronautix.com/i/isszvezda.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820144918/http://www.astronautix.com/i/isszvezda.html|archive-date=20 August 2016|access-date=5 July 2019}}</ref> | |||
| Much of the ], including the '']'' and '']'' modules, the ], and ], were built at NASA's ] in ] and ] in ].<ref name=":4" /> These components underwent final assembly and processing for launch at the ] and the ] (SSPF) at the ] in Florida.<ref name="nasa-20160219">{{Cite web|date=19 February 2016|editor-last=Harbaugh|editor-first=Jennifer|title=Manufacturing Key Parts of the International Space Station: Unity and Destiny|url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/stations/images/manufacturing-key-parts-of-ISS-unity-and-destiny|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124184657/https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/manufacturing-key-parts-of-international-space-station-unity-destiny/|archive-date=24 November 2023|access-date=15 February 2019|publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
| The ] ''Kibo'', was fabricated in various technology manufacturing facilities in Japan, at the ] (now ]) ] and the ]. The Kibo module was flown by aircraft to the KSC Space Station Processing Facility, along with the ESA Columbus laboratory for shuttle launch on ] and ] respectively. | |||
| The US Orbital Segment also hosts the ] module contributed by the ] and built in Germany, the ] module contributed by ] and built at the ] and the ], along with the ] and ], a joint Canadian-U.S. endeavor. All of these components were shipped to the SSPF for launch processing.<ref name=":4" /><ref name="nasa-img-ksc-08pd0991">{{Cite web|last=Shiflett|first=Kim|date=22 April 2008|title=KSC-08pd0991|url=https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-08pd0991|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124185310/https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-08pd0991|archive-date=24 November 2023|access-date=5 July 2019|website=NASA Image and Video Library|quote=In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, an overhead crane moves the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module – Pressurized Module toward the payload canister (lower right). The canister will deliver the module, part of the payload for space shuttle Discovery's STS-124 mission, to Launch Pad 39A. On the mission, the STS-124 crew will transport the Kibo module as well as the Japanese Remote Manipulator System to the International Space Station to complete the Kibo laboratory. The launch of Discovery is targeted for May 31.|location=Cape Canaveral, Florida}}</ref> | |||
| The ] - consisting of the ] and the '']'' grapple fixture, were manufactured at various factories in Canada and the United States. The mobile base system - the connecting framework for ] mounted on rails, was built by ] in ]. The Canadarm-2 and ''Dextre'' was made by ], a satellite and aerospace factory in Brampton Ontario, under contract by the ] and NASA.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://mdacorporation.com/ |title=MDA}}</ref> | |||
| ==Assembly== | ===Assembly=== | ||
| {{main|Assembly of the International Space Station|List of ISS spacewalks}} | {{main|Assembly of the International Space Station|List of ISS spacewalks}} | ||
| ]]] | |||
| ] | |||
| The assembly of the International Space Station, a major endeavour in ], began in November 1998.<ref name="OnOrbit">{{cite web|date=18 February 2010|title=On-Orbit Elements|url=http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/ISSRG/pdfs/on_orbit.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029013438/http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/ISSRG/pdfs/on_orbit.pdf|archive-date=29 October 2009|access-date=19 June 2010|publisher=NASA}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
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| The assembly of the International Space Station, a major endeavour in ], began in November 1998.<ref name="OnOrbit">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/ISSRG/pdfs/on_orbit.pdf |title=On-Orbit Elements |publisher=NASA |author=NASA |date=18 February 2010 |accessdate=19 June 2010 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029013438/http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/ISSRG/pdfs/on_orbit.pdf |archivedate=29 October 2009}}</ref> Russian modules launched and docked robotically, with the exception of '']''. All other modules were delivered by the Space Shuttle, which required installation by ISS and shuttle crewmembers using the ] (SSRMS) and ] (EVAs); {{as of|2011|06|05|lc=y}}, they had added 159 components during more than 1,000 hours of EVA (see ]). 127 of these spacewalks originated from the station, and the remaining 32 were launched from the airlocks of docked Space Shuttles.<ref name="ISStD">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/isstodate.html |title=The ISS to Date |publisher=NASA |date=9 March 2011 |accessdate=21 March 2011}}</ref> The ] of the station had to be considered at all times during construction, as it directly affects how long during its orbit the station (and any docked or docking spacecraft) is exposed to the sun; the Space Shuttle would not perform optimally above a limit called the "beta cutoff".<ref name="mcc">{{cite web |url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/answer/mcc/sts-113/11_23_20_01_179.html |title=MCC Answers |author=Derek Hassman, NASA Flight Director |date=1 December 2002 |publisher=NASA |accessdate=14 June 2009}}</ref> Many of the modules that launched on the Space Shuttle were ] at the ] to find and correct issues prior to launch. | |||
| Modules in the Russian segment launched and docked autonomously, with the exception of '']''. Other modules and components were delivered by the ], which then had to be installed by astronauts either remotely using robotic arms or during spacewalks, more formally known as ] (EVAs). By 5 June 2011 astronauts had made over 159 EVAs to add components to the station, totaling more than 1,000 hours in space.<ref name="ISStD">{{cite web|date=9 March 2011|title=The ISS to Date|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/isstodate.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611163133/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/isstodate.html|archive-date=11 June 2015|access-date=21 March 2011|publisher=NASA}}</ref><ref name="mcc">{{cite web|last=Dismukes|first=Kim <!--curator-->|date=1 December 2002|title=Mission Control Answers Your Questions: STS-113 Q17|url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/answer/mcc/sts-113/11_23_20_01_179.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724020141/https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/answer/mcc/sts-113/11_23_20_01_179.html|archive-date=24 July 2020|access-date=14 June 2009|website=spaceflight.nasa.gov|publisher=NASA}}</ref> | |||
| The first module of the ISS, '']'', was launched on 20 November 1998 on an autonomous Russian ]. It provided propulsion, ], communications, electrical power, but lacked long-term life support functions. Two weeks later, a passive NASA module '']'' was launched aboard Space Shuttle flight ] and attached to ''Zarya'' by astronauts during EVAs. This module has two ]s (PMAs), one connects permanently to ''Zarya'', the other allows the Space Shuttle to dock to the space station. At that time, the Russian station ''Mir'' was still inhabited. The ISS remained unmanned for two years, while ''Mir'' was de-orbited. On 12 July 2000, '']'' was launched into orbit. Preprogrammed commands on board deployed its solar arrays and communications antenna. It then became the passive target for a rendezvous with ''Zarya'' and ''Unity'': it maintained a station-keeping orbit while the ''Zarya''-''Unity'' vehicle performed the rendezvous and docking via ground control and the Russian automated rendezvous and docking system. ''Zarya''{{'s}} computer transferred control of the station to ''Zvezda''{{'s}} computer soon after docking. ''Zvezda'' added sleeping quarters, a toilet, kitchen, CO<sub>2</sub> scrubbers, dehumidifier, oxygen generators, exercise equipment, plus data, voice and television communications with mission control. This enabled permanent habitation of the station.<ref>. NASA. January 1999</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-88/mission-sts-88.html |title=STS-88 |publisher=Science.ksc.nasa.gov |accessdate=19 April 2011}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| The foundation for the ISS was laid with the launch of the Russian-built '']'' module atop a ] on 20 November 1998. ''Zarya'' provided propulsion, ], communications, and electrical power. Two weeks later on 4 December 1998, the American-made '']'' was ferried aboard ] ] on ] and joined with ''Zarya''. ''Unity'' provided the connection between the Russian and US segments of the station and would provide ports to connect future modules and visiting spacecraft. | |||
| While the connection of two modules built on different continents, by nations that were once bitter rivals was a significant milestone, these two initial modules lacked life support systems and the ISS remained unmanned for the next two years. At the time, the Russian station '']'' was still inhabited. | |||
| The first resident crew, ], arrived in November 2000 on ]. At the end of the first day on the station, astronaut Bill Shepherd requested the use of the radio call sign "''Alpha''", which he and cosmonaut Krikalev preferred to the more cumbersome "''International Space Station''".<ref name=TIME-Nov2>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,59500,00.html |title=Upward Bound: Tales of Space Station Alpha |author=Brad Liston |date=2 November 2000 |work=Time |accessdate=5 August 2010}}</ref> The name "''Alpha''" had previously been used for the station in the early 1990s,<ref name=GAO>{{cite web |url=http://archive.gao.gov/t2pbat3/151975.pdf |title=Space Station – Impact on the expanded Russian role of funding and research |date=21 June 1994 |publisher=] |accessdate=9 August 2010}}</ref> and following the request, its use was authorised for the whole of Expedition 1.<ref name=SPACE-Nov3>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/alpha_male_001103.html |title=Call Bill Shepherd the Alpha Male of the International Space Station |author=Alan Ladwig |date=3 November 2000 |publisher=Space.com |accessdate=9 August 2010 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523002236/http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/alpha_male_001103.html |archivedate=23 May 2009}}</ref> Shepherd had been advocating the use of a new name to project managers for some time. Referencing a ] in a pre-launch news conference he had said: "For thousands of years, humans have been going to sea in ships. People have designed and built these vessels, launched them with a good feeling that a name will bring good fortune to the crew and success to their voyage."<ref name=SPACE-Nov2>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/exp1_alpha_001102.html |title=Expedition One Crew Wins Bid To Name Space Station Alpha |date=2 November 2000 |author=Todd Halvorson |publisher=Space.com |accessdate=9 August 2010 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523002234/http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/exp1_alpha_001102.html |archivedate=23 May 2009}}</ref> ], the President of ] at the time, disapproved of the name "''Alpha''"; he felt that ''Mir'' was the first space station, and so he would have preferred the names "''Beta''" or "''Mir'' 2" for the ISS.<ref name=SPACE-Nov3 /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=5913 |title=Interview with RSC Energia's Yuri Semenov |publisher=Space.com |date=3 September 2001 |accessdate=22 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.ruvr.ru/2001/03/29/100146.html |title=Interview with Yuri Semenov, general designer of Space Rocket corporation Energy |date=21 March 2001 |publisher=] |accessdate=5 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318121311/http://english.ruvr.ru/2001/03/29/100146.html |archive-date=18 March 2012 |dead-url=yes}}</ref> | |||
| The turning point arrived in July 2000 with the launch of the '']'' module. Equipped with living quarters and life-support systems, ''Zvezda'' enabled continuous human presence aboard the station. The first crew, ], arrived that November aboard ].<ref>{{cite web|date=January 1999|title=NASA Facts. The Service Module: A Cornerstone of Russian International Space Station Modules|url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/factsheets/pdfs/servmod.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823230702/https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/factsheets/pdfs/servmod.pdf|archive-date=23 August 2020|website=spaceflight.nasa.gov|publisher=NASA|id=IS-1999-09-ISS019JSC}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=STS-88|url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-88/mission-sts-88.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606073849/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-88/mission-sts-88.html|archive-date=6 June 2011|access-date=19 April 2011|publisher=Science.ksc.nasa.gov}}</ref> | |||
| ] arrived midway between the flights of ] and ]. These two Space Shuttle flights each added segments of the station's ], which provided the station with Ku-band communication for US television, additional attitude support needed for the additional mass of the USOS, and substantial ]s supplementing the station's existing 4 solar arrays.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-92/mission-sts-92.html |title=STS-92 |publisher=Science.ksc.nasa.gov |accessdate=19 April 2011}}</ref> | |||
| The ISS grew steadily over the following years, with modules delivered by both Russian rockets and the Space Shuttle. | |||
| Over the next two years, the station continued to expand. A ] rocket delivered the ]. The Space Shuttles '']'', '']'', and '']'' delivered the ] and ], in addition to the station's main robot arm, the '']'', and several more segments of the Integrated Truss Structure. | |||
| Expedition 1 arrived midway between the Space Shuttle flights of missions ] and ]. These two flights each added segments of the station's ], which provided the station with ] communications, additional attitude control needed for the additional mass of the USOS, and additional solar arrays.<ref>{{cite web|title=STS-92|url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-92/mission-sts-92.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305072211/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-92/mission-sts-92.html|archive-date=5 March 2011|access-date=19 April 2011|publisher=Science.ksc.nasa.gov}}</ref> Over the next two years, the station continued to expand. A ] rocket delivered the ]. The Space Shuttles '']'', '']'', and '']'' delivered the American '']'' laboratory and ], in addition to the station's main robot arm, the ], and several more segments of the Integrated Truss Structure. | |||
| The expansion schedule was interrupted by the {{OV|102}} ] in 2003 and a resulting two-year hiatus in the ]me. The space shuttle was grounded until 2005 with ] flown by ''Discovery''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2005/07/discovery-launches-the-shuttle-is-back/ |title=Discovery launches—The Shuttle is back |author=Chris Bergin |publisher=NASASpaceflight.com |accessdate=6 March 2009 |date=26 July 2005}}</ref> | |||
| Assembly resumed in 2006 with the arrival of ] with ''Atlantis'', which delivered the station's second set of solar arrays. Several more truss segments and a third set of arrays were delivered on ], ], and ]. As a result of the major expansion of the station's power-generating capabilities, more |
Tragedy struck in 2003 with the ], which grounded the rest of the Shuttle fleet, halting construction of the ISS.], pictured in May 2010]]Assembly resumed in 2006 with the arrival of ] with ''Atlantis'', which delivered the station's second set of solar arrays. Several more truss segments and a third set of arrays were delivered on ], ], and ]. As a result of the major expansion of the station's power-generating capabilities, more modules could be accommodated, and the US '']'' module and '']'' European laboratory were added. These were soon followed by the first two components of the Japanese '']'' laboratory. In March 2009, ] completed the Integrated Truss Structure with the installation of the fourth and final set of solar arrays. The final section of ''Kibō'' was delivered in July 2009 on ], followed by the Russian '']'' module. The US '']'' module was delivered in February 2010 during ], alongside the '']'', followed by the penultimate Russian module, '']'', in May 2010. ''Rassvet'' was delivered by Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' on ] in exchange for the Russian Proton delivery of the US-funded ''Zarya'' module in 1998.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mini-Research Module 1 (MIM1) Rassvet (MRM-1)|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_mim1.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825094354/http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_mim1.html|archive-date=25 August 2011|access-date=12 July 2011|website=RussianSpaceWeb}}</ref> The last pressurised module of the USOS, '']'', was brought to the station in February 2011 on the final flight of ''Discovery'', ].<ref name="nasa-sts-133">{{Cite web|title=STS-133|url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission/sts-133/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120173518/https://www.nasa.gov/mission/sts-133/|archive-date=20 November 2023|access-date=1 September 2014|publisher=]}}</ref> | ||
| Russia's new primary research module ''Nauka'' docked in July 2021,<ref name="tass-20210928">{{Cite news|date=28 September 2011|title=Crewed spacecraft docked to ISS's module Nauka first time|url=https://tass.com/science/1343409|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810145340/https://tass.com/science/1343409|archive-date=10 August 2023|access-date=11 October 2021|agency=]}}</ref> along with the European Robotic Arm which can relocate itself to different parts of the Russian modules of the station.<ref name="tass-20190325">{{Cite news|date=25 March 2019|title=Рогозин подтвердил, что на модуль "Наука" поставят баки от разгонного блока "Фрегат"|trans-title=Rogozin confirmed that the module 'Science' placed the tanks from the upper stage 'Frigate'|url=https://tass.ru/kosmos/6253886|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810144639/https://tass.ru/kosmos/6253886|archive-date=10 August 2023|access-date=31 March 2019|agency=]|language=ru}}</ref> Russia's latest addition, the ] module, docked in November 2021.<ref name="roscomos-20211126">{{Cite press release|title=Новый модуль вошел в состав российского сегмента МКС|date=26 November 2021|publisher=]|url=https://www.roscosmos.ru/33473/|language=ru|access-date=6 May 2022|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127013431/https://www.roscosmos.ru/33473/|archive-date=27 November 2021|trans-title=A new module has entered the composition of the Russian segment of the ISS}}</ref> | |||
| {{As of|2011|06}}, the station consisted of 15 pressurised modules and the ]. Five modules are still to be launched, including the '']'' with the ], the ], and two power modules called ] and NEM-2.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/nem.html |title=Russia works on a new-generation space module |work=Russianspaceweb.com |accessdate=29 November 2015 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408182926/http://russianspaceweb.com/nem.html |archivedate=8 April 2016}}</ref> {{As of|2017|8}}, Russia's future primary research module ''Nauka'' is set to launch in November 2019, along with the European Robotic Arm which will be able to relocate itself to different parts of the Russian modules of the station. After the ''Nauka'' module is attached, the Uzlovoy Module will be attached to one of its docking ports. When completed, the station will have a mass of more than {{convert|400|t|ST|-1}}.<ref name="OnOrbit" /> | |||
| As of November 2021, the station consists of 18 pressurised modules (including airlocks) and the Integrated Truss Structure. | |||
| The gross mass of the station changes over time. The total launch mass of the modules on orbit is about {{convert|417289|kg|lbs|abbr=on}} ({{as of|2011|September|3|lc=y}}).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/isstodate.html |title=NASA – The ISS to Date (03/09/2011) |publisher=Nasa.gov |accessdate=12 July 2011}}</ref> The mass of experiments, spare parts, personal effects, crew, foodstuff, clothing, propellants, water supplies, gas supplies, docked spacecraft, and other items add to the total mass of the station. Hydrogen gas is constantly vented overboard by the oxygen generators. | |||
| ==Structure== | ==Structure== | ||
| The ISS functions as a modular space station, enabling the addition or removal of modules from its structure for increased adaptability. | |||
| {{Double image|right|ROS Windows 0114 complete.jpg|142|USOS window identification.png|160|Russian Orbital Segment Windows|USOS International Space Station window locations}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| The ISS is a third generation<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dlr.de/iss/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1945/2746_read-4182/gallery-1/gallery_read-Image.19.2296/ |title=DLR – International Space Station ISS – From Cold War to international cooperation – the story of the ISS |publisher=Dlr.de |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> modular space station.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.astronautix.com/articles/thistems.htm |title=Third Generation Soviet Space Systems |publisher=Astronautix.com |accessdate=1 May 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618161500/http://www.astronautix.com/articles/thistems.htm |archivedate=18 June 2012}}</ref> 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. | |||
| <gallery mode="packed" heights="200"> | |||
| Below is a diagram of major station components. The blue areas are pressurised sections accessible by the crew without using spacesuits. The station's unpressurised superstructure is indicated in red. Other unpressurised components are yellow. Note that the ''Unity'' node joins directly to the ''Destiny'' laboratory. For clarity, they are shown apart. | |||
| File:ISS blueprint.png|Blueprint of ISS (as of 2018) | |||
| File:Iss after installation of all roll out solar arrays.jpg|Rendering of ISS (as of 2023) | |||
| </gallery> | |||
| Below is a diagram of major station components. The ''Unity'' node joins directly to the ''Destiny'' laboratory; for clarity, they are shown apart. Similar cases are also seen in other parts of the structure. | |||
| {{chart/start|align=center|style=width:auto !important; font-size:78%; line-height:100%; line-width:100%; padding:15px; border:2px dotted #AAA; | |||
| }} <!--background:#eee; padding:0.5em;--> | |||
| Key to box background colors: | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | }} | |||
| * {{color box|#CCDDFF}} Pressurised component, accessible by the crew without using spacesuits | |||
| * {{color box|#B9E192}} ], pressurized when a visiting spacecraft is present | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | |PORT1| | | | |||
| * {{color box|#DCC5ED}} ], to move people or material between pressurized and unpressurized environment | |||
| PORT1 = ] | |||
| * {{color box|#FFCCCC}} Unpressurised station superstructure | |||
| |boxstyle_PORT1 = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#ccddff; | |||
| * {{color box|#FFF4CC}} Unpressurised component | |||
| * {{color box|#D2691E}} Temporarily defunct or non-commissioned component | |||
| * {{color box|#808080}} Former, no longer installed component | |||
| * {{color box|#FFFFFF}} Future, not yet installed component | |||
| <div style="max-width: 100%; overflow-y: auto"> | |||
| {{chart/start|align=center|style=width:auto !important; font-size:78%; line-height:100%; line-width:100%; padding:10px; border:2px dotted #AAA; | |||
| }} <!--background:#eee; padding:0.5em;--><!--not made Axiom orbital segment or space station modules separate because the modules have not been constructed yet--> | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | |PORT1 | |||
| |PORT1 = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_PORT1 = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#b9e192; | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | |!}} | |||
| {{chart| | | |
{{chart| | |MOAOLP| |RAD| | | |!|POISK|PORT1 | ||
| |POISK = ] | |||
| | |
|PORT1 = ] | ||
| |MOAOLP = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_ZVEZDA = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; padding-left:10px; padding-right:10px; | |||
| |RAD = {{white|Heat radiator}} | |||
| |boxstyle_AMS = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |||
| |boxstyle_PORT1 = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#b9e192; | |||
| |boxstyle_POISK = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| |boxstyle_MOAOLP = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |||
| |boxstyle_RAD = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#D2691E; | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart|ERAWORK|C| | |:| | | | | |!|! | |||
| |ERAWORK = ] | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | |!|!|!| }} | |||
| |boxstyle_ERAWORK = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |||
| {{chart| | | | |PORT1|SGM2|-|'|!|)|-|PIRS|PORT1| | |||
| PIRS = ] | |||
| |SGM2 = ] | |||
| |PORT1 = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_SGM2 = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| |boxstyle_PORT1 = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#ccddff; padding-left:10px; padding-right:10px; | |||
| |boxstyle_PIRS = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart|ERA|C| | |:|SA|~|ZVEZDA|~|SA | |||
| |SA = {{nobr|Solar array}} | |||
| |ZVEZDA = ] | |||
| |ERA = ] | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | |!|`|-|MLM|~|ERA| | | | |||
| |boxstyle_ERA = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |||
| MLM = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_ZVEZDA = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| |ERA = ''']''' | |||
| | |
|boxstyle_SA = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | ||
| |boxstyle_ERA = border: 2px solid #000000; background:#ffffff; | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart| | | |L|~|7|:|,|-|-|-|'|!|!}} | |||
| {{chart| | |
{{chart| |SA|~|NAKUA|~|SA|!|PIRS|PORT3 | ||
| |NAKUA = ] | |||
| |SA = {{nobr|Solar array}} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | |SA|~|ZARYA|~|SA| | | | | |||
| |PIRS = {{colored link|white|Pirs (ISS module)|''Pirs'' {{efn|''Pirs'' was connected to the nadir port of Zvezda now occupied by ''Nauka''.}}}} | |||
| SA = ] | |||
| |PORT3 = {{colored link|white|SSVP docking system|Russian<br />{{nobr|docking port}}}} | |||
| |ZARYA = ] | |||
| | |
|boxstyle_PORT3 = border: 1px solid #696969; background:#808080; | ||
| | |
|boxstyle_PIRS = border: 2px solid #000000; background:#808080; | ||
| |boxstyle_NAKUA = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| |boxstyle_SA = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart| | | | | | |!| | | | | |!}} | |||
| {{chart| | |
{{chart| |PORT2| |NAKUAlock| | | | |! | ||
| |NAKUAlock = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_NAKUAlock = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#DCC5ED; | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | |!|`|-|SGM1|PORT1| | |||
| |PORT2 = {{colored link|white|SSVP docking system|Russian<br />{{nobr|docking port}}}} | |||
| SGM1 = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_PORT2 = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#D2691E; | |||
| |PORT1 = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_PORT1 = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#ccddff; padding-left:10px; padding-right:10px; | |||
| |boxstyle_SGM1 = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart| | | |`|.| |!| | | | | |!}} | |||
| {{chart| |
{{chart|PORT2|-|PRICHAL|-|PORT2| |! | ||
| |PRICHAL = ] | |||
| PMA = ] | |||
| | |
|boxstyle_PRICHAL = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | ||
| |PORT2 = {{colored link|white|SSVP docking system|Russian<br />{{nobr|docking port}}}} | |||
| |boxstyle_PORT2 = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#D2691E; | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart| | | | |!| |!| | | | | |!}} | |||
| {{chart| | | |
{{chart| | |PORT1| |PORT2| | | |! | ||
| |PORT1 = ] | |||
| |PORT2 = {{colored link|white|SSVP docking system|Russian<br />{{nobr|docking port}}}} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | |BERTH|!|LEO|.|,|BEAM| | |||
| |boxstyle_PORT1 = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#b9e192; | |||
| BERTH = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_PORT2 = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#D2691E; | |||
| |BEAM = ] | |||
| |LEO = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_BERTH = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#ccddff; padding-left:10px; padding-right:10px; | |||
| |boxstyle_BEAM = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| |boxstyle_LEO = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | |!}} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | |
{{chart| | | | | | | |SA|~|ZARYA|~|SA | ||
| |ZARYA = ] | |||
| |SA = {{nobr|Solar array}}{{efn|partially retracted}} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | |QUEST|-|UNITY|-|NOD3|| | | |||
| |boxstyle_ZARYA = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| UNITY = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_SA = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |||
| |QUEST = ] | |||
| |NOD3 = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_UNITY = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| |boxstyle_QUEST = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| |boxstyle_NOD3 = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | |!|!}} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | |
{{chart| | | | |PORT1|SGM1|-|'|!| | ||
| |SGM1 = ] | |||
| ESP2 = ] | |||
| |PORT1 = ] | |||
| |CUPOLA = ''']''' | |||
| | |
|boxstyle_PORT1 = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#b9e192; | ||
| | |
|boxstyle_SGM1 = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | }} | |||
| {{chart| |
{{chart|F|iROSA|F|iROSA| | | | |!| | | | |iROSAD|7|iROSA|7| | ||
| |iROSA = ] | |||
| |iROSAD = ] | |||
| {{chart| |FE|F|FE| |RAD|!|RAD| |FE|7|FE| | | | | |||
| |boxstyle_iROSAD = border: 2px solid #000000; background:#ffffff; | |||
| RAD = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_iROSA = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |||
| |FE = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_RAD = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |||
| |boxstyle_FE = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart|:| | | |:| | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | |:| | | |:}} | |||
| {{chart| |
{{chart|D|FE|D|FE| |RAD|!|RAD| |FE|C|FE|C| | | ||
| |RAD = ] | |||
| |FE = ] | |||
| {{chart| |:| | |:|ELC| | |:|FZ1|:| | |ELC3|:| | |:| | |||
| |boxstyle_RAD = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |||
| ELC = ], ''']''' | |||
| |boxstyle_FE = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |||
| |FZ1 = ''']''' | |||
| }} | |||
| |ELC3 = ] | |||
| {{chart|:| | | |:| | | | | |:| |!| |:| | | | | |:| | | |:| }} | |||
| {{chart|:| | | |:|ELC| | |:|FZ1|:| | |ELC3|:| | | |:| | |||
| |ELC = ], ] | |||
| |FZ1 = ] | |||
| |ELC3 = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_ELC3 = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |boxstyle_ELC3 = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | ||
| |boxstyle_FZ1 = border: 2px solid #ff6666; background:#ffcccc; | |boxstyle_FZ1 = border: 2px solid #ff6666; background:#ffcccc; | ||
| |boxstyle_ELC = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |boxstyle_ELC = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart|D|~|FS56|FS34|FS1|FS0|FP1|FP34|FP56|~|C| | |||
| |FS56 = ] | |||
| {{chart| |D|FS56|FS34|FS1|FS0|FP1|FP34|FP56|C| | |||
| |FS34 = ] | |||
| |FS1 = ] | |||
| |FS34 = ''']''' | |||
| | |
|FS0 = ] | ||
| | |
|FP1 = ] | ||
| | |
|FP34 = ] | ||
| | |
|FP56 = ] | ||
| |boxstyle_FS56 = border: 2px solid #ff6666; background:#ffcccc; | |||
| |FP56 = ''']''' | |||
| | |
|boxstyle_FS34 = border: 2px solid #ff6666; background:#ffcccc; | ||
| | |
|boxstyle_FS1 = border: 2px solid #ff6666; background:#ffcccc; | ||
| | |
|boxstyle_FS0 = border: 2px solid #ff6666; background:#ffcccc; | ||
| | |
|boxstyle_FP1 = border: 2px solid #ff6666; background:#ffcccc; | ||
| | |
|boxstyle_FP34 = border: 2px solid #ff6666; background:#ffcccc; | ||
| | |
|boxstyle_FP56 = border: 2px solid #ff6666; background:#ffcccc; | ||
| |boxstyle_FP56 = border: 2px solid #ff6666; background:#ffcccc; | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart|:| | | |:|ELC4| | | |:|!|:| | | |ELC1|:| | | |:| | |||
| |ELC4 = ], ] | |||
| {{chart| |:| | |:|ELC4| | | |:|!|:| | | |ELC1|:| | |:| | |||
| |ELC1 = ] | |||
| |ELC1 = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_ELC1 = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |boxstyle_ELC1 = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | ||
| |boxstyle_ELC4 = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |boxstyle_ELC4 = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart|:| | | |:| | | | |DEXTR|!|CANADARM| | | | |:| | | |:| | |||
| |CANADARM = ]<br />{{nobr|robotic arm}} | |||
| {{chart| |:| | |:| | | | |DEXTR|!|CANADARM| | | | |:| | |:| | |||
| |DEXTR = ]<br />{{nobr|robotic arm}} | |||
| |DEXTR = ''']'''<br />{{nobr|robotic arm}} | |||
| |boxstyle_CANADARM = border: 2px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |boxstyle_CANADARM = border: 2px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | ||
| |boxstyle_DEXTR = border: 2px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |boxstyle_DEXTR = border: 2px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart|D|FE|D|FE| | | | |!| | | | |FE|C|FE|C| | | | |||
| |FE = ] | |||
| {{chart| |FE|L|FE| | | | |!| | | | |FE|J|FE| | | | | |||
| |boxstyle_FE = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |||
| FE = ] | |||
| }} | |||
| |boxstyle_FE = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |||
| {{chart|:| | | |:| | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | |:| | | |:}} | |||
| |boxstyle_ELC = border: 1px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| {{chart|L|iROSAD|L|iROSA| | | | |!| | | | |iROSA|J|iROSA|J| | |||
| |iROSA = ] | |||
| |iROSAD = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_iROSA = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |||
| |boxstyle_iROSAD = border: 2px solid #000000; background:#ffffff; | |||
| }} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | |!}} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | |PMA| |BEAM | |||
| |BEAM = ] | |||
| |PMA = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_PMA = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| |boxstyle_BEAM = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| }} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | |!}} | |||
| {{chart| | | | |ESP2|QUEST|-|UNITY|-|NOD3|-|BISHOP | |||
| |UNITY = ] | |||
| |QUEST = ] | |||
| |NOD3 = ] | |||
| |BISHOP = ] | |||
| |ESP2 = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_UNITY = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| |boxstyle_QUEST = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#DCC5ED; | |||
| |boxstyle_NOD3 = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| |boxstyle_BISHOP = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#DCC5ED; | |||
| |boxstyle_ESP2 = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |||
| }} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | |!|!| | |CUPOLA | |||
| |CUPOLA = '']'' | |||
| |boxstyle_CUPOLA = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| }} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | |BERTH|!| | | |! | |||
| |BERTH = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_BERTH = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#b9e192; | |||
| }} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | |LEO | |||
| |LEO = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_LEO = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | }} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | |ESP1|DESTINY| | | | {{chart| | | | | | | | |ESP1|DESTINY| | | | ||
| |DESTINY = ] | |||
| |ESP1 = ] | |ESP1 = ] | ||
| |boxstyle_DESTINY |
|boxstyle_DESTINY = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | ||
| |boxstyle_ESP1 |
|boxstyle_ESP1 = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | |! }} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | |!| |
{{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | |!|PORT2 | ||
| |PORT2 = {{nobr|] / ]}}<br />{{nobr|docking port}} | |||
| KIBOPS = ] | |||
| | |
|boxstyle_PORT2 = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#b9e192; | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | |!|!| | |KIBOPS|KiboRobo | |||
| |KIBOPS = ] | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | |BERTH|!|PORT2| |!| | |||
| |KiboRobo = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_KIBOPS = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |||
| |PORT2 = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_PORT2 = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#ccddff; | |||
| |boxstyle_BERTH = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#ccddff; padding-left:10px; padding-right:10px; | |||
| }} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | |!|!|!| | | |!|KiboRobo| | |||
| KiboRobo = ] | |||
| |boxstyle_KiboRobo = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |boxstyle_KiboRobo = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart| | | | |COLEXT|COLUMBUS|-|HARMONY|-|-|KIBO|KiboPlat | |||
| |HARMONY = ] | |||
| {{chart| | | | |COLEXT|COLUMBUS|-|HARMONY|-|KIBO|KiboPlat| | |||
| |KiboPlat = ] | |||
| | |
|COLUMBUS = ] | ||
| |KIBO = ] | |||
| |COLUMBUS = ] | |||
| |COLEXT = External payloads | |||
| |KIBO = ] | |||
| |COLEXT = External payloads | |||
| |boxstyle_HARMONY = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |boxstyle_HARMONY = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | ||
| |boxstyle_COLUMBUS = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | |boxstyle_COLUMBUS = border: 2px solid #6699ff; background:#ccddff; | ||
| Line 361: | Line 398: | ||
| |boxstyle_KiboPlat = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | |boxstyle_KiboPlat = border: 1px solid #fee067; background:#fff4cc; | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | |!|!}} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | |
{{chart| | | | | | | | | |BERTH|! | ||
| |BERTH = ] | |||
| | |
|boxstyle_BERTH = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#b9e192; | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | |!}} | |||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | |
{{chart| | | | | | | | | | | |PORT2| | ||
| |PORT2 = {{nobr|] / ]}}<br />{{nobr|docking port}} | |||
| <!-- |AXIOM = ] --> | |||
| |boxstyle_IDA2 = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#ccddff; | |||
| |boxstyle_PORT2 = border: 1px solid #a3ff66; background:#b9e192; | |||
| <!-- |boxstyle_AXIOM = border: 2px solid #000000; background:#ffffff; --> | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| {{chart| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | }} | |||
| {{chart/end|nocat=1}} | {{chart/end|nocat=1}} | ||
| </div><!-- End of wrapping div which handles overflow --> | |||
| === |
=== Pressurised modules === | ||
| ==== ''Zarya'' ==== | |||
| The ISS follows '']'' and '']'' series, '']'', and '']'' as the 11th space station launched, as the '']'' prototypes were never intended to be manned. Other examples of modular station projects include the Soviet/Russian ''Mir'' and the planned Russian ] and ]. First generation space stations, such as early ''Salyuts'' and NASA's ''Skylab'' were not designed for re-supply.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/factsheets/pdfs/history.pdf |title=A History of U.S. Space Stations |website=Spaceflight.nasa.gov |accessdate=10 August 2017}}</ref><!--I think that the cn was for skylab, here is nasa cite that skylab was not designed for resupply--> 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. ] and ] had more than one docking port and were designed to be resupplied routinely during crewed operation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/spacestation/station/russian.htm |title=Space Station | Russian Space History |publisher=Pbs.org |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> | |||
| {{Main|Zarya (ISS module)}} | |||
| ]]] | |||
| ''Zarya'' ({{Langx|ru|Заря|lit=Sunrise}}{{efn|"Zarya" has several meanings: "daybreak" or "dawn" (in the morning) or "afterglow", "evening glow" or "sunset" (in the evening), but NASA and Roscosmos translate it as "sunrise."<ref>{{Cite web |last=bryan |date=2016-01-25 |title=Image showing Zarya mockup at the NASA Johnson Space Center with the translation Sunrise |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/File:Lyndon_B._Johnson_Space_Center_Johnson_Space_Center_JSC_NASA_Houston_Space_City_United_States_America_The_States_USA_US_(24560757054).jpg |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=Wikimedia Commons}}</ref>}}), also known as the ''Functional Cargo Block'' ({{Langx|ru|Функционально-грузовой блок|links=no}}), was the inaugural component of the ISS. Launched in 1998, it initially served as the ISS's power source, storage, propulsion, and guidance system. As the station has grown, ''Zarya'''s role has transitioned primarily to storage, both internally and in its external fuel tanks.<ref name="NASA2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/zarya-module/|title=Zarya Module|publisher=]|access-date=19 April 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118134120/https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/zarya-module/|archive-date=18 November 2023}}</ref> | |||
| ===Pressurised modules=== | |||
| {{refimprove section|date=November 2015}} | |||
| A descendant of the ] used in the ], ''Zarya'' was built in Russia but is owned by the United States. Its name symbolizes the beginning of a new era of international space cooperation.<ref name="russianspaceweb-enterprise">{{Cite web|url=https://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_enterprise.html|title=Russian Segment: Enterprise|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|date=15 October 2008|access-date=4 August 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811163146/https://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_enterprise.html|archive-date=11 August 2023|website=RussianSpaceWeb}}</ref> | |||
| ====''Zarya''==== | |||
| ] during ]]] | |||
| ''''']''''' ({{lang-rus|Заря́}}; {{lit|dawn}}), also known as the ] or FGB (from the Russian "Функционально-грузовой блок", Funktsionalno-gruzovoy blok or ФГБ), was the first module of the International Space Station to be launched. The FGB provided electrical power, storage, propulsion, and guidance to the ISS during the initial stage of assembly. With the launch and assembly in orbit of other modules with more specialised functionality, ''Zarya'' is now primarily used for storage, both inside the pressurised section and in the externally mounted fuel tanks. ''Zarya'' is a descendant of the ] designed for the Soviet ]. The name ''Zarya'' was given to the FGB because it signified the dawn of a new era of international co-operation in space. Although it was built by a Russian company, it is owned by the ]. ''Zarya'' weighs {{convert|19300|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, is {{convert|12.55|m|ft|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|4.1|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide, discounting solar arrays. | |||
| ==== ''Unity'' ==== | |||
| ''Zarya'' was built from December 1994 to January 1998 at the ] (KhSC) in Moscow. The control system was developed by the Ukrainian ] corporation in ]. | |||
| {{Main|Unity (ISS module)}} | |||
| ]]] | |||
| ''Unity'', also known as ''Node 1'', is the inaugural U.S.-built component of the ISS.<ref name="nssdca-1998-069f">{{Cite web|title=NASA – NSSDCA – Spacecraft – Details|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1998-069F|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423215409/https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1998-069F|archive-date=23 April 2023|access-date=6 May 2022|website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov|publisher=]|id=1998-069F}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Loff|first=Sarah|date=15 November 2018|title=Unity|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/unity|access-date=6 May 2022|website=NASA|archive-date=5 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605221424/https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/unity/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Serving as the connection between the Russian and U.S. segments, this cylindrical module features six ] locations (], ], ], ], ], and ]) for attaching additional modules. Measuring {{convert|4.57|m}} in diameter and {{convert|5.47|m}} in length, ''Unity'' was constructed of steel by ] for NASA at the ] in ]. It was the first of three connecting nodes – ''Unity'', ''Harmony'', and ''Tranquility'' – that forms the structural backbone of the U.S. segment of the ISS.<ref name="nasa-roy-20091020">{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.nasa.gov/sailing_with_nasa/2009/10/20/post_1256076937193/|title=ET-134's Mission,STS-130: Launching Tranquility|last=Roy|first=Steve|date=20 October 2009|publisher=]|access-date=23 November 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322123432/https://blogs.nasa.gov/sailing_with_nasa/2009/10/20/post_1256076937193/|archive-date=22 March 2023}}</ref> | |||
| ''Zarya'' was launched on 20 November 1998, on a Russian ] from ] in ] to a {{convert|400|km|mi|abbr=on}} high orbit with a designed lifetime of at least 15 years. After ''Zarya'' reached orbit, STS-88 launched on 4 December 1998, to attach the ''Unity'' module. | |||
| ==== ''Zvezda'' ==== | |||
| Although only designed to fly autonomously for six to eight months, ''Zarya'' did so for almost two years because of delays with the Russian Service Module, ''Zvezda'', which finally launched on 12 July 2000, and docked with ''Zarya'' on 26 July using the Russian ]. | |||
| {{Main|Zvezda (ISS module)}} | |||
| ]]] | |||
| ''Zvezda'' ({{Langx|ru|Звезда|lit=star|links=no}}) launched in July 2000, is the core of the ] of the ISS. Initially providing essential living quarters and ]s, it enabled the first continuous human presence aboard the station. While additional modules have expanded the ISS's capabilities, Zvezda remains the command and control center for the Russian segment and it is where crews gather during emergencies.<ref>{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doN4t5NKW-k|title=Departing Space Station Commander Provides Tour of Orbital Laboratory|date=3 July 2015|last=Williams|first=Suni (presenter)|publisher=NASA|time=17.46–18.26|access-date=1 September 2019|medium=video|archive-date=14 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814155134/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doN4t5NKW-k|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Roylance|first=Frank D.|date=11 November 2000|title=Space station astronauts take shelter from solar radiation|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2000-11-11-0011110386-story.html|access-date=1 September 2019|website=The Baltimore Sun|publisher=Tribune Publishing|archive-date=1 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901060300/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2000-11-11-0011110386-story.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Stofer|first=Kathryn|date=29 October 2013|title=Tuesday/Wednesday Solar Punch|url=https://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/10.28Flare.html|access-date=1 September 2019|website=NASA|archive-date=2 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202225119/https://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/10.28Flare.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| ====''Unity''==== | |||
| ] | |||
| ''''']''''', or Node 1, is one of three nodes, or passive connecting modules, in the ] of the station. It was the first US-built component of the Station to be launched. The module is made of aluminium and cylindrical in shape, with six berthing locations facilitating connections to other modules. Essential space station resources such as fluids, environmental control and life support systems, electrical and data systems are routed through ''Unity'' to supply work and living areas of the station. More than 50,000 mechanical items, 216 lines to carry fluids and gases, and 121 internal and external electrical cables using six miles of wire were installed in the ''Unity'' node. Prior to its launch, conical Pressurized Mating Adapters (PMAs) were attached to the aft and forward berthing mechanisms of ''Unity''. ''Unity'' and the two mating adapters together weighed about {{convert|25600|lb|kg|order=flip|abbr=on}}. The adapters allow the docking systems used by the Space Shuttle and by Russian modules to attach to the node's hatches and berthing mechanisms. | |||
| A descendant of the Salyut programme's DOS spacecraft, Zvezda was built by ] and launched atop a ].<ref name="ruspace">{{cite web|title=Service Module {{!}} RuSpace|url=http://suzymchale.com/ruspace/sm.html|access-date=10 November 2020|website=suzymchale.com|archive-date=21 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921234759/http://suzymchale.com/ruspace/sm.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| ''Unity'' was carried into orbit by {{OV|105}} in 1998 as the primary cargo of ], the first Space Shuttle mission dedicated to assembly of the station. On 6 December 1998, the STS-88 crew mated the aft berthing port of ''Unity'' with the forward hatch of the already orbiting ''Zarya'' module. | |||
| ===='' |
==== ''Destiny'' ==== | ||
| {{Main|Destiny (ISS module)}} | |||
| ''''']''''' ({{lang-ru|link=no|Звезда́}}, meaning "star"), also known as DOS-8, Service Module or SM ({{lang-ru|link=no|СМ}}). Early in the station's life, ''Zvezda'' provided all of its critical systems.<ref name="huffpo20140714">{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marco-caceres/when-keeping-the-space-st_b_5326275.html |title=When Keeping the Space Station Open Suddenly Became a Cause Célèbre |work=The Huffington Post |first=Marco |last=Cáceres |date=14 July 2014 |accessdate=11 September 2016}}</ref><ref name="snasm20150819">{{cite web |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/zvezda-service-module-celebrates-15-years-orbit |title=Zvezda Service Module Celebrates 15 Years in Orbit |publisher=Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum |first=Cathleen |last=Lewis |date=19 August 2015 |accessdate=11 September 2016}}</ref> It made the station permanently habitable for the first time, adding life support for up to six crew and living quarters for two.<ref name="ISSBook" /> ''Zvezda''{{'s}} DMS-R computer handles guidance, navigation and control for the entire space station.<ref name="Navigation" /> A second computer which performs the same functions will be installed in the '']'' module, FGB-2. | |||
| ] | |||
| The ''Destiny'' laboratory is the primary research facility for U.S. experiments on the ISS. NASA's first permanent orbital research station since Skylab, the module was built by Boeing and launched aboard {{OV|104}} during ]. Attached to ''Unity'' over a period of five days in February 2001, ''Destiny'' has been a hub for scientific research ever since.<ref name="boeing">{{Cite web|url=http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/components/us_laboratory.html|title=Destiny Laboratory Module|last=Boeing|year=2008|publisher=]|access-date=7 October 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011150013/http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/components/us_laboratory.html|archive-date=11 October 2008}}</ref><ref name="lab">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/destiny.html|title=U.S. Destiny Laboratory|year=2003|publisher=]|access-date=7 October 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070709153924/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/destiny.html|archive-date=9 July 2007}}</ref><ref name="sts-98">{{cite web|year=2001|title=STS-98|url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-98/mission-sts-98.html|access-date=7 October 2008|publisher=NASA|archive-date=30 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130830041616/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-98/mission-sts-98.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| Initially built to be the core of the cancelled Mir-2 space station, the hull of ''Zvezda'' was completed in February 1985, with major internal equipment installed by October 1986.<ref name="snasm20150819" /> The module was launched by a Proton-K rocket from Site 81/23 at Baikonur, on 12 July 2000. ''Zvezda'' is at the rear of the station according to its normal direction of travel and orientation, and its engines may be used to boost the station's orbit. Alternatively Russian and European spacecraft can dock to ''Zvezda''{{'s}} aft port and use their engines to boost the station.<ref name="nbcnews20070501">{{cite news |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/18406364/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/space-station-lights-its-big-engines/ |title=Space station lights its 'big engines' |work=NBC News |first=James |last=Oberg |date=1 May 2007 |accessdate=11 September 2016}}</ref><ref name="airspace20070301">{{cite news |url=http://www.airspacemag.com/need-to-know/how-does-the-international-space-station-dodge-space-junk-16106207/ |title=How does the International Space Station dodge space junk? |work=] |first=Joe |last=Pappalardo |date=1 March 2007 |accessdate=11 September 2016}}</ref> | |||
| Within ''Destiny'', astronauts conduct experiments in fields such as medicine, engineering, biotechnology, physics, materials science, and Earth science. Researchers worldwide benefit from these studies. The module also houses life support systems, including the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2007/07/oxygen-generating-system-activated-onboard-iss/|title=Oxygen Generating System activated onboard ISS|access-date=25 January 2010|author=Chris Bergin|publisher=NASASpaceflight.com|date=12 July 2007}}</ref> | |||
| ====''Destiny''==== | |||
| {{multiple image |align=right |total_width=400 | |||
| |image1=Destiny as just installed.jpg |caption1=''Destiny'' laboratory interior in February 2001 | |||
| |image2=Melvin working on robotic computers in US lab.jpg |caption2=Robotic equipment near the aft end of the module, being operated by ] | |||
| }} | |||
| ''''']''''', also known as the U.S. Lab, is the primary research facility for United States payloads aboard the ISS. In 2011, NASA chose the not-for-profit group ] (CASIS) to be the sole manager of all American science on the station which does not relate to manned exploration. The module houses 24 ]s, some of which are used for environmental systems and crew daily living equipment. ''Destiny'' also serves as the mounting point for the station's Truss Structure.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/destiny.html |title=NASA—US Destiny Laboratory |date=26 March 2007 |accessdate=26 June 2007 |publisher=NASA}}</ref> | |||
| ====''Quest''==== | ==== ''Quest Joint Airlock'' ==== | ||
| {{Main|Quest Joint Airlock}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| The ''Quest Joint Airlock'' enables ] (EVAs) using either the U.S. ] (EMU) or the Russian ].<ref name="nasa-questairlock">{{cite web|title=Quest Airlock|url=https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/quest-airlock/|publisher=]|access-date=24 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024152123/https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/quest-airlock/|archive-date=24 October 2023|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| ''''']''''' is the only USOS airlock, and hosts spacewalks with both United States ] and Russian ] ]. It consists of two segments: the equipment lock, which stores spacesuits and equipment, and the crew lock, from which astronauts can exit into space. This module has a separately controlled atmosphere. Crew sleep in this module, breathing a low nitrogen mixture the night before scheduled EVAs, to avoid ] (known as "the bends") in the low-pressure suits.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/eva/outside.html |title=Space Station Extravehicular Activity |accessdate=11 March 2009 |publisher=] |date=4 April 2004}}</ref> | |||
| Before its installation, conducting EVAs from the ISS was challenging due to a variety of system and design differences. Only the Orlan suit could be used from the Transfer Chamber on the ''Zvezda'' module (which was not a purpose-built airlock) and the EMU could only be used from the airlock on a visiting Space Shuttle, which could not accommodate the Orlan.<ref name="usaf-2010">{{cite tech report|last1=Stockman|first1=Bill|last2=Boyle|first2=Joe|last3=Bacon|first3=John|title=International Space Station Systems Engineering Case Study|url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA538763.pdf|publisher=]|access-date=24 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124095002/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA538763.pdf|archive-date=24 November 2023|pages=36–38|year=2010|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| ====''Pirs'' and ''Poisk''==== | |||
| ''''']''''' ({{lang-ru|link=no|Пирс}}, meaning "]"), ({{lang-ru|link=no|Стыковочный отсек}}), "docking module", SO-1 or DC-1 (docking compartment), and ''''']''''' ({{lang-ru|link=no|По́иск}}; lit. ''Search''), also known as the ] 2 (MRM 2), {{lang|ru|Малый исследовательский модуль 2}}, or МИМ 2. ''Pirs'' and ''Poisk'' are Russian airlock modules, each having 2 identical hatches. An outward-opening hatch on the ''Mir'' space station failed after it swung open too fast after unlatching, because of a small amount of air pressure remaining in the airlock.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir_close_calls.html |title=Mir close calls |publisher=Russianspaceweb.com |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> A different entry was used, and the hatch was repaired. All EVA hatches on the ISS open inwards and are pressure-sealing. ''Pirs'' was used to store, service, and refurbish Russian ] and provided contingency entry for crew using the slightly bulkier American suits. The outermost docking ports on both airlocks allow docking of Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, and the automatic transfer of propellants to and from storage on the ROS.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/pirs.html |title=Pirs Docking Compartment |publisher=NASA |accessdate=28 March 2009 |date=10 May 2006}}</ref> | |||
| Launched aboard {{OV|104}} during ] in July 2001 and attached to the Unity module, Quest is a {{convert|20|ft|m|adj=mid|order=flip|-long}}, {{convert|13|ft|m|adj=mid|order=flip|-wide}} structure built by Boeing.<ref name="nasa-20210714">{{cite web|last1=Uri|first1=John|title=Space Station 20th: STS-104 Brings Quest Joint Airlock to the Space Station|url=https://www.nasa.gov/history/space-station-20th-sts-104-brings-quest-joint-airlock-to-the-space-station/|publisher=]|access-date=24 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124093812/https://www.nasa.gov/history/space-station-20th-sts-104-brings-quest-joint-airlock-to-the-space-station/|archive-date=24 November 2023|date=14 July 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> It houses the crew airlock for astronaut egress, an equipment airlock for suit storage, and has facilities to accommodate astronauts during their overnight pre-breathe procedures to prevent decompression sickness.<ref name="usaf-2010" /> | |||
| ====''Harmony''==== | |||
| {{multiple image |align=right |total_width=400 | |||
| |image1=Node 2 - STS-134.jpg |caption1=''Harmony'' node in 2011 | |||
| |image2=Node 3 - Isolated view.jpg |caption2=''Tranquility'' node in 2011 | |||
| }} | |||
| The crew airlock, derived from the Space Shuttle, features essential equipment like lighting, handrails, and an Umbilical Interface Assembly (UIA) that provides life support and communication systems for up to two spacesuits simultaneously. These can be either two EMUs, two Orlan suits, or one of each design. | |||
| ''''']''''', also known as Node 2, is the second of the station's node modules and the utility hub of the USOS. The module contains four racks that provide electrical power, bus electronic data, and acts as a central connecting point for several other components via its six Common Berthing Mechanisms (CBMs). The European ''Columbus'' and Japanese ''Kibō'' laboratories are permanently berthed to the starboard and port radial ports respectively. The nadir and zenith ports can be used for docking visiting spacecraft including HTV, Dragon, and Cygnus, with the nadir port serving as the primary docking port. American Shuttle Orbiters docked with the ISS via PMA-2, attached to the forward port. | |||
| ===='' |
==== ''Poisk'' ==== | ||
| {{Main|Poisk (ISS module)}} | |||
| ''''']''''', also known as Node 3, is the third and last of the station's US nodes, it contains an additional life support system to recycle waste water for crew use and supplements oxygen generation. Like the other US nodes, it has six berthing mechanisms, five of which are currently in use. The first one connects to the station's core via the '']'' module, others host the '']'', the ] #3, the ] and the ]. The final zenith port remains free. | |||
| ''Poisk'' ({{Langx|ru|По́иск|lit=Search|links=no}}), also known as the ''Mini-Research Module 2'' ({{Langx|ru|Малый исследовательский модуль 2|links=no}}), serves as both a secondary airlock on the Russian segment of the ISS and supports docking for Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, facilitates propellant transfers from the latter.<ref>{{cite web|date=10 May 2006|title=Pirs Docking Compartment|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/pirs.html|access-date=28 March 2009|publisher=NASA|archive-date=25 October 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051025154605/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/pirs.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Launched on 10 November 2009 attached to a modified ], called ].<ref name="energia0828">{{Cite news|date=28 August 2009|title=August 28, 2009. S. P. Korolev RSC Energia, Korolev, Moscow region|url=http://www.energia.ru/eng/iss/mim1/photo_08-28.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921031747/https://www.energia.ru/eng/iss/mim1/photo_08-28.html|archive-date=21 September 2020|access-date=3 September 2009|publisher=RSC Energia}}</ref><ref name="sfn-20091110">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp21/091110mrmlaunch/|title=Poisk launches to add new room for space station|last=Clark|first=Stephen|date=10 November 2009|access-date=11 November 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810132113/https://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp21/091110mrmlaunch/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=Spaceflight Now}}</ref> | |||
| ====''Columbus''==== | |||
| ] | |||
| ''''']''''', the primary research facility for European payloads aboard the ISS, provides a ] as well as facilities specifically designed for ], ] and ]. Several mounting locations are affixed to the exterior of the module, which provide power and data to external experiments such as the ] (EuTEF), ], ], and ]. A number of expansions are planned for the module to study ] and ].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2008/01/prcb-plan-sts-122-for-net-feb-7-three-launches-in-10-11-weeks/ |title=PRCB plan STS-122 for NET Feb 7—three launches in 10–11 weeks |accessdate=12 January 2008 |author=Chris Bergin |date=10 January 2008 |publisher=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/esaHS/ESAAYI0VMOC_iss_0.html |title=Columbus laboratory |publisher=] (ESA) |accessdate=6 March 2009 |date=10 January 2009}}</ref> ESA's development of technologies on all the main areas of life support has been ongoing for more than 20 years and are/have been used in modules such as ''Columbus'' and the ATV. <!--I'm pretty sure it's the same document as used in the exploration section, if not, it's http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/Mars500/Mars500_infokit_feb2011_web.pdf -->The ] manages ground control operations for ''Columbus'' and the ATV is controlled from the French ] ]. | |||
| ''Poisk'' provides facilities to maintain Orlan spacesuits and is equipped with two inward-opening hatches, a design change from ''Mir'', which encountered a dangerous situation caused by an outward-opening hatch that opened too quickly because of a small amount of air pressure remaining in the airlock.<ref name="russianspaceweb-mir-close-calls">{{Cite web|url=https://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir_close_calls.html|title=Mir close calls|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|access-date=1 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811162132/https://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir_close_calls.html|archive-date=11 August 2023|website=RussianSpaceWeb}}</ref> Since the departure of ] in 2021, it's become the sole airlock on the Russian segment. | |||
| ====''Kibō''==== | |||
| ] | |||
| ''''']''''' ({{lang-ja|きぼう}}, "]") is a laboratory and the largest ISS module. It is used for research in space medicine, biology, Earth observations, materials production, biotechnology and communications, and has facilities for growing plants and fish. During August 2011, the ] observatory mounted on ''Kibō'', which uses the ISS's orbital motion to image the whole sky in the X-ray spectrum, detected for the first time the moment when a star was swallowed by a black hole.<ref>{{cite web |author=] |url=http://kibo.jaxa.jp/en/experiment/ef/maxi/ |title=Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI): Experiment – Kibo Japanese Experimental Module – JAXA |publisher=Kibo.jaxa.jp |date=30 March 2007 |accessdate=1 May 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120428073043/http://kibo.jaxa.jp/en/experiment/ef/maxi/ |archivedate=28 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2011/08/20110825_maxi_e.html |title=JAXA | Scientific paper in Nature using the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI) on Kibo and the Swift satellite (USA) observations – First observation of a massive black hole swallowing a star |publisher=Jaxa.jp |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> The laboratory contains 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 EVAs. | |||
| ==== ''Harmony'' ==== | |||
| <gallery widths="115px" mode="nolines"> | |||
| {{Main|Harmony (ISS module)}} | |||
| File:Kibo - Pressurized Module.jpg|Pressurized Module | |||
| ] faces the camera. The nadir and zenith locations are open.]] | |||
| File:Kibo - Experiment Logistics Module (Pressurized Section).jpg|Experiment Logistics Module | |||
| File:Kibo - Exposed Facility.jpg|Exposed Facility | |||
| File:Kibo - Experiment Logistics Module (Exposed Section).jpg|Experiment Logistics Module | |||
| File:Kibo - Remote Manipulator System.jpg|Remote Manipulator System | |||
| </gallery> | |||
| ''Harmony'', or ''Node 2'', is the central connecting hub of the US segment of the ISS, linking the U.S., European, and Japanese laboratory modules. It's also been called the "utility hub" of the ISS as it provides essential power, data, and life support systems. The module also houses sleeping quarters for four crew members.<ref>{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukws3oLMDc8|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/ukws3oLMDc8|archive-date=11 December 2021|url-status=live|title=Station Tour: Harmony, Tranquility, Unity|date=19 May 2013|last=Williams|first=Suni (presenter)|publisher=NASA|time=0.06–0.35|access-date=31 August 2019|quote=So this is Node 2 ... this is where four out of six of us sleep.|medium=video}}{{cbignore}}</ref> | |||
| A smaller pressurised module is attached to the top of ''Kibō'', serving as a cargo bay. The dedicated Interorbital Communications System (ICS) 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. Japanese ground controllers use ] to remotely conduct onboard research and experiments, thus reducing the workload of station astronauts. Ground controllers also use a free-floating autonomous ] to photodocument astronaut and space station activities, further freeing up astronaut time. | |||
| Launched on 23 October 2007 aboard {{OV|103}} on ],<ref name="launch">{{cite web|last=NASA|date=23 October 2007|title=STS-120 MCC Status Report #01|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts120/news/STS-120-01.html|publisher=NASA|access-date=22 September 2019|archive-date=28 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028131000/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts120/news/STS-120-01.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="lat">{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-24-sci-shuttle24-story.html|title=Shuttle embarks on busy mission|last=Johnson, Jr.|first=John|date=24 October 2007|access-date=23 October 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812222654/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-24-sci-shuttle24-story.html|archive-date=12 August 2023|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Harmony was initially attached to the Unity<ref name="harmmate">{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/120/STS-120_Archive.html|title=Harmony module pulled from cargo bay|last=Harwood|first=William|date=26 October 2007|access-date=26 October 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917130622/http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/120/STS-120_Archive.html|archive-date=17 September 2021|publisher=]}}</ref><ref name="room">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/science/26cnd-shuttle.html|url-access=subscription|title=New Room Added to Space Station|last=Schwartz|first=John|date=26 October 2007|access-date=26 October 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811162928/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/science/26cnd-shuttle.html|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=The New York Times}}</ref> before being relocated to its permanent position at the front of the Destiny laboratory on 14 November 2007.<ref name="pma3">{{cite web|last=NASA|year=2007|title=PMA-3 Relocation|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/pma3move.html|access-date=28 September 2007|publisher=]|archive-date=12 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012235655/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/pma3move.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> This expansion added significant living space to the ISS, marking a key milestone in the construction of the U.S. segment. | |||
| ====Cupola==== | |||
| {{multiple image |align=right |total_width=400 | |||
| |image1=STS130 cupola view1.jpg |caption1=The ]'s design has been compared to the '']'' from '']''. | |||
| |image2=ISS-27 Dmitri Kondratyev and Paolo Nespoli photograph the Earth through the Cupola.jpg |caption2=] and ] in the Cupola. Background left to right, ], ], the '']'' module and ]. | |||
| }} | |||
| ==== ''Tranquility'' ==== | |||
| ''']''' 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 ESA led to ESA resuming development of Cupola in 1998. It was built by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. 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 an {{convert|80|cm|in|adj=on}} round window, the largest window on the station (and the largest flown in space to date). The distinctive design has been compared to the 'turret' of the fictitious '']'' from the motion picture '']'';<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/7932-astronauts-bask-spectacular-views-space-windows.html |title=Astronauts Bask in Spectacular Views From New Space Windows |publisher=Space.com |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref><!--millennium falcon cupola + google brings up lots of these, pick what you think is notable.--><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/02/photogalleries/100218-international-space-station-cupola-iss-obama-nasa-pictures/ |title=First Photos: Space Station's Observation Deck Unveiled |work=National Geographic |accessdate=1 May 2012 |date=18 February 2010}}</ref> the original prop ] used by actor ] as ] in the 1977 film was flown to the station in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/4283-nasa-shuttle-launch-luke-skywalker-lightsaber.html |title=NASA Shuttle to Launch Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber |publisher=Space.com |date=28 August 2007 |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> | |||
| {{Main|Tranquility (ISS module)}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ''Tranquility'', also known as ''Node 3'', is a module of the ISS. It contains environmental control systems, ]s, a toilet, exercise equipment, and an observation ]. | |||
| ====''Rassvet''==== | |||
| ''''']''''' ({{lang-ru|link=no|Рассве́т}}; lit. "dawn"), also known as the Mini-Research Module 1 (MRM-1) ({{lang-ru|link=no|Ма́лый иссле́довательский модуль}}, {{lang|ru|МИМ 1}}) and formerly known as the Docking Cargo Module (DCM), is similar in design to the ] launched on ] in 1995<!--Haven't checked, just cut'n'pasting that part-->. ''Rassvet'' is primarily used for cargo storage and for docking by visiting spacecraft. It was flown to the ISS aboard NASA's {{OV|104}} on the ] mission and connected in May 2010,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/04/sts-132-prcb-baselines-mission-to-deliver-russias-mrm-1/ |title=STS-132: PRCB baselines Atlantis' mission to deliver Russia's MRM-1 |author=Chris Gebhardt |publisher=NASAspaceflight.com |date=9 April 2009 |accessdate=12 November 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts132/news/STS-132-09.html |author=NASA |date=18 May 2010 |accessdate=7 July 2010 |title=STS-132 MCC Status Report #09}}</ref> ''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.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825094354/http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_mim1.html |date=25 August 2011 }}. russianspaceweb.com</ref> <!--ref for current ownership is somewhat tricky, as there are refs for both, and when was the exchange ? Also there is a division of the financing, something like 60/40 or 70/30 or so--> ''Rassvet'' was launched with the Russian ''Nauka'' laboratory's experiments airlock temporarily attached to it, and spare parts for the European Robotic Arm. | |||
| The European Space Agency and the ] had ''Tranquility'' manufactured by ]. A ceremony on 20 November 2009 transferred ownership of the module to NASA.<ref>{{cite web|date=23 October 2010|title=NASA – NASA Receives Tranquility|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/tranquility_transfer.html|access-date=12 August 2013|publisher=Nasa.gov|archive-date=11 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811174634/https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/tranquility_transfer.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 8 February 2010, NASA launched the module on the Space Shuttle's ] mission. | |||
| ====''Leonardo''==== | |||
| ] | |||
| ''''']'' Permanent Multipurpose Module''' (PMM) is a storage module attached to the '']'' node.<ref name="leo-esa20110301">{{cite news |url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/MagISStra/Leonardo_attached_to_Space_Station |title=Leonardo Attached to Space Station |work=ESA.int |date=1 March 2011 |accessdate=11 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2015/05/27/module-relocated-prepping-station-for-commercial-crew/ |title=Module Relocated Prepping Station for Commercial Crew |publisher=NASA |first=Mark |last=Garcia |date=27 May 2015 |accessdate=27 May 2015}}</ref> The three NASA Space Shuttle ] cargo containers—''Leonardo'', ''Raffaello'' and ''Donatello''—were built for NASA in ], Italy by Alcatel Alenia Space, now ].<ref>. Thalesaleniaspace-issmodules.com. Retrieved 8 October 2011.</ref> The MPLMs were provided to NASA's ISS programme by Italy (independent of their role as a member state of ESA) and are considered to be US elements. In a bartered exchange for providing these containers, the US gave Italy research time aboard the ISS out of the US allotment in addition to that which Italy receives as a member of ESA.<ref>. SpaceRef (3 April 2001). Retrieved 8 October 2011.</ref> The Permanent Multipurpose Module was created by converting ''Leonardo'' into a module that could be permanently attached to the station.<!--rescuing old refs from the table, haven't checked them, plus who built these things, some say Italy's space agency, some say independent of the agency...--><ref name="PLM1">{{cite news |url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/08/sts-133-five-crew-one-eva-mission-leave-mpm-on-iss |title=STS-133 refined to a five crew, one EVA mission—will leave MPLM on ISS |publisher=NASASpaceflight.com |author=Chris Gebhardt |date=5 August 2009}}</ref><ref name="PLM2">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8226309.stm |title=Europe looks to buy Soyuz craft |work=BBC News |last=Amos |first=Jonathan |date=29 August 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=17437.msg483604#msg483604 |publisher=NASASpaceflight.com |accessdate=12 October 2009 |title=Shuttle Q&A Part 5 |date=27 September 2009}}</ref> | |||
| ==== |
==== ''Columbus'' ==== | ||
| {{Main|Columbus (ISS module)}} | |||
| ''']''' (BEAM) is a prototype ] serving as a two-year technology demonstration.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/news/beam_feature.html |title=NASA to Test Bigelow Expandable Module on Space Station |date=16 January 2013 |publisher=NASA |accessdate=17 January 2013}}</ref> It was built by ] under a contract established by NASA on 16 January 2013. BEAM was delivered to the ISS aboard ] on 10 April 2016, was berthed to the aft port of the '']'' node on 16 April,<ref name="space20160410">{{cite news |url=http://www.space.com/32528-spacex-dragon-delivers-inflatable-room-space-station.html |title=SpaceX Dragon Arrives at Space Station, Delivers Inflatable Room Prototype |work=Space.com |first=Robert |last=Pearlman |date=10 April 2016 |accessdate=19 April 2016}}</ref><ref name="sfnow20160416">{{cite news |url=http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/04/16/watch-live-expandable-room-to-be-installed-on-space-station-saturday/ |title=Expandable room installed on space station |work=Spaceflight Now |first=Stephen |last=Clark |date=16 April 2016 |accessdate=19 April 2016}}</ref> and was fully expanded on 28 May.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2016/05/28/beam-expanded-to-full-size/ |title=BEAM Expanded To Full Size |publisher=NASA |first=Mark |last=Garcia |date=28 May 2016}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| ''Columbus'' is a science laboratory that is part of the ISS and is the largest single contribution to the station made by the European Space Agency. | |||
| During its two-year test run, instruments are measuring its structural integrity and leak rate, along with temperature and radiation levels. The hatch leading into the module remains closed except for periodic visits by space station crew members for inspections and data collection. The module was originally planned to be jettisoned from the station following the test,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1301/16bigelow/ |title=Bigelow inflatable module bound for space station |work=Spaceflight Now |last=Harwood |first=William |date=16 January 2013 |accessdate=17 January 2013}}</ref> but following positive data after a year in orbit, NASA has suggested that it could remain on the station as a storage area.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/26/532610193/after-a-year-in-space-the-air-hasnt-gone-out-of-nasas-inflated-module |title=After A Year In Space, The Air Hasn't Gone Out Of NASA's Inflated Module |publisher=] |first=Joe |last=Palca |date=26 July 2017 |accessdate=6 August 2017}}</ref> | |||
| Like the ''Harmony'' and ''Tranquility'' modules, the ''Columbus'' laboratory was constructed in ], Italy by ]. The functional equipment and software of the lab was designed by ] in ], Germany. It was also integrated in Bremen before being flown to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in an ] jet. It was launched aboard Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' on 7 February 2008, on flight ]. It is designed for ten years of operation. The module is controlled by the ], located at the ], part of the ] in ] near ], Germany. | |||
| ====International Docking Adapter-2==== | |||
| The ''''']''''' (IDA) is a spacecraft docking system adapter being developed to convert ] to the ] (NDS) / ] (IDSS). IDA-2 was launched on ] on 18 July 2016. It was attached and connected to PMA-2 during a spacewalk on 19 August 2016. | |||
| The European Space Agency has spent ]1.4 billion (about ]1.6 billion) on building ''Columbus'', including the experiments it carries and the ground control infrastructure necessary to operate them.<ref name="sfn-20080211">{{Cite news|url=http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts122/080211fd5/index3.html|title=Station arm pulls Columbus module from cargo bay|last=Harwood|first=William|date=11 February 2008|access-date=7 August 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507224754/http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts122/080211fd5/index3.html|archive-date=7 May 2016|work=Spaceflight Now}}</ref> | |||
| ====Elements pending Russia launch==== | |||
| ==== |
==== ''Kibō'' ==== | ||
| {{Main|Kibō (ISS module)}} | |||
| ''''']''''' ({{lang-ru|link=no|Нау́ка}}; lit. "science"), also known as the Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) or FGB-2 ({{lang-ru|link=no|Многофункциональный лабораторный модуль}}, {{lang|ru|МЛМ}}), is the major Russian laboratory module. It was scheduled to arrive at the station in 2014, docking to the port that was occupied by the ''Pirs'' module.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_05_23_2012_p05-01-460939.xml |title=Russia Sees Moon Base As Logical Next Step |last=Morring |first=Frank |date=23 May 2012 |publisher=Aviation Week |accessdate=29 May 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112034945/http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=%2Farticle-xml%2Fasd_05_23_2012_p05-01-460939.xml |archivedate=12 November 2012}}</ref> Due to deterioration during many years spent in storage, it proved necessary to build a new propulsion module,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_fgb2.html |title=MLM (FGB-2) |first=Anatoly |last=Zak |publisher=Russian Space Web |date=29 April 2014 |accessdate=14 May 2014}}</ref> and the launch date was postponed to 2018.<ref>{{cite web |last=Zak |first=Anatoly |title=This Russian ISS Module Has Been Delayed For a Decade and It's Still Not Ready to Fly |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/satellites/a25773/mlm-delayed-russia/ |work=Popular Mechanics |date=22 March 2017 |accessdate=21 September 2018}}</ref> Before the ''Nauka'' module arrives, a Progress spacecraft will remove ''Pirs'' from the station and deorbit it to reenter over the Pacific Ocean. ''Nauka'' contains an additional set of life support systems and attitude 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 ], or Russian node, each incorporate their own large solar arrays to power Russian science experiments in the ROS. | |||
| ] | |||
| {{Nihongo|''Kibō''|きぼう||{{lit|hope}}|lead=yes}}, also known as the ''Japanese Experiment Module'', is Japan's research facility on the ISS. It is the largest single module on the ISS, consisting of a pressurized lab, an exposed facility for conducting experiments in the space environment, two storage compartments, and a robotic arm. Attached to the ''Harmony'' module, ''Kibō'' was assembled in space over three Space Shuttle missions: ], ] and ].<ref name="japantimes-20090630">{{Cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/06/30/reference/japan-a-low-key-player-in-space-race/|url-access=subscription|title=Japan a low-key player in space race|last=Kamiya|first=Setsuko|date=30 June 2009|work=]|page=3|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813092804/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/06/30/reference/japan-a-low-key-player-in-space-race/#.Ugn8K-t_pqY|archive-date=13 August 2013}}</ref> | |||
| ''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 spacecraft, additional modules and fuel transfer. ''Nauka'' has its own engines. Like ''Zvezda'' and ''Zarya'', ''Nauka'' will be launched by a Proton rocket, while smaller Russian modules such as ''Pirs'' and ''Poisk'' were delivered by modified ] spacecraft. Russia plans to separate ''Nauka'', along with the rest of the Russian Orbital Segment, to form the ] space station before the ISS is deorbited. | |||
| ==== |
==== ''Cupola'' ==== | ||
| {{Main|Cupola (ISS module)}} | |||
| The ''']''' (UM), or Node Module is a 4-metric-ton<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zak |first1=Anatoly |title=Node Module |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_node.html |website=RussianSpaceWeb.com |accessdate=7 January 2015 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303173838/http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_node.html |archivedate=3 March 2016}}</ref> ball-shaped module that will allow 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 MS and Progress MS spacecraft. UM is due to be launched in 2020<ref name="ria20181119">{{cite news |title=Строительство российского сегмента МКС завершится в 2022 году |trans-title=Building of the Russian segment of the ISS will be finished in 2022 |url=https://ria.ru/space/20181119/1533093337.html |accessdate=20 November 2018 |agency=RIA Novosti |date=19 November 2018 |language=ru}}</ref>. It will be integrated with a special version of the Progress cargo ship and launched by a standard Soyuz rocket. 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. The node module was conceived to serve as the only permanent element of the future Russian successor to the ISS, ]. 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.<ref>. Energia.ru (13 January 2011). Retrieved 8 October 2011.</ref><ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303173838/http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_node.html |date=3 March 2016 }}. Russianspaceweb.com. Retrieved 8 October 2011.</ref> 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. | |||
| ] | |||
| The ''Cupola'' is an ]-built observatory module of the ISS. Its name derives from the Italian word ''{{lang|it|cupola}}'', which means "]". Its seven windows are used to conduct experiments, dockings and observations of Earth. It was launched aboard Space Shuttle mission STS-130 on 8 February 2010 and attached to the ''Tranquility'' (Node 3) module. With the ''Cupola'' attached, ISS assembly reached 85 per cent completion. The ''Cupola''{{'s}} central window has a diameter of {{convert|80|cm|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Cupola: a window over the Earth">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thalesaleniaspace-issmodules.com/cupola|title=Thales Alenia Space and ISS modules – Cupola: a window over the Earth|date=26 July 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726075315/http://www.thalesaleniaspace-issmodules.com/cupola|archive-date=26 July 2010}}</ref> | |||
| =====Science Power Modules 1 & 2===== | |||
| (], NEM-2) ({{lang-ru|link=no|Нау́чно-Энергетический Модуль-1 и -2}}) | |||
| ==== |
==== ''Rassvet'' ==== | ||
| {{Main|Rassvet (ISS module)}} | |||
| =====International Docking Adapter-3===== | |||
| ] | |||
| The ''''']''''' (IDA) is a spacecraft docking system adapter being developed to convert ] to the ] (NDS)/ ] (IDSS). IDA-3 is scheduled to be launched on the ] mission in May 2019. IDA-3 is being built mostly from spare parts to speed construction. | |||
| ''Rassvet'' ({{Langx|ru|Рассвет|lit=first light|links=no}}), also known as the ''Mini-Research Module 1'' ({{Langx|ru|Малый исследовательский модуль 1|links=no}}) and formerly known as the ''Docking Cargo Module'' is primarily used for cargo storage and as a docking port for visiting spacecraft on the Russian segment of the ISS. ''Rassvet'' replaced the cancelled Docking and Storage Module and used a design largely based on the '']'' built in 1995. | |||
| =====Bishop Airlock Module===== | |||
| The ''']''' is a ]-funded ] module intended to be launched in 2019. The module is being built by ] and ],<ref name="NanoRacks Airlock Module">{{cite web |url=http://nanoracks.com/nanoracks-boeing-first-commercial-airlock-module-on-iss/ |title=NanoRacks, Boeing to Build First Commercial Airlock Module on International Space Station |publisher=NanoRacks |date=6 February 2017}}</ref> and will be used to deploy ]s, small satellites, and other external payloads for ], ], and other commercial and governmental customers. It is intended to be manifested with a ] mission.<ref name="NASA NanoRacks Announcement">{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/progress-underway-for-first-commercial-airlock-on-space-station |title=Progress Underway for First Commercial Airlock on Space Station |publisher=NASA |first=Mark |last=Garcia |date=3 February 2017}}</ref> | |||
| Rassvet was delivered in on 14 May 2010 {{OV|104}} on ] in exchange for the Russian Proton delivery of the US-funded ''Zarya'' module in 1998.<ref name="nsf-20090409">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/04/sts-132-prcb-baselines-mission-to-deliver-russias-mrm-1/|title=STS-132: PRCB baselines Atlantis' mission to deliver Russia's MRM-1|last=Gebhardt|first=Chris|date=9 April 2009|access-date=12 November 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412103414/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/04/sts-132-prcb-baselines-mission-to-deliver-russias-mrm-1/|archive-date=12 April 2023|work=]}}</ref> ''Rassvet'' was attached to ''Zarya'' shortly thereafter.<ref name="connect">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts132/news/STS-132-09.html|title=STS-132 MCC Status Report #09|date=18 May 2010|publisher=]|access-date=7 July 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408013431/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts132/news/STS-132-09.html|archive-date=8 April 2013}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| ==== |
==== ''Leonardo'' ==== | ||
| {{Main|Leonardo (ISS module)}}The ''Leonardo'' Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) is a module of the International Space Station. It was flown into space aboard the Space Shuttle on ] on 24 February 2011 and installed on 1 March. ''Leonardo'' is primarily used for storage of spares, supplies and waste on the ISS, which was until then stored in many different places within the space station. It is also the personal hygiene area for the astronauts who live in the ]. The ''Leonardo'' PMM was a ] (MPLM) before 2011, but was modified into its current configuration. It was formerly one of two MPLM used for bringing cargo to and from the ISS with the Space Shuttle. The module was named for Italian polymath ]. | |||
| Several modules planned for the station were cancelled over the course of the ISS programme. Reasons include budgetary constraints, the modules becoming unnecessary, and station redesigns after the 2003 ]. The US ] would have hosted science experiments in varying levels of ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=12560.msg265342 |title=CAM – location? |work=NASA Spaceflight Forums |accessdate=12 October 2009}}</ref> The US ] would have served as the station's living quarters. Instead, the sleep stations are now spread throughout the station.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060214_iss_module.html |title=NASA Recycles Former ISS Module for Life Support Research |author=Tariq Malik |accessdate=11 March 2009 |publisher=Space.com |date=14 February 2006}}</ref> The US ] and ] would have replaced the functions of ''Zvezda'' in case of a launch failure.<ref>{{cite web |title=ICM Interim Control Module |publisher=U.S. Naval Center for Space Technology |url=http://code8200.nrl.navy.mil/icm.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208164211/http://code8200.nrl.navy.mil/icm.html |archivedate=8 February 2007}}</ref> Two ]s were planned for scientific research.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/components/russian_laboratory.html |title=Russian Research Modules |publisher=Boeing |accessdate=21 June 2009}}</ref> They would have docked to a Russian ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_russia.html |accessdate=3 October 2009 |publisher=russianspaceweb.com |author=Anatoly Zak |title=Russian segment of the ISS}}</ref> The Russian ] would have supplied power to the ] independent of the ITS solar arrays. | |||
| ==== Bigelow Expandable Activity Module ==== | |||
| ===Unpressurised elements=== | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| The ISS has a large number of external components that do not require pressurisation. The largest of these is the ] (ITS), to which the station's main solar arrays and thermal radiators are mounted.<ref name="Arrays">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/truss_segment.html |title=Spread Your Wings, It's Time to Fly |publisher=NASA |date=26 July 2006 |accessdate=21 September 2006}}</ref> The ITS consists of ten separate segments forming a structure 108.5 m (356 ft) long.<ref name="OnOrbit" /> | |||
| The ] (BEAM) is an experimental ] ] developed by ], under contract to NASA, for testing as a temporary module on the International Space Station (ISS) from 2016 to at least 2020. It arrived at the ISS on 10 April 2016,<ref name="space20160410">{{Cite news|url=https://www.space.com/32528-spacex-dragon-delivers-inflatable-room-space-station.html|title=SpaceX Dragon Arrives at Space Station, Delivers Inflatable Room Prototype|last=Pearlman|first=Robert|date=10 April 2016|access-date=11 April 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230611082951/https://www.space.com/32528-spacex-dragon-delivers-inflatable-room-space-station.html|archive-date=11 June 2023|work=]}}</ref> was berthed to the station on 16 April at Tranquility Node 3, and was expanded and pressurized on 28 May 2016. In December 2021, Bigelow Aerospace conveyed ownership of the module to NASA, as a result of Bigelow's cessation of activity.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Foust|first=Jeff|date=2022-01-21|title=Bigelow Aerospace transfers BEAM space station module to NASA|url=https://spacenews.com/bigelow-aerospace-transfers-beam-space-station-module-to-nasa/|access-date=2024-02-13|website=SpaceNews}}</ref> | |||
| The station in its complete form has several smaller external components, such as the six robotic arms, the three ]s (ESPs) and four ]s (ELCs).<ref name="Manifest">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_manifest.html |title=Consolidated Launch Manifest |accessdate=8 July 2008 |publisher=NASA |author=NASA |year=2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/background/facts/expressrack.html |title=EXPRESS Racks 1 and 2 fact sheet |accessdate=4 October 2009 |date=12 April 2008 |publisher=NASA}}</ref> While these platforms allow experiments (including ], the STP-H3 and the ]) to be deployed and conducted in the vacuum of space by providing electricity and processing experimental data locally, their primary function is to store spare ]s (ORUs). ORUs are parts that can be replaced when they fail or pass their design life. Examples of ORUs include pumps, storage tanks, antennas and battery units. Such units are replaced either by astronauts during EVA or by robotic arms. Spare parts were routinely transported to and from the station via Space Shuttle resupply missions, with a heavy emphasis on ORU transport once the NASA Shuttle approached retirement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/12/soyuz-tma-03m-docks-iss-returns-station-six-crewmembers-future-ops/ |title=Soyuz TMA-03M docks to ISS, returns station to six crewmembers for future ops |publisher=NASASpaceFlight.com |date=23 December 2011 |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> Several shuttle missions were dedicated to the delivery of ORUs, including ],<ref name="EVA129">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/404493main_EVA_129_F_E1.pdf |title=EVA Checklist: STS-129 Flight Supplement |author=L. D. Welsch |publisher=NASA |date=30 October 2009}}</ref> ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/491387main_STS-133%20Press%20Kit.pdf |title=Space Shuttle Mission: STS-131 |date=February 2011 |publisher=NASA}}</ref> and ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/538352main_sts134_presskit_508.pdf |title=Space Shuttle Mission: STS-134 |publisher=NASA |date=April 2011}}</ref> {{asof|2011|01}}, only one other mode of transportation of ORUs had been utilised – the Japanese cargo vessel ] – which delivered an FHRC and CTC-2 via its Exposed Pallet (EP).<ref name="HTV2">{{cite web |url=http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/htv/mission/htv-2/library/presskit/htv2_presskit_en.pdf |title=HTV2: Mission Press Kit |publisher=Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency |date=20 January 2011}}</ref>{{update after|2013|1|28}} | |||
| ==== International Docking Adapters ==== | |||
| ] over New Zealand.]] | |||
| The ] (IDA) is a ] developed to convert ] to the ] (NDS).<!-- Do not replace this with International Docking System Standard, which is a standard of docking systems, while NASA Docking System is a docking system compatible with the IDSS. --> An IDA is placed on each of the ISS's two open ] (PMAs), both of which are connected to the ''Harmony'' module. | |||
| There are also smaller exposure facilities mounted directly to laboratory modules; the ''Kibō'' ] serves as an external ']' for the ''Kibō'' complex,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kibo.jaxa.jp/en/about/kibo/jef/ |title=Exposed Facility:About Kibo |publisher=JAXA |date=29 August 2008 |accessdate=9 October 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090803102352/http://kibo.jaxa.jp/en/about/kibo/jef/ |archivedate=3 August 2009}}</ref> and a facility on the European ''Columbus'' laboratory provides power and data connections for experiments such as the ]<ref name="NASA">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/EuTEF.html |title=NASA—European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF) |publisher=NASA |date=6 October 2008 |accessdate=28 February 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081019013911/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/EuTEF.html |archivedate=19 October 2008}}</ref><ref name="ESA">{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Columbus/SEM7ZTEMKBF_0.html |title=ESA—Columbus—European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF) |publisher=ESA |date=13 January 2009 |accessdate=28 February 2009}}</ref> and the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/HSF_Research/SEMJSK0YDUF_0.html |publisher=ESA |accessdate=9 October 2009 |title=Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609110757/http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/HSF_Research/SEMJSK0YDUF_0.html |archivedate=9 June 2009}}</ref> A ] instrument, ], was delivered to the station in February 2017 aboard ],<ref name="nsf20170310">{{cite news |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/03/spacex-dragon-experiments-busy-science-period/ |title=SpaceX science – Dragon delivers experiments for busy science period |work=NASASpaceFlight.com |first=Christ |last=Gebhardt |date=10 March 2017 |accessdate=11 January 2019}}</ref> and the ] experiment was delivered aboard ] in June 2017.<ref name="nsf20170603">{{cite news |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/06/spacex-falcon-9-crs-11-dragon-iss-100th-39a/ |title=Falcon 9 launches with CRS-11 Dragon on 100th 39A launch |work=NASASpaceFlight.com |first=William |last=Graham |date=3 June 2017 |accessdate=11 January 2019}}</ref> The largest scientific payload externally mounted to the ISS is the ] (AMS), a particle physics experiment launched on ] in May 2011, and mounted externally on the ITS. The AMS measures ]s to look for evidence of ] and ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ams.cern.ch/ |title=The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Experiment |publisher=] |date=21 January 2009 |accessdate=6 March 2009}}</ref><ref name="nsf20130404">{{cite news |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/04/endeavours-legacy-ams-02-proving-value/ |title=Endeavour’s ongoing legacy: AMS-02 proving its value |work=NASASpaceFlight.com |first=Chris |last=Bergin |date=4 April 2013 |accessdate=11 January 2019}}</ref> | |||
| Two International Docking Adapters are currently installed aboard the Station. Originally, ] was planned to be installed on PMA-2, located at ''Harmony''<nowiki/>'s forward port, and ] would be installed on PMA-3 at ''Harmony''<nowiki/>'s zenith. After IDA 1 was destroyed in ], ] was installed on PMA-2 on 19 August 2016,<ref name="sfn-20160819">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2016/08/19/spacewalkers-attach-new-port-to-space-station-for-commercial-spacecraft/|title=Spacewalkers attach docking adapter to space station for commercial vehicles|last=Harwood|first=William|date=19 August 2016|access-date=24 January 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810145126/https://spaceflightnow.com/2016/08/19/spacewalkers-attach-new-port-to-space-station-for-commercial-spacecraft/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=Spaceflight Now}}</ref> while ] was later installed on PMA-3 on 21 August 2019.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Garcia|first=Mark|date=21 August 2019|title=Spacewalkers Complete Installation of Second Commercial Docking Port|work=NASA Space Station|url=https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2019/08/21/spacewalkers-complete-installation-of-second-commercial-docking-port/|access-date=24 January 2021|archive-date=2 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602183325/https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2019/08/21/spacewalkers-complete-installation-of-second-commercial-docking-port/|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| The commercial ''Bartolomeo'' External Payload Hosting Platform, manufactured by Airbus, is due to launch in May 2019 aboard a commercial ISS resupply vehicle and be attached to the European ''Columbus'' module. It will provide a further 12 external payload slots, supplementing the eight on the ]s, ten on ''Kibō'', and four on ''Columbus''. The system is designed to be robotically serviced and will require no astronaut intervention. It is named after Christopher Columbus's younger brother.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/ESA_and_Airbus_sign_partnership_agreement_for_new_ISS_commercial_payload_platform_Bartolomeo_999.html |title=ESA and Airbus sign partnership agreement for new ISS commercial payload platform Bartolomeo |work=SpaceDaily |date=9 February 2018 |accessdate=10 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.aerospace-technology.com/news/airbus-esa-partner-bartolomeo-platform/ |title=Airbus and ESA to partner on Bartolomeo platform |work=Aerospace Technology |date=8 February 2018 |accessdate=10 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/i/iss-bartolomeo |title=ISS: Bartolomeo |work=eoPortal |publisher=European Space Agency |accessdate=10 February 2018}}</ref> | |||
| ==== |
==== Bishop Airlock Module ==== | ||
| {{Main|Nanoracks Bishop Airlock}} | |||
| {{multiple image |align=right |total_width=400 | |||
| ] | |||
| |image1=Iss017e011097.jpg |caption1=Commander ] stands on ''Pirs'' with his back to the ] whilst operating the manual ] holding photographer ]. '']'' is seen to the left and '']'' across the bottom of the image. | |||
| |image2=Dextrereallyhasnohead.jpg |caption2=], like many of the station's experiments and robotic arms, can be operated from Earth and perform tasks while the crew sleeps. | |||
| }} | |||
| The NanoRacks Bishop Airlock Module is a ] funded ] module launched to the ISS on ] on 6 December 2020.<ref name="thales-milestone">{{Cite press release|url=https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worldwide/space/press-release/thales-alenia-space-reaches-key-milestone-nanoracks-airlock-module|title=Thales Alenia Space reaches key milestone for NanoRacks' airlock module|date=20 March 2019|publisher=]|location=Turin, Italy|access-date=22 August 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810130710/https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worldwide/space/press-release/thales-alenia-space-reaches-key-milestone-nanoracks-airlock-module|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref><ref name="sfn-20190802">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/08/02/spacex-to-begin-flights-under-new-cargo-resupply-contract-next-year/|title=SpaceX to begin flights under new cargo resupply contract next year|last=Clark|first=Stephen|date=2 August 2019|access-date=22 August 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602175020/https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/08/02/spacex-to-begin-flights-under-new-cargo-resupply-contract-next-year/|archive-date=2 June 2023|work=Spaceflight Now}}</ref> The module was built by ], ], and Boeing.<ref name="NanoRacks">{{Cite press release|url=https://nanoracks.com/nanoracks-boeing-first-commercial-airlock-module-on-iss/|title=NanoRacks, Boeing to Build First Commercial ISS Airlock Module|date=6 February 2017|publisher=]|access-date=22 August 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811163145/https://nanoracks.com/nanoracks-boeing-first-commercial-airlock-module-on-iss/|archive-date=11 August 2023}}</ref> It will be used to deploy ]s, ]s, and other external payloads for NASA, ], and other commercial and governmental customers.<ref name="NASA Announcement">{{cite web|last=Garcia|first=Mark|date=6 February 2017|title=Progress Underway for First Commercial Airlock on Space Station|url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/progress-underway-for-first-commercial-airlock-on-space-station|access-date=22 August 2019|publisher=]|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112004837/https://www.nasa.gov/feature/progress-underway-for-first-commercial-airlock-on-space-station/|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| The ] serves as a base for the station's primary remote manipulator system, called the ] (MSS), which is composed of three main components. ], the largest robotic arm on the ISS, has a mass of {{convert|1800|kg|lb}} and is used to dock and manipulate spacecraft and modules on the USOS, hold crew members and equipment in place during EVAs and move Dextre around to perform tasks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/mss.html |title=Canadarm2 and the Mobile Servicing System |publisher=NASA |date=8 January 2013 |accessdate=22 June 2015}}</ref> ] is a {{convert|1560|kg|lb|abbr=on}} robotic manipulator with two arms, a rotating torso and has power tools, lights and video for replacing ]s (ORUs) and performing other tasks requiring fine control.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/iss/dextre/default.asp |title=Dextre, the International Space Station's Robotic Handyman |publisher=Canadian Space Agency |accessdate=22 June 2015 |date=18 April 2011}}</ref> The ] (MBS) is a platform which rides on rails along the length of the station's main truss. It serves as a mobile base for Canadarm2 and Dextre, allowing the robotic arms to reach all parts of the USOS.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/iss/mobile-base/default.asp |title=Mobile Base System |publisher=Canadian Space Agency |accessdate=22 June 2015}}</ref> To gain access to the Russian Segment a ] was added to ''Zarya'' on ], so that Canadarm2 can inchworm itself onto the ROS.<ref name="presskit134">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/538352main_sts134_presskit_508.pdf |title=Space Shuttle Mission STS-134: Final Flight of ''Endeavour'' – Press Kit |publisher=NASA |pages=51–53 |date=April 2011 |accessdate=22 June 2015}}</ref> Also installed during STS-134 was the {{convert|50|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} ] (OBSS), which had been used to inspect heat shield tiles on Space Shuttle missions and can be used on station to increase the reach of the MSS.<ref name="presskit134"/> Staff on Earth or the station can operate the MSS components via remote control, performing work outside the station without space walks. | |||
| ==== ''Nauka'' ==== | |||
| Japan's ], which services the ''Kibō'' Exposed Facility,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kibo.jaxa.jp/en/about/kibo/rms/ |title=Remote Manipulator System: About Kibo |publisher=JAXA |date=29 August 2008 |accessdate=4 October 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080320035809/http://kibo.jaxa.jp/en/about/kibo/rms/ |archivedate=20 March 2008}}</ref> was launched on ] and is attached to the ''Kibō'' Pressurised Module.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/station/2002/iss02-03.txt |title=International Space Station Status Report #02-03 |publisher=NASA |date=14 January 2002 |accessdate=4 October 2009}}</ref> The arm is similar to the Space Shuttle arm as it is permanently attached at one end and has a latching end effector for standard grapple fixtures at the other. | |||
| ] | |||
| {{Main|Nauka (ISS module)}} | |||
| The ], which will service the Russian Orbital Segment, will be launched alongside the ] in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_fgb2.html |title=MLM (FGB-2) module of the ISS |publisher=RussianSpaceWeb |accessdate=16 June 2014}}</ref> The ROS does not require spacecraft or modules to be manipulated, as all spacecraft and modules dock automatically and may be discarded the same way. Crew use the two '']'' ({{lang-ru|link=no|Стрела́}}; lit. Arrow) cargo cranes during EVAs for moving crew and equipment around the ROS. Each Strela crane has a mass of {{convert|45|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. | |||
| ''Nauka'' ({{Langx|ru|Наука|lit=Science|links=no}}), also known as the ''Multipurpose Laboratory Module, Upgrade'' ({{Langx|ru|Многоцелевой лабораторный модуль, усоверше́нствованный|links=no}}), is a Roscosmos-funded component of the ISS that was launched on 21 July 2021, 14:58 UTC. In the original ISS plans, ''Nauka'' was to use the location of the ] (DSM), but the DSM was later replaced by the ''Rassvet'' module and moved to ''Zarya''{{'}}s nadir port. ''Nauka'' was successfully docked to ''Zvezda''{{'}}s nadir port on 29 July 2021, 13:29 UTC, replacing the ''Pirs'' module. | |||
| ==Systems== | |||
| It had a temporary docking adapter on its nadir port for crewed and uncrewed missions until Prichal arrival, where just before its arrival it was removed by a departing Progress spacecraft.<ref name="russianspaceweb-ms17">{{Cite web|url=http://russianspaceweb.com/progress-ms-17.html#redocking|title=Progress MS-17 lifts off to prepare Prichal module arrival|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|date=9 February 2021|access-date=21 October 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811171304/https://russianspaceweb.com/progress-ms-17.html#redocking|archive-date=11 August 2023|website=RussianSpaceWeb}}</ref> | |||
| ===Life support=== | |||
| {{Main|ISS ECLSS|Chemical oxygen generator}} | |||
| The critical systems are the atmosphere control system, the water supply system, the food supply facilities, the sanitation and hygiene equipment, and fire detection and suppression equipment. The Russian Orbital Segment's life support systems are contained in the ''Zvezda'' service module. Some of these systems are supplemented by equipment in the USOS. The MLM ''Nauka'' laboratory has a complete set of life support systems. | |||
| ==== |
==== ''Prichal'' ==== | ||
| {{Main|Prichal (ISS module)}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ''Prichal'' ({{Langx|ru|Причал|lit=pier|links=no}}) is a {{convert|4|t|lb|adj=on}} spherical module that serves as a docking hub for the Russian segment of the ISS. Launched in November 2021, Prichal provides additional docking ports for Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, as well as potential future modules. ''Prichal'' features six docking ports: forward, aft, port, starboard, zenith, and nadir. One of these ports, equipped with an active hybrid docking system, enabled it to dock with the Nauka module. The remaining five ports are passive hybrids, allowing for docking of Soyuz, Progress, and heavier modules, as well as future spacecraft with modified docking systems. As of 2024, the forward, aft, port and starboard docking ports remain covered. ''Prichal'' was initially intended to be an element of the now canceled ].<ref name="rsw-um">{{Cite web|url=https://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_node.html#2020|title=Prichal Node Module, UM|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|date=22 June 2020|access-date=23 June 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120175425/https://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_node.html#2020|archive-date=20 November 2023|website=RussianSpaceWeb}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/07/25/new-docking-port-spacesuit-and-supplies-en-route-to-space-station/|title=New docking port, spacesuit and supplies en route to space station|last=Clark|first=Stephen|date=25 July 2019|access-date=17 August 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810130845/https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/07/25/new-docking-port-spacesuit-and-supplies-en-route-to-space-station/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=Spaceflight Now}}</ref><ref name="energia-20110113">{{Cite press release|url=http://www.energia.ru/en/news/news-2011/news_01-13.html|title=News January 13, 2011|date=13 January 2011|publisher=]|access-date=8 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702225123/http://www.energia.ru/en/news/news-2011/news_01-13.html|archive-date=2 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="NSF20200819">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/08/nauka-arrives-baikonur-final-preps/|title=Russia's Nauka ISS module arrives at Baikonur for final launch preparations|last=Atkinson|first=Ian|date=19 August 2020|access-date=20 August 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810132018/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/08/nauka-arrives-baikonur-final-preps/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=]}}</ref> | |||
| The atmosphere on board the ISS is similar to the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://science.howstuffworks.com/space-station2.htm |title=How Space Stations Work |first=Craig |last=Freudenrich |publisher=Howstuffworks |date=20 November 2000 |accessdate=23 November 2008}}</ref> Normal air pressure on the ISS is 101.3 ] (14.7 ]);<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nasaexplores.com/show2_5_8a.php?id=04-032&gl=58 |work=NASAexplores |title=5–8: The Air Up There |publisher=NASA |archive-url=https://archive.is/20041218024247/http://nasaexplores.com/show2_5_8a.php?id=04-032&gl=58 |archive-date=18 December 2004 |accessdate=31 October 2008 |deadurl=yes}}</ref> the same as at sea level on Earth. An Earth-like atmosphere offers benefits for crew comfort, and is much safer than a pure oxygen atmosphere, because of the increased risk of a fire such as that responsible for the deaths of the ] crew.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://history.nasa.gov/as204_senate_956.pdf |title=Apollo 204 Accident: Report of the Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, United States Senate |publisher=US Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |first1=Clinton P. |last1=Anderson |last2=90th Congress, 2nd Session |display-authors=etal |page=8 |date=30 January 1968 |id=Report No. 956}}</ref> Earth-like atmospheric conditions have been maintained on all Russian and Soviet spacecraft.<ref name=spacemed>{{Citation |last1=Davis |first1=Jeffrey R. |last2=Johnson |first2=Robert |last3=Stepanek |first3=Jan |lastauthoramp=yes |title=Fundamentals of Aerospace Medicine |publisher=Lippincott Williams & Wilkins |place=Philadelphia PA, USA |volume=XII |pages=261–264 |year=2008}}</ref> | |||
| ===Unpressurised elements=== | |||
| The '']'' system aboard ''Zvezda'' and a similar system in ''Destiny'' generate oxygen aboard the station.<ref name="OGS">{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/060215_techwed_iss_oxygen.html |title=Air Apparent: New Oxygen Systems for the ISS |author=Tariq Malik |publisher=Space.com |date=15 February 2006 |accessdate=21 November 2008}}</ref> The crew has a backup option in the form of bottled oxygen and ] (SFOG) canisters, a ] system.<ref name="breath easy">{{cite web |url=https://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast13nov_1.htm |title=Breathing Easy on the Space Station |author=Patrick L. Barry |publisher=NASA |date=13 November 2000 |accessdate=21 November 2008 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921141609/https://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast13nov_1.htm |archivedate=21 September 2008}}</ref> Carbon dioxide is removed from the air by the ] system in ''Zvezda''. Other by-products of human metabolism, such as methane from the intestines and ammonia from sweat, are removed by ] filters.<ref name="breath easy" /> | |||
| {{multiple image | |||
| | align = right | |||
| | total_width = 400 | |||
| | image1 = Truss breakdown.png | |||
| | caption1 = ISS Truss Components breakdown showing Trusses and all ORUs in situ | |||
| | image2 = STS-116 spacewalk 1.jpg | |||
| | caption2 = Construction of the ] over New Zealand | |||
| }} | |||
| The ISS has a large number of external components that do not require pressurisation. The largest of these is the ] (ITS), to which the station's main ] and ] are mounted.<ref name="Arrays">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/truss_segment.html|title=Spread Your Wings, It's Time to Fly|date=26 July 2006|publisher=]|access-date=21 September 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111135544/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/truss_segment.html|archive-date=11 January 2023}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> The ITS consists of ten separate segments forming a structure {{convert|108.5|m}} long.<ref name="OnOrbit" /> | |||
| Part of the ROS atmosphere control system is the oxygen supply. Triple-redundancy is provided by the Elektron unit, solid fuel generators, and stored oxygen. The primary supply of oxygen is the Elektron unit which produces {{chem2|O2}} and {{chem2|H2}} by ] of water and vents {{chem|H2}} overboard. The 1 kW system uses approximately one litre of water per crew member per day. This water is either brought from Earth or recycled from other systems. ''Mir'' was the first spacecraft to use recycled water for oxygen production. The secondary oxygen supply is provided by burning {{chem2|O2}}-producing ] cartridges (see also ]). Each 'candle' takes 5–20 minutes to decompose at 450–500 °C, producing 600 litres of {{chem2|O2}}. This unit is manually operated.<ref>. Suzymchale.com. Retrieved 8 October 2011.</ref> | |||
| The station was intended to have several smaller external components, such as six robotic arms, three ]s (ESPs) and four ]s (ELCs).<ref name="Manifest">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_manifest.html|title=Consolidated Launch Manifest|year=2008|publisher=]|access-date=8 July 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307191348/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_manifest.html|archive-date=7 March 2009}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref name="nasa-factsheet-expressracks">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/background/facts/expressrack.html|title=EXPRESS Racks 1 and 2 fact sheet|date=1 February 2001|id=FS-2001-02-34-MSFC|access-date=4 October 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829173441/http://www.nasa.gov:80/centers/marshall/news/background/facts/expressrack.html|archive-date=29 August 2008}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> While these platforms allow experiments (including ], the STP-H3 and the ]) to be deployed and conducted in the vacuum of space by providing electricity and processing experimental data locally, their primary function is to store spare ]s (ORUs). ORUs are parts that can be replaced when they fail or pass their design life, including pumps, storage tanks, antennas, and battery units. Such units are replaced either by astronauts during EVA or by robotic arms.<ref name="nsf-20111223">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/12/soyuz-tma-03m-docks-iss-returns-station-six-crewmembers-future-ops/|title=Soyuz TMA-03M docks to ISS, returns station to six crewmembers for future ops|date=23 December 2011|access-date=1 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811170248/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/12/soyuz-tma-03m-docks-iss-returns-station-six-crewmembers-future-ops/|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=]}}</ref> Several shuttle missions were dedicated to the delivery of ORUs, including ],<ref name="EVA129">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/404493main_EVA_129_F_E1.pdf|title=EVA Checklist: STS-129 Flight Supplement|last=Welsch|first=L. D.|date=30 October 2009|publisher=]|access-date=9 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111129141620/http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/404493main_EVA_129_F_E1.pdf|archive-date=29 November 2011}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> STS-133<ref name="sts-133-press-kit">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/491387main-sts-133-press-kit.pdf|title=Space Shuttle Mission: STS-133 Press Kit|date=February 2011|publisher=]|access-date=9 July 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012174024/https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/491387main-sts-133-press-kit.pdf|archive-date=12 October 2023}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> and STS-134.<ref name="sts-134-press-kit">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/538352main_sts134_presskit_508.pdf|title=Space Shuttle Mission: STS-134|date=April 2011|publisher=]|access-date=9 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226120713/https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/538352main_sts134_presskit_508.pdf|archive-date=26 December 2018}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> {{as of|2011|01}}, only one other mode of transportation of ORUs had been used{{snd}}the Japanese cargo vessel ]{{snd}}which delivered an FHRC and CTC-2 via its Exposed Pallet (EP).<ref name="HTV2">{{Cite web|url=https://iss.jaxa.jp/en/htv/mission/htv-2/library/presskit/htv2_presskit_en.pdf|title=HTV2: Mission Press Kit|date=20 January 2011|publisher=]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811163142/https://iss.jaxa.jp/en/htv/mission/htv-2/library/presskit/htv2_presskit_en.pdf|archive-date=11 August 2023}}</ref>{{update after|2013|1 |28}} | |||
| The US Orbital Segment has redundant supplies of oxygen, from a pressurised storage tank on the ''Quest'' airlock module delivered in 2001, supplemented ten years later by ESA-built Advanced Closed-Loop System (ACLS) in the ''Tranquility'' module (Node 3), which produces {{chem2|O2}} by electrolysis.<ref>. ''Science''.nasa.gov (13 November 2000). Retrieved 8 October 2011.</ref> Hydrogen produced is combined with carbon dioxide from the cabin atmosphere and converted to water and methane. | |||
| There are also smaller exposure facilities mounted directly to laboratory modules; the ''Kibō'' ] serves as an external "]" for the ''Kibō'' complex,<ref>{{cite web|date=29 August 2008|title=Exposed Facility:About Kibo|url=http://kibo.jaxa.jp/en/about/kibo/jef/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090803102352/http://kibo.jaxa.jp/en/about/kibo/jef/|archive-date=3 August 2009|access-date=9 October 2009|publisher=JAXA}}</ref> and a facility on the European ''Columbus'' laboratory provides power and data connections for experiments such as the ]<ref name="NASA">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/EuTEF.html|title=NASA–European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF)|date=6 October 2008|publisher=]|access-date=28 February 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081019013911/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/EuTEF.html|archive-date=19 October 2008}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref name="ESA">{{Cite web|url=https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Columbus/European_Technology_Exposure_Facility_EuTEF|title=European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF)|date=13 January 2009|publisher=]|access-date=28 February 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812214202/https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Columbus/European_Technology_Exposure_Facility_EuTEF|archive-date=12 August 2023}}</ref> and the ].<ref>{{cite web|title=Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES)|url=http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/HSF_Research/SEMJSK0YDUF_0.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609110757/http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/HSF_Research/SEMJSK0YDUF_0.html|archive-date=9 June 2009|access-date=9 October 2009|publisher=ESA}}</ref> A ] instrument, ], was delivered to the station in February 2017 aboard ],<ref name="nsf20170310">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/03/spacex-dragon-experiments-busy-science-period/|title=SpaceX science – Dragon delivers experiments for busy science period|last=Gebhardt|first=Chris|date=10 March 2017|access-date=11 January 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810132955/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/03/spacex-dragon-experiments-busy-science-period/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=]}}</ref> and the ] experiment was delivered aboard ] in June 2017.<ref name="nsf20170603">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/06/spacex-falcon-9-crs-11-dragon-iss-100th-39a/|title=Falcon 9 launches with CRS-11 Dragon on 100th 39A launch|last=Graham|first=William|date=3 June 2017|access-date=11 January 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810145605/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/06/spacex-falcon-9-crs-11-dragon-iss-100th-39a/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=]}}</ref> The largest scientific payload externally mounted to the ISS is the ] (AMS), a particle physics experiment launched on STS-134 in May 2011, and mounted externally on the ITS. The AMS measures cosmic rays to look for evidence of dark matter and antimatter.<ref name="ams-cern">{{Cite web|url=http://ams.cern.ch/|title=The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Experiment|date=21 January 2009|publisher=]|access-date=6 March 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811162236/https://ams.cern.ch/|archive-date=11 August 2023}}</ref><ref name="nsf20130404">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/04/endeavours-legacy-ams-02-proving-value/|title=Endeavour's ongoing legacy: AMS-02 proving its value|last=Bergin|first=Chris|date=4 April 2013|access-date=11 January 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810130623/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/04/endeavours-legacy-ams-02-proving-value/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=]}}</ref> | |||
| ===Power and thermal control=== | |||
| {{Main|Electrical system of the International Space Station|External Active Thermal Control System}} | |||
| {{multiple image |align=left |total_width=400 | |||
| |image1=ROSSA.jpg |caption1=Russian solar arrays, backlit by sunset | |||
| |image2=P4 deployed.jpg |caption2=One of the eight truss mounted pairs of USOS solar arrays | |||
| }} | |||
| The commercial '']'' External Payload Hosting Platform, manufactured by Airbus, was launched on 6 March 2020 aboard ] and attached to the European ''Columbus'' module. It will provide an additional 12 external payload slots, supplementing the eight on the ]s, ten on ''Kibō'', and four on ''Columbus''. The system is designed to be robotically serviced and will require no astronaut intervention. It is named after Christopher Columbus's younger brother.<ref name="spacedaily-20180209">{{Cite news|url=https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/ESA_and_Airbus_sign_partnership_agreement_for_new_ISS_commercial_payload_platform_Bartolomeo_999.html|title=ESA and Airbus sign partnership agreement for new ISS commercial payload platform Bartolomeo|date=9 February 2018|access-date=10 February 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811172013/https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/ESA_and_Airbus_sign_partnership_agreement_for_new_ISS_commercial_payload_platform_Bartolomeo_999.html|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=SpaceDaily}}</ref><ref name="aerospacetech-20180208">{{Cite news|url=https://www.aerospace-technology.com/news/airbus-esa-partner-bartolomeo-platform/|title=Airbus and ESA to partner on Bartolomeo platform|date=8 February 2018|access-date=10 February 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810145538/https://www.aerospace-technology.com/news/airbus-esa-partner-bartolomeo-platform/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=Aerospace Technology}}</ref><ref name="eoportal-iss-bartolomeo">{{Cite web|url=https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/iss-bartolomeo|title=ISS: Bartolomeo|date=26 October 2016|publisher=]|access-date=10 February 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812204548/https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/iss-bartolomeo|archive-date=12 August 2023|website=eoPortal}}</ref> | |||
| Double-sided solar, or ], arrays provide ] for the ISS. These bifacial cells are more efficient and operate at a lower temperature than single-sided cells commonly used on Earth, by collecting sunlight on one side and light ] the Earth on the other.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wenku.baidu.com/view/a815121ffc4ffe473368ab7a.html |title=The early history of bifacial solar cell_百度文库 |publisher=Wenku.baidu.com |date=25 October 2010 |accessdate=14 August 2012}}</ref> <!-- don't worry about the 'lower absobance' thingy, that's about heat not electricity--><!--http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/search.cgi?startrow=1391&maxrows=10&page=1&pages=1878&count=18775&navpage=139&images=images&searchwhat=all shows a sequence of photographs taken on 11 September 2000, from the sequence and orientation of the station, it's a sunset in the background of ROSSA.jpg--> | |||
| ====MLM outfittings==== | |||
| The Russian segment of the station, like the Space Shuttle and most spacecraft, uses 28 ] ] from four rotating solar arrays mounted on ''Zarya'' and ''Zvezda''. The USOS uses 130–180 V DC from the USOS PV array, power is stabilised and distributed at 160 V DC and converted to the user-required 124 V DC. The ] allows smaller, lighter conductors, at the expense of crew safety. The ROS uses ]; the two station segments share power with converters. | |||
| {{multiple image | |||
| | align = right | |||
| | total_width = 400 | |||
| | image1 = MRM1 Rassvet.png | |||
| | caption1 = MLM outfittings on Rassvet | |||
| | image2 = ISS-65 Nauka and Soyuz MS-18 docked to the International Space Station (1).jpg | |||
| | caption2 = A wide-angle view of the new module (behind ''Rassvet'') attached to the ] as seen from the cupola}} | |||
| In May 2010, equipment for ''Nauka'' was launched on STS-132 (as part of an agreement with NASA) and delivered by Space Shuttle ''Atlantis''. Weighing 1.4 metric tons, the equipment was attached to the outside of ''Rassvet'' (MRM-1). It included a spare elbow joint for the ] (ERA) (which was launched with ''Nauka'') and an ERA-portable workpost used during EVAs, as well as RTOd add-on heat radiator and internal hardware alongside the pressurized experiment airlock.<ref name="Roscosmos1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.roscosmos.ru/31395/|title=Многоцелевой лабораторный модуль "Наука"|trans-title=Multipurpose Laboratory Module 'Nauka'|publisher=]|language=ru|access-date=14 July 2021|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714161136/https://www.roscosmos.ru/31395/|archive-date=14 July 2021}}</ref> | |||
| The RTOd radiator adds additional cooling capability to ''Nauka'', which enables the module to host more scientific experiments.<ref name="Roscosmos1"/> | |||
| The USOS solar arrays are arranged as four wing pairs, for a total production of 75 to 90 kilowatts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/facts-and-figures |title=Facts and Figures |publisher=] |first=Mark |last=Garcia |date=28 April 2016 |access-date=24 May 2017}}</ref> These arrays normally track the sun to maximise power generation. Each array is about {{convert|375|m2|sqft|0|abbr=on}} in area and {{convert|58|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} long. In the complete configuration, the solar arrays track the sun by rotating the ''alpha ]'' once per orbit; the ''beta gimbal'' follows slower changes in the angle of the sun to the orbital plane. The ] aligns the solar arrays parallel to the ground at night to reduce the significant aerodynamic drag at the station's relatively low orbital altitude.<ref>{{cite journal |author=G. Landis and C-Y. Lu |year=1991 |title=Solar Array Orientation Options for a Space Station in Low Earth Orbit |journal=Journal of Propulsion and Power |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=123–125 |doi=10.2514/3.23302}}</ref> | |||
| The ERA was used to remove the RTOd radiator from ''Rassvet'' and transferred over to ''Nauka'' during VKD-56 spacewalk. Later it was activated and fully deployed on VKD-58 spacewalk.<ref name="garcia-20230512">{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2023/05/12/cosmonauts-deploy-radiator-and-complete-spacewalk/|title=Cosmonauts Deploy Radiator and Complete Spacewalk|last=Garcia|first=Mark|date=12 May 2023|publisher=]|access-date=12 May 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731062433/https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2023/05/12/cosmonauts-deploy-radiator-and-complete-spacewalk/|archive-date=31 July 2023|website=NASA Blogs}}</ref> This process took several months. A portable work platform was also transferred over in August 2023 during VKD-60 spacewalk, which can attach to the end of the ERA to allow cosmonauts to "ride" on the end of the arm during spacewalks.<ref name="esa-arm-brochure">{{Cite web|url=https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/science/ERA_brochure_EN.pdf|title=European Robotic Arm Brochure|publisher=]|page=9|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810130647/https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/science/ERA_brochure_EN.pdf|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref><ref name="sfn-20230809">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/08/09/live-coverage-russian-cosmonauts-make-spacewalk-at-international-space-station/|title=Russian cosmonauts make spacewalk at International Space Station|last=Harwood|first=William|date=9 August 2023|access-date=10 August 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812094606/https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/08/09/live-coverage-russian-cosmonauts-make-spacewalk-at-international-space-station/|archive-date=12 August 2023|work=Spaceflight Now}}</ref> However, even after several months of outfitting EVAs and RTOd heat radiator installation, six months later, the RTOd radiator malfunctioned before active use of Nauka (the purpose of RTOd installation is to radiate heat from Nauka experiments). The malfunction, a leak, rendered the RTOd radiator unusable for Nauka. This is the third ISS radiator leak after ] and ] radiator leaks. If a spare RTOd is not available, Nauka experiments will have to rely on Nauka's main launch radiator and the module could never be used to its full capacity.<ref name="sfn-20231009">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/10/09/leak-detected-onboard-russian-segment-of-international-space-station/|title=Russian space station laboratory module appears to spring coolant leak – Spaceflight Now|date=9 October 2023|access-date=10 October 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014232548/https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/10/09/leak-detected-onboard-russian-segment-of-international-space-station/|archive-date=14 October 2023|work=Spaceflight Now}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Госкорпорация "Роскосмос"|url=https://t.me/roscosmos_gk/11130|access-date=2023-10-10|website=Telegram|language=ru|archive-date=11 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111001124/https://t.me/roscosmos_gk/11130|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| The station uses rechargeable ] ({{chem2|NiH2}}) for continuous power during the 35 minutes of every 90-minute orbit that it is eclipsed by the Earth. The batteries are recharged on the day side of the Earth. They have a 6.5-year lifetime (over 37,000 charge/discharge cycles) and will be regularly replaced over the anticipated 20-year life of the station.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/RT/RT1999/5000/5420miller.html |title=Nickel-Hydrogen Battery Cell Life Test Program Update for the International Space Station |accessdate=27 November 2009 |publisher=NASA |author=Thomas B. Miller |date=24 April 2000 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090825125740/http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/RT/RT1999/5000/5420miller.html |archivedate=25 August 2009}}</ref> {{as of|2017}}, the nickel–hydrogen batteries are being replaced by ], which are expected to last until the end of the ISS program.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2016/12/13/japanese-htv-makes-battery-delivery-to-international-space-station/ |title=Japanese HTV makes battery delivery to International Space Station |work=Spaceflight Now |first=Stephen |last=Clark |date=13 December 2016 |accessdate=29 January 2017}}</ref> | |||
| Another MLM outfitting is a 4 segment external payload interface called means of attachment of large payloads (Sredstva Krepleniya Krupnogabaritnykh Obyektov, SKKO).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sredstva Krepleniya Krupnogabaritnykh Obyektov, SKKO|url=https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=pm;f=inbox;l=-1;done=sent|url-access=subscription|language=ru|access-date=4 April 2022|archive-date=6 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706041946/https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=pm;f=inbox;l=-1;done=sent|url-status=live}}</ref> Delivered in two parts to Nauka by ] (LCCS part) and ] (SCCCS part) as part of the module activation outfitting process.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Russian Nauka/Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) General Thread|url=https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=23444.msg2419522#msg2419522|access-date=2022-10-15|website=forum.nasaspaceflight.com|archive-date=15 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015041008/https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=23444.msg2419522#msg2419522|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Schedule of ISS flight events (part 2)|url=https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=32006.msg2391098#msg2391098|access-date=2022-07-31|website=forum.nasaspaceflight.com|archive-date=31 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731072946/https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=32006.msg2391098#msg2391098|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Russian Nauka/Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) General Thread|url=https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=23444.msg2334840#msg2334840|access-date=2022-03-25|website=forum.nasaspaceflight.com|archive-date=4 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404014507/https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=23444.msg2334840#msg2334840|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="russianspaceweb-fgb2-mlm">{{Cite web|url=https://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss-fgb2-mlm-integration.html|title=Russia to bump its ISS crew back to three|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|access-date=25 March 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811164158/https://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss-fgb2-mlm-integration.html|archive-date=11 August 2023|website=RussianSpaceWeb}}</ref> It was taken outside and installed on the ERA aft facing base point on Nauka during the VKD-55 spacewalk.<ref name="garcia-20221116">{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2022/11/16/cosmonauts-prep-for-thursday-spacewalk-dragon-targets-monday-launch/|title=Cosmonauts Prep for Thursday Spacewalk, Dragon Targets Monday Launch|last=Garcia|first=Mark|date=16 November 2022|publisher=]|access-date=16 November 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810132145/https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2022/11/16/cosmonauts-prep-for-thursday-spacewalk-dragon-targets-monday-launch/|archive-date=10 August 2023|website=NASA Blogs}}</ref><ref name="lavelle-20221117">{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2022/11/17/cosmonauts-begin-first-in-a-series-of-spacewalks-for-station-maintenance/|title=Cosmonauts Begin First in a Series of Spacewalks for Station Maintenance|last=Lavelle|first=Heidi|date=17 November 2022|publisher=]|access-date=17 November 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810130808/https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2022/11/17/cosmonauts-begin-first-in-a-series-of-spacewalks-for-station-maintenance/|archive-date=10 August 2023|website=NASA Blogs}}</ref><ref name="garcia-20221117">{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2022/11/17/cosmonauts-finish-spacewalk-for-work-on-science-module/|title=Cosmonauts Finish Spacewalk for Work on Science Module|last=Garcia|first=Mark|date=17 November 2022|publisher=]|access-date=17 November 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329110535/https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2022/11/17/cosmonauts-finish-spacewalk-for-work-on-science-module/|archive-date=29 March 2023|website=NASA Blogs}}</ref><ref name="spacecom-20221117">{{Cite news|url=https://www.space.com/iss-spacewalk-russian-radiator-move-prep|title=Russian cosmonauts complete station spacewalk to ready radiator for move|last=Pearlman|first=Robert Z.|date=17 November 2022|access-date=23 November 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124215252/https://www.space.com/iss-spacewalk-russian-radiator-move-prep|archive-date=24 November 2023|work=]}}</ref> | |||
| The station's large solar panels generate a high potential voltage difference between the station and the ionosphere. This could cause arcing through insulating surfaces and sputtering of conductive surfaces as ions are accelerated by the spacecraft plasma sheath. To mitigate this, plasma contactor units (PCU)s create current paths between the station and the ambient plasma field.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/RT/RT1998/5000/5430patterson.html |title=Cathodes Delivered for Space Station Plasma Contactor System |series=Research & Technology |publisher=NASA{{\}}Lewis Research Center |first=Michael J. |last=Patterson |date=1998 |id=TM-1999-208815 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110705185854/http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/RT/RT1998/ |archivedate=5 July 2011 |deadurl=yes}}</ref> | |||
| ====Robotic arms and cargo cranes==== | |||
| ] | |||
| {{multiple image | |||
| The station's systems and experiments consume a large amount of electrical power, almost all of which converts to heat. Little of this heat dissipates through the walls of the station. To keep the internal ambient temperature within comfortable, workable limits, ] is continuously pumped through pipes throughout the station to collect heat, then into external radiators to emit infrared radiation, then back into the station.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast21mar_1/ |title=Staying Cool on the ISS |publisher=NASA |first1=Steve |last1=Price |first2=Tony |last2=Phillips |first3=Gil |last3=Knier |date=21 March 2001 |accessdate=22 July 2016}}</ref> Thus this passive thermal control system (PTCS) is made of external surface materials, insulation such as MLI, and heat pipes. | |||
| | align = right | |||
| | total_width = 400 | |||
| | image1 = Iss017e011097.jpg | |||
| | caption1 = Commander ] stands on ''Pirs'' with his back to the ] whilst operating the manual<br />] (which is holding photographer ]). | |||
| | image2 = Dextrereallyhasnohead.jpg | |||
| | caption2 = ], like many of the station's experiments and robotic arms, can be operated from Earth, allowing tasks to be performed while the crew sleeps. | |||
| }} | |||
| The Integrated Truss Structure (ITS) serves as a base for the station's primary remote manipulator system, the ] (MSS), which is composed of three main components: | |||
| If the PTCS cannot keep up with the heat load, an External Active Thermal Control System (EATCS) maintains the temperature. The EATCS consists of an internal, non-toxic, water coolant loop used to cool and dehumidify the atmosphere, which transfers collected heat into an external liquid ammonia loop that can withstand the much lower temperature of space, and is circulated through radiators to remove the heat. The EATCS provides cooling for all the US pressurised modules, including ''Kibō'' and ''Columbus'', as well as the main power distribution electronics of the S0, S1 and P1 trusses. It can reject up to 70 kW. This is much more than the 14 kW of the Early External Active Thermal Control System (EEATCS) via the Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS), which was launched on ] and installed onto the P6 Truss.<ref>. (PDF). Retrieved 8 October 2011.</ref> | |||
| * ], the largest robotic arm on the ISS, has a mass of {{convert|1800|kg|lb}} and is used to: dock and manipulate spacecraft and modules on the USOS; hold crew members and equipment in place during EVAs; and move Dextre to perform tasks.<ref>{{cite web|date=8 January 2013|title=Canadarm2 and the Mobile Servicing System|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/mss.html|access-date=22 June 2015|publisher=NASA|archive-date=23 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090323030711/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/mss.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| * ] is a {{convert|1560|kg|lb|abbr=on}} robotic manipulator that has two arms and a rotating torso, with power tools, lights, and video for replacing ]s (ORUs) and performing other tasks requiring fine control.<ref name="csa-dextre">{{Cite web|url=https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/iss/dextre/|title=Dextre, the International Space Station's Robotic Handyman|date=18 April 2011|publisher=]|access-date=22 June 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405001741/https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/iss/dextre/|archive-date=5 April 2023}}</ref> | |||
| * The ] (MBS) is a platform that rides on rails along the length of the station's main truss, which serves as a mobile base for Canadarm2 and Dextre, allowing the robotic arms to reach all parts of the USOS.<ref name="csa-mbs">{{Cite web|url=https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/iss/mobile-base/|title=Mobile Base System|publisher=]|access-date=22 June 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327123655/http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/iss/mobile-base/|archive-date=27 March 2023}}</ref> | |||
| A ] was added to ''Zarya'' on STS-134 to enable Canadarm2 to inchworm itself onto the ROS.<ref name="sts-134-press-kit" /> Also installed during STS-134 was the {{convert|50|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} ] (OBSS), which had been used to inspect heat shield tiles on Space Shuttle missions and which can be used on the station to increase the reach of the MSS.<ref name="sts-134-press-kit" /> Staff on Earth or the ISS can operate the MSS components using remote control, performing work outside the station without the need for space walks. | |||
| ===Communications and computers=== | |||
| {{Main|Tracking and Data Relay Satellite|Luch (satellite)}} | |||
| Japan's ], which services the ''Kibō'' Exposed Facility,<ref>{{cite web|date=29 August 2008|title=Remote Manipulator System: About Kibo|url=http://kibo.jaxa.jp/en/about/kibo/rms/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080320035809/http://kibo.jaxa.jp/en/about/kibo/rms/|archive-date=20 March 2008|access-date=4 October 2009|publisher=JAXA}}</ref> was launched on ] and is attached to the ''Kibō'' Pressurised Module.<ref>{{cite web|date=14 January 2002|title=International Space Station Status Report #02-03|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/station/2002/iss02-03.txt|access-date=4 October 2009|publisher=NASA|archive-date=11 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311105930/http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/station/2002/iss02-03.txt|url-status=dead}}</ref> The arm is similar to the Space Shuttle arm as it is permanently attached at one end and has a latching end effector for standard grapple fixtures at the other. | |||
| {{See also|ThinkPad#Use in space}} | |||
| ] | |||
| Radio communications provide ] and scientific data links between the station and ]. Radio links are also used during ] and for audio and video communication between crew members, flight controllers and family members. As a result, the ISS is equipped with internal and external communication systems used for different purposes.<ref name="BoeingComm" /> | |||
| The ], which will service the ROS, was launched alongside the ] module.<ref name="tass-20200402">{{Cite news|url=https://tass.com/science/1139385|title=Russia postpones launch of Nauka research module to orbital outpost to 2021|date=2 April 2020|agency=]|access-date=1 March 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810143935/https://tass.com/science/1139385|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref> The ROS does not require spacecraft or modules to be manipulated, as all spacecraft and modules dock automatically and may be discarded the same way. Crew use the two '']'' ({{langx|ru|Стрела́||Arrow}}) cargo cranes during EVAs for moving crew and equipment around the ROS. Each Strela crane has a mass of {{cvt|45|kg}}. | |||
| The Russian Orbital Segment communicates directly with the ground via the '']'' ] mounted to ''Zvezda''.<ref name="ISSRG" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/mar/HQ_ss05015_ISS_status_report.html |title=International Space Station Status Report: SS05-015 |last=Mathews |first=Melissa |author2=James Hartsfield |date=25 March 2005 |work=NASA News |publisher=NASA |accessdate=11 January 2010}}</ref> The ''Lira'' antenna also has the capability to use the '']'' data relay satellite system.<ref name="ISSRG" /> This system, used for communications with ''Mir'', fell into disrepair during the 1990s, and so is no longer in use,<ref name="ISSRG" /><ref name="SSSM">{{cite book |first=David |last=Harland |title=The Story of Space Station Mir |publisher=Springer-Verlag New York Inc |date=30 November 2004 |location=New York |isbn=978-0-387-23011-5}}</ref><ref name="Harvey">{{cite book |last=Harvey |first=Brian |title=The rebirth of the Russian space program: 50 years after Sputnik, new frontiers |publisher=Springer Praxis Books |year=2007 |page=263 |isbn=978-0-387-71354-0}}</ref> although two new ''Luch'' satellites—''Luch''-5A and ''Luch''-5B—were launched in 2011 and 2012 respectively to restore the operational capability of the system.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=RussianSpaceWeb |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/2011.html |accessdate=12 January 2010 |title=Space exploration in 2011 |date=4 January 2010 |author=Anatoly Zak |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626095747/http://www.russianspaceweb.com/2011.html |archivedate=26 June 2010}}</ref> Another Russian communications system is the ], which enables internal telephone communications between ''Zvezda'', ''Zarya'', ''Pirs'', ''Poisk'' and the USOS, and also provides a VHF radio link to ground control centres via antennas on ''Zvezda''{{'s}} exterior.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/somd/reports/iss_reports/2010/05022010.html |date=2 May 2010 |accessdate=7 July 2010 |publisher=NASA |title=ISS On-Orbit Status 05/02/10}}</ref> | |||
| === Former module === | |||
| The ] (USOS) makes use of two separate radio links mounted in the ] structure: the ] (used for audio) and ] (used for audio, video and data) systems. These transmissions are routed via the United States ] System (TDRSS) in ], which allows for almost continuous real-time communications with ] (MCC-H) in ].<ref name="ISSBook" /><ref name="ISSRG" /><ref name="BoeingComm">{{cite web |url=http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/systems/communications_tracking.html |publisher=Boeing |accessdate=30 November 2009 |title=Communications and Tracking |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611115319/http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/systems/communications_tracking.html |archivedate=11 June 2008}}</ref> Data channels for the Canadarm2, European ''Columbus'' laboratory and Japanese ''Kibō'' modules are routed via the S band and K<sub>u</sub> band systems, although the ] and a similar Japanese system will eventually complement the TDRSS in this role.<ref name="ISSBook" /><ref name="JAXA-MOU">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/nasa_japan.html |title=Memorandum of Understanding Between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States of America and the Government of Japan Concerning Cooperation on the Civil International Space Station |publisher=NASA |accessdate=19 April 2009 |date=24 February 1998}}</ref> Communications between modules are carried on an internal digital ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Operations Local Area Network (OPS LAN) Interface Control Document |publisher=NASA |url=http://www.spaceref.com/iss/computer/iss.ops.lan.icd.pdf |accessdate=30 November 2009 |date=February 2000}}</ref> | |||
| {{Multiple image | |||
| {{multiple image |align=left |total_width=400 | |||
| | total_width = 400 | |||
| |image1=ISS-38 EVA-1 Laptops.jpg |caption1=An array of laptops in the US lab | |||
| | direction = horizontal | |||
| |image2=STS-128 ISS-20 Destiny Canadarm2.jpg |caption2=Laptop computers surround the Canadarm2 console | |||
| | image1 = Sts110-363-001.jpg | |||
| | caption1 = The ''Pirs'' module attached to the ISS | |||
| | image2 = ISS-65 Pirs docking compartment separates from the Space Station.jpg | |||
| | caption2 = ISS-65 Pirs docking compartment separates from the International Space Station. | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| ] is used by astronauts and cosmonauts conducting ]. UHF is used by other spacecraft that dock to or undock from the station, such as Soyuz, Progress, HTV, ATV and the Space Shuttle (except the shuttle also makes use of the S band and K<sub>u</sub> band systems via TDRSS), to receive commands from Mission Control and ISS crewmembers.<ref name="ISSRG" /> Automated spacecraft are fitted with their own communications equipment; the ATV uses a ] attached to the spacecraft and equipment attached to ''Zvezda'', known as the Proximity Communications Equipment, to accurately dock to the station.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=16247 |title=ISS/ATV communication system flight on Soyuz |accessdate=30 November 2009 |publisher=] |date=28 February 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher=NASASpaceflight.com |author=Chris Bergin |url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/11/sts-129-support-dragon-communication-demo-iss/ |date=10 November 2009 |accessdate=30 November 2009 |title=STS-129 ready to support Dragon communication demo with ISS}}</ref> | |||
| ==== ''Pirs'' ==== | |||
| The ISS is equipped with about 100 ]/] ] and ] laptop computers. The laptops have run ], ], ], ], ] and ] operating systems.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.techrepublic.com/article/from-windows-10-linux-ipads-iphones-to-hololens-the-tech-space-station-astronauts-use/ |title=From Windows 10, Linux, iPads, iPhones to HoloLens: The tech astronauts use on the ISS |work=TechRepublic |first=Nick |last=Heath |date=23 May 2016 |accessdate=29 June 2018}}</ref> Each computer is a ] purchase which is then modified for safety and operation including updates to connectors, cooling and power to accommodate the station's 28V DC power system and weightless environment. Heat generated by the laptops does not rise but stagnates around the laptop, so additional forced ventilation is required. Laptops aboard the ISS are connected to the station's ] via ] and to the ground via K<sub>u</sub> band. This provides speeds of 10 ] download and 3 Mbit/s upload from the station, comparable to home ] connection speeds.<ref name="issit">{{cite news |url=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/first-tweet-from-space/ |title=First Tweet From Space |work=] |first=Nick |last=Bilton |date=22 January 2010 |accessdate=29 April 2014}}</ref><ref name="tested20121019">{{cite news |url=http://www.tested.com/science/space/449539-how-fast-isss-internet-and-other-space-questions-answered/ |title=How Fast is the ISS's Internet? (and Other Space Questions Answered) |work=Tested.com |first=Will |last=Smith |date=19 October 2012 |accessdate=29 April 2014}}</ref> Laptop hard drives have been known to fail occasionally, requiring manual replacement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Columbus/ESA_ISS_Science_System_-_Operations_Status_Report_150_Increment_36_13_26_July_2013 |title=ESA ISS Science & System - Operations Status Report #150 Increment 36: 13-26 July 2013 |publisher=European Space Agency |first1=Martin |last1=Zell |first2=Rosita |last2=Suenson |date=13 August 2013 |accessdate=11 July 2018}}</ref> Other computer failures include instances in 2001, 2007 and 2017; some of these failures have required EVAs to replace computers in externally mounted devices.<ref name="roundup20010601">{{cite news |url=https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/roundups/issues/2001-06-01.pdf |title=Computer problems overcome during STS-100 |work=Space Center Roundup |publisher=NASA |first=Julie |last=Burt |date=1 June 2001 |accessdate=11 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223230857/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/roundups/issues/2001-06-01.pdf |archive-date=23 December 2016 |dead-url=yes}}</ref><ref name="space20070614">{{cite news |url=https://www.space.com/3946-nasa-space-station-computer-crash-extend-shuttle-mission.html |title=NASA: Space Station Computer Crash May Extend Shuttle Mission |work=Space.com |first=Tariq |last=Malik |date=14 June 2007 |accessdate=11 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="reuters20070613">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-shuttle/nasa-battles-failure-of-space-station-computer-idUSN1337907120070614 |title=NASA battles failure of space station computer |agency=Reuters |first=Irene |last=Klotz |date=13 June 2007 |accessdate=11 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="huffpost20170522">{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/iss-computer-failure-spacewalk_us_5922759ce4b03b485cb27a80 |title=NASA Plans Emergency Spacewalk To Replace Key Computer On International Space Station |work=Huffpost |first=Irene |last=Klotz |date=22 May 2017 |accessdate=11 July 2018}}</ref> | |||
| {{main|2 = Pirs (ISS module)}} | |||
| Pirs (Russian: Пирс, lit. 'Pier') was launched on 14 September 2001, as ISS Assembly Mission 4R, on a Russian Soyuz-U rocket, using a modified ], ], as an upper stage. Pirs was undocked by ] on 26 July 2021, 10:56 UTC, and deorbited on the same day at 14:51 UTC to make room for ] module to be attached to the space station. Prior to its departure, Pirs served as the primary Russian airlock on the station, being used to store and refurbish the Russian Orlan spacesuits. | |||
| The operating system used for key station functions is the ] ].<ref>{{cite news |last=Thomson |first=Iain |title=Penguins in spa-a-a-ce! ISS dumps Windows for Linux on laptops |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/10/iss_linux_debian_deployment/ |accessdate=15 May 2013 |newspaper=The Register |date=10 May 2013}}</ref> The migration from ] was made in May 2013 for reasons of reliability, stability and flexibility.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gunter |first=Joel |title=International Space Station to boldly go with Linux over Windows |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10049444/International-Space-Station-to-boldly-go-with-Linux-over-Windows.html |accessdate=15 May 2013 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=10 May 2013}}</ref> | |||
| {{clear}} | |||
| ===Planned components=== | |||
| ==Operations== | |||
| ==== Axiom segment ==== | |||
| {{main|Axiom Station}} | |||
| ], made prior to assembly plan changes]] | |||
| In January 2020, NASA awarded ] a contract to build a commercial module for the ISS. The contract is under the ] program. NASA negotiated with Axiom on a firm ] basis to build and deliver the module, which will attach to the forward port of the space station's ''Harmony (Node 2)'' module. Although NASA only commissioned one module, Axiom planned to build an entire segment consisting of five modules, including a node module, an orbital research and manufacturing facility, a crew habitat, and a "large-windowed Earth observatory". The Axiom segment was expected to greatly increase the capabilities and value of the space station, allowing for larger crews and private spaceflight by other organisations. Axiom planned to convert the segment into a stand-alone space station once the ISS is decommissioned, with the intention that this would act as a successor to the ISS.<ref name="sfn-20200128">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/01/28/axiom-wins-nasa-approval-to-attach-commercial-habitat-to-space-station/|title=Axiom wins NASA approval to attach commercial habitat to space station|last=Clark|first=Stephen|date=28 January 2020|access-date=29 January 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121185755/https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/01/28/axiom-wins-nasa-approval-to-attach-commercial-habitat-to-space-station/|archive-date=21 November 2023|work=Spaceflight Now}}</ref><ref name="techcrunch-20200127">{{Cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/27/nasa-taps-startup-axiom-space-for-the-first-habitable-commercial-module-for-the-space-station/|title=NASA taps startup Axiom Space for the first habitable commercial module for the Space Station|last=Etherington|first=Darrell|date=27 January 2020|access-date=29 January 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128010232/https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/27/nasa-taps-startup-axiom-space-for-the-first-habitable-commercial-module-for-the-space-station/|archive-date=28 January 2020|work=]}}</ref><ref name="geekwire-20200127">{{Cite news|url=https://www.geekwire.com/2020/nasa-clears-axiom-space-put-commercial-habitat-space-station-boeings-help/|title=NASA clears Axiom Space to put commercial habitat on space station, with Boeing on the team|last=Boyle|first=Alan|date=27 January 2020|access-date=29 January 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406054511/https://www.geekwire.com/2020/nasa-clears-axiom-space-put-commercial-habitat-space-station-boeings-help/|archive-date=6 April 2023|work=GeekWire}}</ref> ] is planned to continue its operations on Axiom Station after the retirement of ISS in 2030.<ref name="axiom-assembly">{{Cite web|url=https://www.axiomspace.com/axiom-station/assembly-sequence|title=Axiom Station Assembly Sequence – Axiom Space Axiom Space|publisher=]|access-date=9 August 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810145840/https://www.axiomspace.com/axiom-station/assembly-sequence|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref> In December 2024, Axiom Space revised their station assembly plans to require only one module to dock with the ISS before assembling Axiom Station in an independent orbit.<ref name="sn-20241218" /> | |||
| {{As of|December 2024}}, Axiom Space expects to launch one module, the Payload Power Thermal Module (PPTM), to the ISS no earlier than 2027.<ref name="sn-20241218">{{cite web |last=Foust |first=Jeff |url=https://spacenews.com/axiom-space-revises-space-station-assembly-plans/ |title=Axiom Space revises space station assembly plans |work=] |date=18 December 2024 |access-date=18 December 2024}}</ref> PPTM is expected to remain at the ISS until the launch of Axiom's Habitat One (Hab-1) module about one year later, after which it will detach from the ISS to join with Hab-1.<ref name="sn-20241218" /> | |||
| ===Expeditions and private flights=== | |||
| :''See also the ] (professional crew), ] (private travellers), and the ] (both).'' | |||
| ==== US Deorbit Vehicle ==== | |||
| {{multiple image |align=right |total_width=400 | |||
| The ] (USDV) is a NASA-provided spacecraft intended to perform a controlled de-orbit and demise of the station after the end of its operational life in 2030. In June 2024, NASA awarded ] a contract to build the Deorbit Vehicle.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-091523a-soyuz-ms-24-launch-space-station.html|title=Russia's Soyuz MS-24 launches crew for up to yearlong stay on space station|access-date=15 September 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231006173029/http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-091523a-soyuz-ms-24-launch-space-station.html|archive-date=6 October 2023|website=collectSPACE.com}}</ref> NASA plans to de-orbit ISS as soon as they have the "minimum capability" in orbit: "the USDV and at least one commercial station."<ref>{{cite news|title=NASA weighing options for continuous human presence in LEO after ISS|url=https://spacenews.com/nasa-weighing-options-for-continuous-human-presence-in-leo-after-iss/|work=]|last=Foust|first=Jeff|date=16 October 2024|access-date=17 October 2024}}</ref> | |||
| |image1=Sts088-703-019e.jpg |caption1=''Zarya'' and ''Unity'' were entered for the first time on 10 December 1998. | |||
| |image2=Soyuz tm-31 transported to launch pad.jpg |caption2=Soyuz TM-31 being prepared to bring the first resident crew to the station in October 2000 | |||
| ===Cancelled components=== | |||
| {{multiple image | |||
| | align = right | |||
| | total_width = 400 | |||
| | image1 = ISS Habitation module.jpg | |||
| | caption1 = The cancelled Habitation module under construction at Michoud in 1997 | |||
| | image2 = Nautilus-X demonstrator docked to the ISS (side).webp | |||
| | caption2 = Rendering of the Nautilus-X Centrifuge Demonstrator docked to the ISS (side) | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| ] | |||
| Several modules developed or planned for the station were cancelled over the course of the ISS programme. Reasons include budgetary constraints, the modules becoming unnecessary, and station redesigns after the 2003 ]. The US ] would have hosted science experiments in varying levels of ].<ref>{{cite web|title=CAM – location?|url=http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=12560.msg265342|access-date=12 October 2009|website=NASA Spaceflight Forums|archive-date=11 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011031151/http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=67c39f0a2f4c8510242de183bae73e6f&topic=12560.msg265342|url-status=live}}</ref> The US ] would have served as the station's living quarters. Instead, the living quarters are now spread throughout the station.<ref name="spacecom-20060214">{{Cite news|url=https://www.space.com/2050-nasa-recycles-iss-module-life-support-research.html|title=NASA Recycles Former ISS Module for Life Support Research|last=Malik|first=Tariq|date=14 February 2006|access-date=11 March 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812225629/https://www.space.com/2050-nasa-recycles-iss-module-life-support-research.html|archive-date=12 August 2023|work=]}}</ref> The US ] and ] would have replaced the functions of ''Zvezda'' in case of a launch failure.<ref name="navy-code8200-icm">{{Cite web|url=http://code8200.nrl.navy.mil/icm.html|title=ICM Interim Control Module|publisher=U.S. Naval Center for Space Technology|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208164211/http://code8200.nrl.navy.mil/icm.html|archive-date=8 February 2007}}</ref> Two ]s were planned for scientific research.<ref name="boeing-russian-modules">{{Cite web|url=http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/components/russian_laboratory.html|title=Russian Research Modules|publisher=]|access-date=21 June 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100208034625/http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/components/russian_laboratory.html|archive-date=8 February 2010}}</ref> They would have docked to a Russian ].<ref name="russianspaceweb-iss-segment">{{Cite web|url=https://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_russia.html|title=Russian segment of the ISS|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|access-date=3 October 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406134221/https://russianspaceweb.com/iss_russia.html|archive-date=6 April 2023|website=RussianSpaceWeb}}</ref> The Russian ] would have supplied power to the Russian Orbital Segment independent of the ITS solar arrays. | |||
| Each permanent crew is given an expedition number. Expeditions run up to six months, from launch until undocking, an 'increment' covers the same time period, but includes cargo ships and all activities. Expeditions 1 to 6 consisted of 3 person crews, Expeditions 7 to 12 were reduced to the safe minimum of two following the destruction of the NASA Shuttle Columbia. From Expedition 13 the crew gradually increased to 6 around 2010.<ref name="ISSEx">{{cite web |title=International Space Station Expeditions |publisher=NASA |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/index.html |date=10 April 2009 |accessdate=13 April 2009}}</ref><ref name="current">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html |title=International Space Station |accessdate=22 October 2008 |publisher=NASA |year=2008 |author=NASA}}</ref> With the arrival of the American ] vehicles in the middle of the 2010s, expedition size may be increased to seven crew members, the number ISS is designed for.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aviationweek.com/article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_07_26_2012_p01-02-480253.xml |title=ISS Research Hampered By Crew Availability |last=Morring |first=Frank |date=27 July 2012 |quote=A commercial capability would allow the station's crew to grow from six to seven by providing a four-seat vehicle for emergency departures in addition to the three-seat Russian Soyuz capsules in use today. |publisher=Aviation Week |accessdate=30 July 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501214851/http://www.aviationweek.com/article.aspx?id=%2Farticle-xml%2Fasd_07_26_2012_p01-02-480253.xml |archivedate=1 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/AS-Interview-Mike-Suffredini.html |title=Assembly (Nearly) Complete |last=Hoversten |first=Paul |date=1 May 2011 |publisher=Air & Space Magazine |quote=In fact, we're designed on the U.S. side to take four crew. The ISS design is actually for seven. We operate with six because first, we can get all our work done with six, and second, we don't have a vehicle that allows us to fly a seventh crew member. Our requirement for the new vehicles being designed is for four seats. So I don't expect us to go down in crew size. I would expect us to increase it. |accessdate=8 May 2011}}</ref> | |||
| ====Science Power Modules 1 and 2 (Repurposed Components)==== | |||
| ], member of Expeditions ], ]/], ]/], and ]/], and Commander of ], has spent more time in space than anyone else, a total of 878 days, 11 hours, and 29 minutes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/cosmonauts/english/padalka_gennadi.htm |title=Biographies of USSR/Russian Cosmonauts: Padalka |publisher=Spacefacts |access-date=28 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906183022/http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/cosmonauts/english/padalka_gennadi.htm |archive-date=6 September 2017}}</ref> ] has spent the most time in space of any American, totalling 665 days, 22 hours, and 22 minutes during her time on Expeditions ], ], and ]/]/].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/whitson_peggy.htm |title=Biographies of U.S. Astronauts: Whitson |publisher=Spacefacts |access-date=28 January 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180128212554/http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/whitson_peggy.htm |archive-date=28 January 2018 |deadurl=yes}}</ref> | |||
| '''Science Power Module 1''' ('''SPM-1''', also known as '''NEM-1''') and '''Science Power Module 2''' ('''SPM-2''', also known as '''NEM-2''') are modules that were originally planned to arrive at the ISS no earlier than 2024, and dock to the ''Prichal'' module, which is docked to the ''Nauka'' module.<ref name="NSF20200819" /><ref name="rsw-2024">{{Cite web|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/2024.html#nem|title=Russian space program in 2024|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|date=22 June 2020|access-date=23 June 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102064550/https://russianspaceweb.com/2024.html#nem|archive-date=2 November 2023|website=RussianSpaceWeb}}</ref> In April 2021, Roscosmos announced that NEM-1 would be repurposed to function as the core module of the proposed ] (ROSS), launching no earlier than 2027<ref name="tass-20230124">{{Cite news|date=24 January 2023|title=Russia to set up national orbital outpost in 2027 – Roscosmos|url=https://tass.com/science/1566383|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609221841/https://tass.com/science/1566383|archive-date=9 June 2023|access-date=31 January 2023|agency=]}}</ref> and docking to the free-flying ''Nauka'' module.<ref name="tass-20210719">{{Cite web|url=https://tass.ru/kosmos/11934057|title=Роскосмос примет решение о пути развития российской орбитальной станции до конца июля|trans-title=Roscosmos to decide development path of Russian orbital station by end of July|date=19 July 2021|agency=]|language=ru|access-date=20 July 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131618/https://tass.ru/kosmos/11934057|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref><ref name="russianspaceweb-ros">{{Cite web|url=https://www.russianspaceweb.com/ros.html|title=Russian Orbital Service Station, ROSS|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|date=16 April 2021|access-date=26 April 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230814171139/https://www.russianspaceweb.com/ros.html|archive-date=14 August 2023|website=RussianSpaceWeb}}</ref> NEM-2 may be converted into another core "base" module, which would be launched in 2028.<ref name="roscosmos-20210424">{{Cite web|url=https://www.roscosmos.ru/30863/|title=Научно-энергетический модуль запустят на "Ангаре" с Восточного|trans-title=The Science Power Module will be launched on an Angara from Vostochny|date=24 April 2021|publisher=]|language=ru|access-date=26 April 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822035249/https://www.roscosmos.ru/30863/|archive-date=22 August 2022}}</ref> | |||
| ====Xbase==== | |||
| Travellers who pay for their own passage into space are termed ]s by Roscosmos and NASA, and are sometimes referred to as space tourists, a term they generally dislike.{{refn|Privately funded travellers who have objected to the term include Dennis Tito, the first such traveller (''Associated Press'', 8 May 2001), ], founder of ] (''Associated Press, The Spokesman Review, 6 January 2002, p. A4''), Gregory Olsen and ].<ref>{{cite news |last=Schwartz |first=John |title=Russia Leads Way in Space Tourism With Paid Trips into Orbit |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/science/space/11space.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=10 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Boyle |first=Alan |title=Space passenger Olsen to pull his own weight |url=http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9323509/ |publisher=MSNBC}}</ref> Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk said the term does not seem appropriate, referring to his crewmate, ], founder of ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1975186&archive=true |archive-url=https://archive.is/20120912062200/http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1975186&archive=true |dead-url=yes |archive-date=12 September 2012 |title=Flight to space ignited dreams | St. Catharines Standard |publisher=Stcatharinesstandard.ca |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> Anousheh Ansari denied being a tourist<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMD58BE8YE_business_0.html |title=ESA – Human Spaceflight and Exploration – Business – "I am NOT a tourist" |publisher=Esa.int |date=18 September 2006 |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> and took offence at the term.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/2889-interview-anousheh-ansari-female-space-tourist.html |title=Interview with Anousheh Ansari, the First Female Space Tourist |publisher=Space.com |date=15 September 2006 |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref>|group=note|name}} All seven were transported to the ISS on Russian Soyuz spacecraft. When professional crews change over in numbers not divisible by the three seats in a Soyuz, and a short-stay crewmember is not sent, the spare seat is sold by MirCorp through Space Adventures. When the space shuttle retired in 2011, and the station's crew size was reduced to 6, space tourism was halted, as the partners relied on Russian transport seats for access to the station. Soyuz flight schedules increase after 2013, allowing 5 Soyuz flights (15 seats) with only two expeditions (12 seats) required.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1101/12soyuz/ |title=Breaking News | Resumption of Soyuz tourist flights announced |publisher=Spaceflight Now |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> The remaining seats are sold for around {{US$|40 million}} to members of the public who can pass a medical exam. ESA and NASA criticised private spaceflight at the beginning of the ISS, and NASA initially resisted training ], the first man to pay for his own passage to the ISS.{{refn|ESA director Jörg Feustel-Büechl said in 2001 that Russia had no right to send 'amateurs' to the ISS. A 'stand-off' occurred at the Johnson Space Centre between Commander Talgat Musabayev and NASA manager Robert Cabana. Cabana refused to train Dennis Tito, a member of Musabayev's crew along with Yuri Baturin. The commander argued that Tito had trained 700 hours in the last year and was as qualified as any NASA astronaut, and refused to allow his crew to be trained on the American portions of the station without Tito. Cabana stated training could not begin, and the commander returned with his crew to their hotel.|group=note|name}} <!--<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/news/spacestation/mir_tour_iss_001101.html |title=The ISS won't be hosting paying guests anytime soon – at least not as far as NASA is concerned. |last=Bridges |first=Andrew |date=1 November 2011 |publisher=Space.com |accessdate=26 January 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002185427/http://www.space.com/news/spacestation/mir_tour_iss_001101.html |archivedate=2 October 2009}}</ref>--> | |||
| {{main|B330}} | |||
| Designed by ]. In August 2016, Bigelow negotiated an agreement with NASA to develop a full-size ground prototype Deep Space Habitation based on the B330 under the second phase of Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships. The module was called the Expandable Bigelow Advanced Station Enhancement (XBASE), as Bigelow hoped to test the module by attaching it to the International Space Station. However, in March 2020, Bigelow laid off all 88 of its employees, and {{As of|2024|02|lc=y}} the company remains dormant and is considered defunct,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://spacenews.com/bigelow-aerospace-lays-off-entire-workforce/|title=Bigelow Aerospace lays off entire workforce|publisher=]|first=Jeff|last=Foust|date=23 March 2020|access-date=2 December 2023|archive-date=24 March 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200324011153/https://spacenews.com/bigelow-aerospace-lays-off-entire-workforce/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Clark|first=Stephen|date=2023-08-04|title=Trans-Atlantic joint venture aims to build new "international" space station|url=https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/08/trans-atlantic-joint-venture-aims-to-build-new-international-space-station/|access-date=2024-02-15|website=Ars Technica|archive-date=27 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227023202/https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/08/trans-atlantic-joint-venture-aims-to-build-new-international-space-station/|url-status=live}}</ref> making it appear unlikely that the XBASE module will ever be launched. | |||
| ====Nautilus-X Centrifuge Demonstration==== | |||
| ] became the first Iranian in space and the first self-funded woman to fly to the station. Officials reported that her education and experience make her much more than a tourist, and her performance in training had been "excellent."<ref>{{cite web |last=Maher |first=Heather |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1071358.html |title=U.S.: Iranian-American To Be First Female Civilian in Space |publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=15 September 2006 |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> Ansari herself dismisses the idea that she is a tourist. She did Russian and European studies involving medicine and microbiology during her 10-day stay. The documentary '']'' follows her journey to the station, where she fulfilled "an age-old dream of man: to leave our planet as a "normal person" and travel into outer space."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space-tourists-film.com/en/film_synopsis.php |title=Space Tourists | A Film By Christian Frei |publisher=Space-tourists-film.com |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> | |||
| {{main|Nautilus-X}} | |||
| A proposal was put forward in 2011 for a first in-space demonstration of a sufficiently scaled centrifuge for artificial partial-g gravity effects. It was designed to become a sleep module for the ISS crew. The project was cancelled in favour of other projects due to budget constraints.<ref name="m966">{{cite web|last=Hollingham|first=Richard|title=The rise and fall of artificial gravity|publisher=BBC Home|date=2014-11-18|url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20130121-worth-the-weight|access-date=2024-07-22}}</ref> | |||
| In 2008, spaceflight participant ] placed a ] aboard the ISS during his flight.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC1BE91 |title=International Space Station Traditional Geocache}}</ref> This is currently the only non-terrestrial geocache in existence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geekwire.com/2011/outer-space-ocean-floor-15m-geocaches-counting/ |title=From outer space to the ocean floor, Geocaching.com now boasts more than 1.5 million hidden treasures |work=Geekwire.com |last=Cook |first=John |date=29 August 2011 |accessdate=27 February 2013}}</ref> At the same time, the ], an electronic record of eight digitised human DNA sequences, was placed aboard the ISS.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=6016448 |title=American game designer follows father into orbit |work=ABC News |date=12 October 2008 |accessdate=16 May 2016}}</ref> | |||
| == |
==Onboard systems== | ||
| ===Life support=== | |||
| {{multiple image |align=left |total_width=400 | |||
| {{Main|ISS ECLSS|Chemical oxygen generator}} | |||
| |image1=Altitude of International Space Station.svg|caption1=Graph showing the changing altitude of the ISS from November 1998 until November 2018 | |||
| The critical systems are the atmosphere control system, the water supply system, the food supply facilities, the sanitation and hygiene equipment, and fire detection and suppression equipment. The Russian Orbital Segment's life support systems are contained in the ''Zvezda'' service module. Some of these systems are supplemented by equipment in the USOS. The ''Nauka'' laboratory has a complete set of life support systems. | |||
| |image2=Animation of International Space Station trajectory.gif |caption2=Animation of ISS orbit from 14 September 2018 to 14 November 2018. Earth is not shown. | |||
| }} | |||
| ====Atmospheric control systems==== | |||
| The ISS is maintained in a nearly circular orbit with a minimum mean altitude of {{convert|330|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} and a maximum of {{convert|410|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}, in the centre of the ], at an ] of 51.6 degrees to Earth's equator, necessary to ensure that Russian ] and ] spacecraft launched from the ] may be safely launched to reach the station. Spent rocket stages must be dropped into uninhabited areas and this limits the directions rockets can be launched from the spaceport.<ref name="MCC Answer">{{cite web |last=Cooney |first=Jim |title=Mission Control Answers Your Questions |url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/answer/mcc/sts-112/09_04_12_54_17.html |location=Houston, TX |quote=Jim Cooney ISS Trajectory Operations Officer}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Pelt |first=Michel van |title=Into the Solar System on a String : Space Tethers and Space Elevators |year=2009 |publisher=Springer New York |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-387-76555-6 |page=133 |edition=1st}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| It travels at an average speed of {{convert|27724|km/h|mph}}, and completes {{Orbit|daily orbits|15.54}} orbits per day (93 minutes per orbit).{{Orbit|ref|<ref name="heavens-above"/>}}<ref name="tracking">{{cite web |url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/index.html |title=Current ISS Tracking data |accessdate=28 January 2009 |publisher=NASA |date=15 December 2008}}</ref> The station's altitude was allowed to fall around the time of each NASA shuttle mission. Orbital boost burns would generally be delayed until after the shuttle's departure. This allowed shuttle payloads to be lifted with the station's engines during the routine firings, rather than have the shuttle lift itself and the payload together to a higher orbit. This trade-off allowed heavier loads to be transferred to the station. After the retirement of the NASA shuttle, the nominal orbit of the space station was raised in altitude.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/06/europes-atv-2-depart-iss-make-way-russias-progress-m-11m/ |title=Europe's ATV-2 departs ISS to make way for Russia's Progress M-11M |publisher=NASASpaceFlight.com |date=20 June 2011 |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref><ref name="Popular Mechanics">{{cite web |url=http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4275571.html |title=The Uncertain Future of the International Space Station: Analysis |author=Rand Simberg |date=29 July 2008 |accessdate=6 March 2009 |publisher=] |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331140838/http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4275571.html |archivedate=31 March 2009}}</ref> Other, more frequent supply ships do not require this adjustment as they are substantially lighter vehicles.<ref name="Worldbook at NASA">{{cite web |url=http://www.worldbookonline.com/pl/referencecenter/article?id=ar279523 |title=International Space Station |work=World Book Online Reference Center |first=James |last=Oberg |date=2005 |accessdate=3 April 2016}}</ref><ref name="nasa.gov-iss-environment">{{cite web |url=http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/D-aboutiss/D6.html |title=ISS Environment |publisher=] |accessdate=15 October 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213164432/http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/D-aboutiss/D6.html |archivedate=13 February 2008}}</ref> | |||
| The atmosphere on board the ISS is similar to ].<ref>{{cite web|last=Freudenrich|first=Craig|date=20 November 2000|title=How Space Stations Work|url=http://science.howstuffworks.com/space-station2.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212014934/http://science.howstuffworks.com/space-station2.htm|archive-date=12 December 2008|access-date=23 November 2008|publisher=Howstuffworks}}</ref> Normal air pressure on the ISS is {{cvt|101.3|kPa}};<ref>{{cite web|title=5–8: The Air Up There|url=http://nasaexplores.com/show2_5_8a.php?id=04-032&gl=58|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20041218024247/http://nasaexplores.com/show2_5_8a.php?id=04-032&gl=58|archive-date=18 December 2004|access-date=31 October 2008|website=NASAexplores|publisher=NASA}}</ref> the same as at sea level on Earth. An Earth-like atmosphere offers benefits for crew comfort, and is much safer than a pure oxygen atmosphere, because of the increased risk of a fire such as that responsible for the deaths of the ] crew.<ref name="apollo-204-report">{{Cite report|url=https://history.nasa.gov/as204_senate_956.pdf|title=Apollo 204 Accident: Report of the Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, United States Senate|last1=Anderson|first1=Clinton P.|date=30 January 1968|publisher=US Government Printing Office|location=Washington, D.C.|page=8|id=Report No. 956|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810130754/https://history.nasa.gov/as204_senate_956.pdf|archive-date=10 August 2023|display-authors=etal}}</ref>{{better source needed|Source is 54 years old and does NOT conclude that 100% oxygen atmospheres should be completely avoided – the problem of Apollo 1 was the testing with pure oxygen at 16.7 psi (1.2 atm) overpressure, i.e. six times the natural partial pressure of oxygen. It explicitly states on p. 11 that "NASA has recommended by detailed review that the inflight cabin atmosphere, outside the Earth's atmosphere, should continue to be 100 percent oxygen at 5 p.s.i.A." (c. 0.3 atm). FWIW, Andy Weir's 2021 SF novel ] claims that an Earth-like atmosphere is maintained in near-Earth space stations to simplify evacuation in case of emergency.|date=January 2022}} Earth-like atmospheric conditions have been maintained on all Russian and Soviet spacecraft.<ref name="spacemed">{{Cite book|last1=Davis|first1=Jeffrey R.|title=Fundamentals of Aerospace Medicine|last2=Johnson|first2=Robert|last3=Stepanek|first3=Jan|publisher=Lippincott Williams & Wilkins|year=2008|volume=XII|place=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA|pages=261–264|name-list-style=amp}}</ref> | |||
| The '']'' system aboard ''Zvezda'' and a similar system in ''Destiny'' generate oxygen aboard the station.<ref name="OGS">{{Cite news|url=https://www.space.com/2052-air-apparent-oxygen-systems-iss.html|title=Air Apparent: New Oxygen Systems for the ISS|last=Malik|first=Tariq|date=15 February 2006|access-date=21 November 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230814171139/https://www.russianspaceweb.com/ros.html|archive-date=14 August 2023|work=]}}</ref> The crew has a backup option in the form of bottled oxygen and ] (SFOG) canisters, a ] system.<ref name="breath easy">{{cite web|first=Patrick L.|last=Barry|date=13 November 2000|title=Breathing Easy on the Space Station|url=https://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast13nov_1.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921141609/https://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast13nov_1.htm|archive-date=21 September 2008|access-date=21 November 2008|publisher=NASA}}</ref> Carbon dioxide is removed from the air by the ] system in ''Zvezda''. Other by-products of human metabolism, such as methane from the intestines and ammonia from sweat, are removed by ] filters.<ref name="breath easy" /> | |||
| Orbital boosting can be performed by the station's two main engines on the '']'' service module, or Russian or European spacecraft docked to ''Zvezda''{{'s}} aft port. The ATV has been designed with the possibility of adding a ] to its other end, allowing it to remain at the ISS and still allow other craft to dock and boost the station. It takes approximately two orbits (three hours) for the boost to a higher altitude to be completed.<ref name="nasa.gov-iss-environment" /> Maintaining ISS altitude uses about 7.5 tonnes of chemical fuel per annum<ref name="newscientist.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17918-rocket-company-tests-worlds-most-powerful-ion-engine/ |title=Rocket company tests world's most powerful ion engine |website=Newscientist.com |accessdate=10 August 2017}}</ref> at an annual cost of about $210 million.<ref name="aaESummary20100124">{{cite web |url=http://www.adastrarocket.com/EXECUTIVE%20SUMMARY240110.pdf |title=Executive summary |date=24 January 2010 |publisher=Ad Astra Rocket Company |accessdate=27 February 2010 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100331171616/http://www.adastrarocket.com/EXECUTIVE%20SUMMARY240110.pdf |archivedate=31 March 2010}}</ref> | |||
| Part of the ROS atmosphere control system is the oxygen supply. Triple-redundancy is provided by the Elektron unit, solid fuel generators, and stored oxygen. The primary supply of oxygen is the Elektron unit which produces {{chem2|O2}} and {{chem2|H2}} by ] of water and vents {{chem2|H2}} overboard. The {{cvt|1|kW}} system uses approximately one litre of water per crew member per day. This water is either brought from Earth or recycled from other systems. ''Mir'' was the first spacecraft to use recycled water for oxygen production. The secondary oxygen supply is provided by burning oxygen-producing ] cartridges (see also ]). Each 'candle' takes 5–20 minutes to decompose at {{convert|450|-|500|C}}, producing {{convert|600|L}} of {{chem2|O2}}. This unit is manually operated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://suzymchale.com/ruspace/issrslss.html|title=RuSpace {{!}} ISS Russian Segment Life Support System|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809155257/http://suzymchale.com/ruspace/issrslss.html|archive-date=9 August 2011|url-status=dead|website=Suzymchale.com|access-date=8 October 2011}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| The US Orbital Segment (USOS) has redundant supplies of oxygen, from a pressurised storage tank on the ''Quest'' airlock module delivered in 2001, supplemented ten years later by ESA-built Advanced Closed-Loop System (ACLS) in the ''Tranquility'' module (Node 3), which produces {{chem2|O2}} by electrolysis.<ref name="nasa-20001113">{{Cite web|url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2000/ast13nov_1|title=Breathing Easy on the Space Station|date=13 November 2000|publisher=]|access-date=8 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311204439/https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2000/ast13nov_1|archive-date=11 March 2019}}</ref> Hydrogen produced is combined with carbon dioxide from the cabin atmosphere and converted to water and methane. | |||
| In December 2008 NASA signed an agreement with the ] which may result in the testing on the ISS of a ] plasma propulsion engine.<ref name="vasimr">{{cite web |url=http://www.adastrarocket.com/AdAstra-NASA_PR12Dec08.pdf |publisher=AdAstra Rocket Company |title=Press Release 121208 |accessdate=7 December 2009 |date=12 December 2008}}</ref> This technology could allow ] to be done more economically than at present.<ref name="future-prop">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/travelinginspace/future_propulsion.html |title=Propulsion Systems of the Future |accessdate=29 May 2009 |publisher=NASA}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |work=New Scientist |accessdate=7 October 2009 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17918-rocket-company-tests-worlds-most-powerful-ion-engine.html |title=Rocket company tests world's most powerful ion engine |author=David Shiga |date=5 October 2009}}</ref> | |||
| ===Power and thermal control=== | |||
| The Russian Orbital Segment contains the Data Management System, which handles Guidance, Navigation and Control (ROS GNC) for the entire station.<ref name="Navigation">{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/export/esaHS/ESAOXX0VMOC_iss_0.html |title=DMS-R: ESA's Data Management System for the Russian Segment of the ISS}}</ref> Initially, ''Zarya'', the first module of the station, controlled the station until a short time after the Russian service module ''Zvezda'' docked and was transferred control. ''Zvezda'' contains the ESA built DMS-R Data Management System.<ref name="EsaComputer">{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/esapub/onstation/onstation17/os17_chapter6.pdf |title=Exercising Control 49 months of DMS-R Operations}}</ref> Using two fault-tolerant computers (FTC), ''Zvezda'' computes the station's position and orbital trajectory using redundant Earth horizon sensors, Solar horizon sensors as well as Sun and star trackers. The FTCs each contain three identical processing units working in parallel and provide advanced fault-masking by majority voting. | |||
| {{Main|Electrical system of the International Space Station|External Active Thermal Control System}} | |||
| {{multiple image | |||
| | align = right | |||
| | total_width = 400 | |||
| | image1 = ROSSA.jpg | |||
| | caption1 = Russian solar arrays, backlit by sunset | |||
| | image2 = P4 deployed.jpg | |||
| | caption2 = One of the eight truss mounted pairs of USOS solar arrays | |||
| | image3 = ISS new iROSA deployed.jpg | |||
| | caption3 = ISS new roll out solar array as seen from a zoom camera on the P6 Truss | |||
| }} | |||
| Double-sided ] provide ] to the ISS. These bifacial cells collect direct sunlight on one side and light ] from the Earth on the other, and are more efficient and operate at a lower temperature than single-sided cells commonly used on Earth.<ref name="andreas-2005">{{Cite conference|url=http://wenku.baidu.com/view/a815121ffc4ffe473368ab7a.html|title=The early history of bifacial solar cell|last=Cuevas|first=Andrés|date=January 2005|publisher=WIP Renewable Energies|access-date=14 August 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405131511/https://wenku.baidu.com/view/a815121ffc4ffe473368ab7a.html|archive-date=5 April 2023|conference=European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference|hdl=1885/84487|volume=20}}</ref> <!-- don't worry about the 'lower absobance' thingy, that's about heat not electricity--><!--http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/search.cgi?startrow=1391&maxrows=10&page=1&pages=1878&count=18775&navpage=139&images=images&searchwhat=all shows a sequence of photographs taken on 11 September 2000, from the sequence and orientation of the station, it's a sunset in the background of ROSSA.jpg--> | |||
| ====Orientation==== | |||
| ''Zvezda'' uses gyroscopes (]) and thrusters to turn itself around. Gyroscopes do not require propellant, rather they use electricity to 'store' momentum in flywheels by turning in the opposite direction to the station's movement. The USOS has its own computer controlled gyroscopes to handle the extra mass of that section. When gyroscopes ], thrusters are used to cancel out the stored momentum. During ], an incorrect command was sent to the station's computer, using about 14 kilograms of propellant before the fault was noticed and fixed. When attitude control computers in the ROS and USOS fail to communicate properly, it can result in a rare 'force fight' where the ROS GNC computer must ignore the USOS counterpart, which has no thrusters.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pims.grc.nasa.gov/pimsdocs/public/ISS%20Handbook/hb_qs_vehicle_RussianUSGNCForceFight.pdf |title=Microsoft Word – hb_qs_vehicle_RussianUSGNCForceFight_pg1.doc |accessdate=1 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720193844/http://pims.grc.nasa.gov/pimsdocs/public/ISS%20Handbook/hb_qs_vehicle_RussianUSGNCForceFight.pdf |archive-date=20 July 2012 |dead-url=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/issreports/2005/iss05-7.html |title=International Space Station Status Report #05-7 |date=11 February 2005 |publisher=NASA |accessdate=23 November 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Dynamics and Control of Attitude, Power, and Momentum for a Spacecraft Using Flywheels and Control Moment Gyroscopes |author=Carlos Roithmayr |year=2003 |publisher=NASA |location=Langley Research Center |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20030038806_2003038772.pdf |accessdate=12 July 2011}}</ref> When an ATV, NASA Shuttle, or Soyuz is docked to the station, it can also be used to maintain station attitude such as for troubleshooting. Shuttle control was used exclusively during ] of the S3/S4 truss, which provides electrical power and data interfaces for the station's electronics.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2007/06/atlantis-ready-to-support-iss-troubleshooting/ |title=Atlantis ready to support ISS troubleshooting |publisher=NASASPaceflight.com |author=Chris Bergin |accessdate=6 March 2009 |date=14 June 2007}}</ref> | |||
| The Russian segment of the station, like most spacecraft, uses 28 ] ] ] from two rotating solar arrays mounted on ''Zvezda''. The USOS uses 130–180 V DC from the USOS PV array. Power is stabilised and distributed at 160 V DC and converted to the user-required 124 V DC. The ] allows smaller, lighter conductors, at the expense of crew safety. The two station segments share power with converters. | |||
| ==Mission controls== | |||
| The components of the ISS are operated and monitored by their respective space agencies at ] across the globe, including: | |||
| * Roscosmos's ] at ], Moscow Oblast, controls the ] which handles Guidance, Navigation and Control for the entire Station,<ref name="Navigation" /><ref name="EsaComputer" /> in addition to individual Soyuz and Progress missions.<ref name="ISSRG" /> | |||
| * ESA's ], at the ] (CST) in ], France, controls flights of the unmanned European ].<ref name="ISSRG" /> | |||
| * JAXA's ] and ] at ] (TKSC) in ], Japan, are responsible for operating the ''Kibō'' complex and all flights of the 'White Stork' HTV Cargo spacecraft, respectively.<ref name="ISSRG" /> | |||
| * NASA's ] at ] in Houston, Texas, serves as the primary control facility for the United States segment of the ISS and also controlled the Space Shuttle missions that visited the station.<ref name="ISSRG">{{cite book |author=Gary Kitmacher |title=Reference Guide to the International Space Station |publisher=] |location=Canada |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-894959-34-6 |issn=1496-6921 |pages=71–80}}</ref> | |||
| * NASA's ] at ] in ], coordinates payload operations in the USOS.<ref name="ISSRG" /> | |||
| * ESA's ] at the ] in ], Germany, manages the European ''Columbus'' research laboratory.<ref name="ISSRG" /> | |||
| * CSA's ] at ], Canada, controls and monitors the ], or Canadarm2.<ref name="ISSRG" /> | |||
| {{wide image|ISS Centers.svg|880px|Space centres involved with the ISS programme|alt=A world map highlighting the locations of space centres. See adjacent text for details.}} | |||
| The USOS solar arrays are arranged as four wing pairs, for a total production of 75 to 90 kilowatts.<ref name="ISS_stats" /> These arrays normally track the Sun to maximise power generation. Each array is about {{convert|375|m2|sqft|0|abbr=on}} in area and {{convert|58|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} long. In the complete configuration, the solar arrays track the Sun by rotating the ''alpha ]'' once per orbit; the ''beta gimbal'' follows slower changes in the angle of the Sun to the orbital plane. The ] aligns the solar arrays parallel to the ground at night to reduce the significant aerodynamic drag at the station's relatively low orbital altitude.<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=G. Landis|author2=C-Y. Lu|year=1991|title=Solar Array Orientation Options for a Space Station in Low Earth Orbit|journal=Journal of Propulsion and Power|volume=7|issue=1|pages=123–125|doi=10.2514/3.23302}}</ref> | |||
| ===Repairs=== | |||
| {{Main|International Space Station maintenance}} | |||
| ]; some are externally stored on pallets called ] and ].]] | |||
| ] during ], astronaut ] performs makeshift repairs to a US solar array which damaged itself when unfolding.|alt=Two black and orange solar arrays, shown uneven and with a large tear visible. A crew member in a spacesuit, attached to the end of a robotic arm, holds a latticework between two solar sails.]] | |||
| ] | |||
| The station originally used rechargeable ] ({{chem2|NiH2}}) for continuous power during the 45 minutes of every 90-minute orbit that it is eclipsed by the Earth. The batteries are recharged on the day side of the orbit. They had a 6.5-year lifetime (over 37,000 charge/discharge cycles) and were regularly replaced over the anticipated 20-year life of the station.<ref>{{cite web|first=Thomas B.|last=Miller|date=24 April 2000|title=Nickel-Hydrogen Battery Cell Life Test Program Update for the International Space Station|url=https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/RT/RT1999/5000/5420miller.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090825125740/https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/RT/RT1999/5000/5420miller.html|archive-date=25 August 2009|access-date=27 November 2009|series=Research & Technology|publisher=NASA{{\}}Glenn Research Center|website=grc.nasa.gov}}</ref> Starting in 2016, the nickel–hydrogen batteries were replaced by ], which are expected to last until the end of the ISS program.<ref name="sfn-20161213">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2016/12/13/japanese-htv-makes-battery-delivery-to-international-space-station/|title=Japanese HTV makes battery delivery to International Space Station|last=Clark|first=Stephen|date=13 December 2016|access-date=29 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810132031/https://spaceflightnow.com/2016/12/13/japanese-htv-makes-battery-delivery-to-international-space-station/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=Spaceflight Now}}</ref> | |||
| ]s (ORUs) are spare parts that can be readily replaced when a unit either passes its design life or fails. Examples of ORUs are pumps, storage tanks, controller boxes, antennas, and battery units. Some units can be replaced using robotic arms. Many are stored outside the station, either on small pallets called ]s (ELCs) or share larger platforms called ]s which also hold science experiments. Both kinds of pallets have electricity as many parts which could be damaged by the cold of space require heating. The larger logistics carriers also have computer local area network connections (LAN) and telemetry to connect experiments. A heavy emphasis on stocking the USOS with ORU's occurred around 2011, before the end of the NASA shuttle programme, as its commercial replacements, ] and ], carry one tenth to one quarter the payload. | |||
| The station's large solar panels generate a high potential voltage difference between the station and the ionosphere. This could cause arcing through insulating surfaces and sputtering of conductive surfaces as ions are accelerated by the spacecraft plasma sheath. To mitigate this, ] units create current paths between the station and the ambient space plasma.<ref>{{cite web|last=Patterson|first=Michael J.|date=18 June 1999|title=Cathodes Delivered for Space Station Plasma Contactor System|url=https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/RT/RT1998/5000/5430patterson.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110705135954/https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/RT/RT1998/5000/5430patterson.html|archive-date=5 July 2011|series=Research & Technology|publisher=NASA{{\}}Lewis Research Center|website=grc.nasa.gov}}</ref> | |||
| Unexpected problems and failures have impacted the station's assembly time-line and work schedules leading to periods of reduced capabilities and, in some cases, could have forced abandonment of the station for safety reasons, had these problems not been resolved. During ] in 2007, following the relocation of the P6 truss and solar arrays, it was noted during the redeployment of the array that it had become torn and was not deploying properly.<ref name="Astronauts notice tear in solar panel">{{cite news |url=http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1123767/astronauts_notice_tear_in_solar_panel/index.html |title=Astronauts notice tear in solar panel |accessdate=30 October 2007 |agency=Associated Press |date=30 October 2007 |first=Liz Austin |last=Peterson}}</ref> An EVA was carried out by ], assisted by ]. The men took extra precautions to reduce the risk of electric shock, as the repairs were carried out with the solar array exposed to sunlight.<ref name="Space Station's Damaged Panel Is Fixed">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110300227.html |title=Space Station's Damaged Panel Is Fixed |accessdate=4 November 2007 |work=The Washington Post |date=4 November 2007 |first=Rob |last=Stein}}</ref> The issues with the array were followed in the same year by problems with the starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ), which rotates the arrays on the starboard side of the station. Excessive vibration and high-current spikes in the array drive motor were noted, resulting in a decision to substantially curtail motion of the starboard SARJ until the cause was understood. Inspections during EVAs on STS-120 and ] showed extensive contamination from metallic shavings and debris in the large drive gear and confirmed damage to the large metallic race ring at the heart of the joint, and so the joint was locked to prevent further damage.<ref name="joint-update">{{cite news |url=http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts123/080325sarj/index.html |title=Station chief gives detailed update on joint problem |accessdate=5 November 2008 |first=William |last=Harwood |publisher=CBS News & SpaceflightNow.com |date=25 March 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20100003841.pdf |title=The International Space Station Solar Alpha Rotary Joint Anomaly Investigation |conference=40th Aerospace Mechanisms Symposium. 12–14 May 2010. Cocoa Beach, Florida. |first1=Elliot P. |last1=Harik |first2=Justin |last2=McFatter |first3=Daniel J. |last3=Sweeney |first4=Carlos F. |last4=Enriquez |first5=Deneen M. |last5=Taylor |first6=David S. |last6=McCann |display-authors=1 |year=2010 |id=JSC-CN-19606}}</ref> Repairs to the joint were carried out during ] with lubrication of both joints and the replacement of 11 out of 12 trundle bearings on the joint.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts126/126_overview.html |title=Crew Expansion Prep, SARJ Repair Focus of STS-126 |accessdate=5 November 2008 |publisher=NASA |date=30 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts126/081118fd5/index.html |title=Astronauts prepare for first spacewalk of shuttle flight |date=18 November 2008 |first=William |last=Harwood |publisher=CBS News & SpaceflightNow.com |accessdate=22 November 2008}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| 2009 saw damage to the S1 radiator, one of the components of the station's cooling system. The problem was first noticed in ] imagery in September 2008, but was not thought to be serious.<ref name="Radiator">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/04/iss-concern-s1-radiator-may-require-replacement-shuttle-mission/ |first=Chris |last=Bergin |date=1 April 2009 |publisher=NASASpaceflight.com |title=ISS concern over S1 Radiator – may require replacement via shuttle mission |accessdate=3 April 2009}}</ref> The imagery showed that the surface of one sub-panel has peeled back from the underlying central structure, possibly because of micro-meteoroid or debris impact. It is also known that a Service Module thruster cover, jettisoned during an EVA in 2008, had struck the S1 radiator, but its effect, if any, has not been determined. On 15 May 2009 the damaged radiator panel's ammonia tubing was mechanically shut off from the rest of the cooling system by the computer-controlled closure of a valve. The same valve was used immediately afterwards to vent the ammonia from the damaged panel, eliminating the possibility of an ammonia leak from the cooling system via the damaged panel.<ref name="Radiator" /> | |||
| The station's systems and experiments consume a large amount of electrical power, almost all of which is converted to heat. To keep the internal temperature within workable limits, a passive thermal control system (PTCS) is made of external surface materials, insulation such as MLI, and heat pipes. If the PTCS cannot keep up with the heat load, an External Active Thermal Control System (EATCS) maintains the temperature. The EATCS consists of an internal, non-toxic, water coolant loop used to cool and dehumidify the atmosphere, which transfers collected heat into an external liquid ] loop. From the heat exchangers, ammonia is pumped into external radiators that emit heat as infrared radiation, then the ammonia is cycled back to the station.<ref name="nasa-stayingcool">{{Cite web|url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast21mar_1/|title=Staying Cool on the ISS|last1=Price|first1=Steve|last2=Phillips|first2=Tony|last3=Knier|first3=Gil|date=21 March 2001|publisher=]|access-date=22 July 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203012526/https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast21mar_1/|archive-date=3 February 2023}}</ref> The EATCS provides cooling for all the US pressurised modules, including ''Kibō'' and ''Columbus'', as well as the main power distribution electronics of the S0, S1 and P1 trusses. It can reject up to 70 kW. This is much more than the 14 kW of the Early External Active Thermal Control System (EEATCS) via the Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS), which was launched on ] and installed onto the P6 Truss.<ref name="acts-overview">{{Cite tech report|url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/473486main_iss_atcs_overview.pdf|title=Active Thermal Control System (ATCS) Overview|publisher=]|access-date=8 October 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016111319/https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/473486main_iss_atcs_overview.pdf|archive-date=16 October 2023}}</ref> | |||
| ===Communications and computers=== | |||
| Early on 1 August 2010, a failure in cooling Loop A (starboard side), one of two external cooling loops, left the station with only half of its normal cooling capacity and zero redundancy in some systems.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1007/31station/ |title=Problem forces partial powerdown aboard station |publisher=Spaceflightnow.com |date=31 July 2010 |accessdate=16 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=34622 |title=NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 1 August 2010 (early edition) |publisher=Spaceref.com |date=31 July 2010 |accessdate=16 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/systems/atcs.html |title=ISS Active Control System |publisher=Boeing |date=21 November 2006 |accessdate=16 November 2010}}</ref> The problem appeared to be in the ammonia pump module that circulates the ammonia cooling fluid. Several subsystems, including two of the four CMGs, were shut down. | |||
| {{Main|Tracking and Data Relay Satellite|Luch (satellite)}} | |||
| {{See also|ThinkPad#Use in space}}The ISS relies on various radio communication systems to provide ] and scientific data links between the station and ]s. Radio links are also used during ] and for audio and video communication between crew members, flight controllers and family members. As a result, the ISS is equipped with internal and external communication systems used for different purposes.<ref name="BoeingComm" /> | |||
| The Russian Orbital Segment primarily uses the '']'' antenna mounted on ''Zvezda'' for direct ground communication.<ref name="ISSRG" /><ref>{{cite web|last1=Mathews|first1=Melissa|last2=Hartsfield|first2=James|date=25 March 2005|title=International Space Station Status Report: SS05-015|url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/mar/HQ_ss05015_ISS_status_report.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111144205/http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/mar/HQ_ss05015_ISS_status_report.html|archive-date=11 January 2012|access-date=11 January 2010|website=NASA News|publisher=NASA}}</ref> It also had the capability to utilize the '']'' data relay satellite system,<ref name="ISSRG" /> which was in a state of disrepair when the station was built,<ref name="ISSRG" /><ref name="SSSM">{{Cite book|last=Harland|first=David|url=https://archive.org/details/storyofspacestat0000harl|title=The Story of Space Station Mir|publisher=Springer-Verlag New York Incorporated|year=2004|isbn=978-0-387-23011-5|location=New York|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Harvey">{{Cite book|last=Harvey|first=Brian|title=The rebirth of the Russian space program: 50 years after Sputnik, new frontiers|publisher=Springer Praxis Books|year=2007|isbn=978-0-387-71354-0|page=263}}</ref> but was restored to operational status in 2011 and 2012 with the launch of Luch-5A and Luch-5B.<ref>{{cite web|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|date=4 January 2010|title=Space exploration in 2011|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/2011.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626095747/http://www.russianspaceweb.com/2011.html|archive-date=26 June 2010|access-date=12 January 2010|website=RussianSpaceWeb}}</ref> Additionally, the ] system provides internal telephone communications and VHF radio links to ground control.<ref>{{cite web|date=2 May 2010|title=ISS On-Orbit Status 05/02/10|url=http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/somd/reports/iss_reports/2010/05022010.html|access-date=7 July 2010|publisher=NASA|archive-date=19 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119101404/http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/reports/iss_reports/2010/05022010.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| Planned operations on the ISS were interrupted through a series of EVAs to address the cooling system issue. A first EVA on 7 August 2010, to replace the failed pump module, was not fully completed because of an ammonia leak in one of four quick-disconnects. A second EVA on 11 August successfully removed the failed pump module.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp24/100810evapre/ |title=Wednesday spacewalk to remove failed coolant pump |work=Spaceflight Now |first=William |last=Harwood |date=10 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/08/live-second-eva-with-pump-module-changeout/ |title=Large success for second EVA as failed Pump Module is removed |work=NASA Spaceflight |first=Chris |last=Gebhardt |date=11 August 2010}}</ref> A third EVA was required to restore Loop A to normal functionality.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp24/100811eva2/index5.html |title=Station's bad pump removed; more spacewalking ahead |work=Spaceflight Now |first=William |last=Harwood |date=11 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/08/iss-cooling-returning-normal-confirming-etcs-pm-success/ |title=ISS cooling configuration returning to normal confirming ETCS PM success |work=Spaceflight Now |first=Chris |last=Bergin |date=18 August 2010}}</ref> | |||
| The ] (USOS) makes use of two separate radio links: ] (audio, telemetry, commanding – located on the P1/S1 truss) and ] (audio, video and data – located on the ]) systems. These transmissions are routed via the United States ] System (TDRSS) in ], allowing for almost continuous real-time communications with ] (MCC-H) in ], Texas.<ref name="ISSRG" /><ref name="ISSBook">{{Cite book|last=Catchpole|first=John E.|url={{Google books|VsTdriusftgC|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|title=The International Space Station: Building for the Future|publisher=Springer-Praxis|year=2008|isbn=978-0-387-78144-0}}</ref><ref name="BoeingComm">{{Cite web|url=http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/systems/communications_tracking.html|title=Communications and Tracking|publisher=]|access-date=30 November 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611115319/http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/systems/communications_tracking.html|archive-date=11 June 2008|website=Integrated Defense Systems}}</ref> Data channels for the Canadarm2, European ''Columbus'' laboratory and Japanese ''Kibō'' modules were originally also routed via the S band and K<sub>u</sub> band systems, with the ] and a similar Japanese system intended to eventually complement the TDRSS in this role.<ref name="ISSBook" /><ref name="JAXA-MOU">{{cite web|date=24 February 1998|title=Memorandum of Understanding Between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States of America and the Government of Japan Concerning Cooperation on the Civil International Space Station|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/nasa_japan.html|access-date=19 April 2009|publisher=NASA|archive-date=11 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111144216/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/nasa_japan.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| The USOS's cooling system is largely built by the American company ],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/8865-cooling-system-malfunction-highlights-space-station-complexity.html |title=Cooling System Malfunction Highlights Space Station's Complexity |work=Space.com |first=Denise |last=Chow |date=2 August 2010}}</ref> which is also the manufacturer of the failed pump.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1007/31station/ |title=Spacewalks needed to fix station cooling problem |work=Spaceflight Now |first=William |last=Harwood |date=31 July 2010}}</ref> | |||
| ] is used by astronauts and cosmonauts conducting EVAs and other spacecraft that dock to or undock from the station.<ref name="ISSRG" /> Automated spacecraft are fitted with their own communications equipment; the ATV used a ] attached to the spacecraft and the Proximity Communications Equipment attached to ''Zvezda'' to accurately dock with the station.<ref name="spaceref-20050228">{{Cite web|url=https://spaceref.com/press-release/issatv-communication-system-flight-on-soyuz/|title=ISS/ATV communication system flight on Soyuz|date=28 February 2005|publisher=]|access-date=30 November 2009}}</ref><ref name="nsf-20091110">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/11/sts-129-support-dragon-communication-demo-iss/|title=STS-129 ready to support Dragon communication demo with ISS|last=Bergin|first=Chris|date=10 November 2009|access-date=30 November 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811174816/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/11/sts-129-support-dragon-communication-demo-iss/|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=]}}</ref> | |||
| An air leak from the USOS in 2004,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3882962/ |title=Crew finds 'culprit' in space station leak |publisher=MSNBC |date=11 January 2004 |first=James |last=Oberg |accessdate=22 August 2010}}</ref> the venting of fumes from an '']'' oxygen generator in 2006,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp13/060918elektron.html |title=Oxygen Generator Problem Triggers Station Alarm |work=CBS News ''via'' Spaceflight Now |date=18 September 2006 |first=William |last=Harwood |accessdate=24 November 2008}}</ref> and the failure of the computers in the ROS in 2007 during ] left the station without thruster, ''Elektron'', '']'' and other environmental control system operations, the root cause of which was found to be condensation inside the electrical connectors leading to a short-circuit.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}} | |||
| {{multiple image | |||
| The four Main Bus Switching Units (MBSUs, located in the S0 truss), control the routing of power from the four solar array wings to the rest of the ISS. In late 2011 MBSU-1, while still routing power correctly, ceased responding to commands or sending data confirming its health, and was scheduled to be swapped out at the next available EVA. In each MBSU, two power channels feed 160V DC from the arrays to two DC-to-DC power converters (DDCUs) that supply the 124V power used in the station. A spare MBSU was already on board, but 30 August 2012 EVA failed to be completed when a bolt being tightened to finish installation of the spare unit jammed before electrical connection was secured.<ref>{{cite news |first=Pete |last=Harding |url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2012/08/astronaut-perform-first-post-shuttle-spacewalk-iss |title=Astronaut duo complete challenging first post-Shuttle US spacewalk on ISS |work=NASASpaceFlight.com |date=30 August 2012 |accessdate=22 October 2013}}</ref> The loss of MBSU-1 limits the station to 75% of its normal power capacity, requiring minor limitations in normal operations until the problem can be addressed. | |||
| | align = right | |||
| | total_width = 600 | |||
| | image1 = ISS-38 EVA-1 Laptops.jpg | |||
| | caption1 = An array of laptops in the US lab | |||
| | image2 = STS-128 ISS-20 Destiny Canadarm2.jpg | |||
| | caption2 = Laptop computers surround the Canadarm2 console. | |||
| | image3 = ISS laptop hard drive failure error message.jpg | |||
| | caption3 = An error message displays a problem with a hard drive on a laptop aboard the ISS. | |||
| }} | |||
| The US Orbital Segment of the ISS is equipped with approximately 100 ] laptops running Windows or Linux.<ref name="techrepublic-20160523">{{Cite news|last=Heath|first=Nick|date=23 May 2016|title=From Windows 10, Linux, iPads, iPhones to HoloLens: The tech astronauts use on the ISS|url=https://www.techrepublic.com/article/from-windows-10-linux-ipads-iphones-to-hololens-the-tech-space-station-astronauts-use/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160526014418/https://www.techrepublic.com/article/from-windows-10-linux-ipads-iphones-to-hololens-the-tech-space-station-astronauts-use/|archive-date=26 May 2016|access-date=29 June 2018|work=]}}</ref> These devices are modified to use the station's 28V DC power system and with additional ventilation since heat generated by the devices can stagnate in the weightless environment. NASA prefers to keep a high commonality between laptops and spare parts are kept on the station so astronauts can repair laptops when needed.<ref name="esa-20130813">{{Cite web|last1=Zell|first1=Martin|last2=Suenson|first2=Rosita|date=13 August 2013|title=ESA ISS Science & System – Operations Status Report #150 Increment 36: 13–26 July 2013|url=https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Columbus/ESA_ISS_Science_System_-_Operations_Status_Report_150_Increment_36_13_26_July_2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812203259/https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Columbus/ESA_ISS_Science_System_-_Operations_Status_Report_150_Increment_36_13_26_July_2013|archive-date=12 August 2023|access-date=11 July 2018|publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
| On 5 September 2012, in a second, 6 hr, EVA to replace MBSU-1, astronauts Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide successfully restored the ISS to 100% power.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://spaceref.com/international-space-station/critical-space-station-spacewalk-a-success.html |title=Critical Space Station spacewalk a Success |work=SpaceRef |first=Marc |last=Boucher |date=5 September 2012}}</ref> | |||
| The laptops are divided into two groups: the Portable Computer System (PCS) and Station Support Computers (SSC). | |||
| On 24 December 2013, astronauts made a rare Christmas Eve space walk, installing a new ammonia pump for the station's cooling system. The faulty cooling system had failed earlier in the month, halting many of the station's science experiments. Astronauts had to brave a "mini blizzard" of ammonia while installing the new pump. It was only the second Christmas Eve spacewalk in NASA history.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.leaker.com/astronauts-complete-rare-christmas-eve-spacewalk/ |title=Astronauts Complete Rare Christmas Eve Spacewalk |work=Leaker |agency=Associated Press |date=24 December 2013 |accessdate=24 December 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226025635/http://www.leaker.com/astronauts-complete-rare-christmas-eve-spacewalk/ |archivedate=26 December 2013}}</ref> | |||
| PCS laptops run Linux and are used for connecting to the station's primary Command & Control computer (C&C MDM), which runs on ] Linux,<ref name="register-20130510">{{Cite news|last=Thomson|first=Iain|date=10 May 2013|title=Penguins in spa-a-a-ce! ISS dumps Windows for Linux on laptops|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/05/10/iss_linux_debian_deployment/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811162138/https://www.theregister.com/2013/05/10/iss_linux_debian_deployment/|archive-date=11 August 2023|access-date=15 May 2013|work=]}}</ref> a switch made from Windows in 2013 for reliability and flexibility.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Gunter|first=Joel|date=10 May 2013|title=International Space Station to boldly go with Linux over Windows|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10049444/International-Space-Station-to-boldly-go-with-Linux-over-Windows.html|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10049444/International-Space-Station-to-boldly-go-with-Linux-over-Windows.html|archive-date=10 January 2022|access-date=15 May 2013|work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The primary computer supervises the critical systems that keep the station in orbit and supporting life.<ref name="techrepublic-20160523" /> Since the primary computer has no display or keyboards, astronauts use a PCS laptop to connect as remote terminals via a USB to ] adapter.<ref name="nasa-20190430">{{Cite web|last=Keeter|first=Bill|date=30 April 2019|title=April 2019 – ISS On-Orbit Status Report|url=https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2019/04/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810144500/https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2019/04/|archive-date=10 August 2023|access-date=5 November 2021|website=blogs.nasa.gov|publisher=]}}</ref> The primary computer experienced failures in 2001,<ref name="roundup20010601">{{Cite news|last=Burt|first=Julie|date=1 June 2001|title=Computer problems overcome during STS-100|url=https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/roundups/issues/2001-06-01.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223230857/http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/roundups/issues/2001-06-01.pdf|archive-date=23 December 2016|access-date=11 July 2018|work=Space Center Roundup|publisher=NASA}}</ref> 2007,<ref name="reuters20070613">{{Cite news|last=Klotz|first=Irene|date=13 June 2007|title=NASA battles failure of space station computer|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-shuttle/nasa-battles-failure-of-space-station-computer-idUSN1337907120070614/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131847/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-shuttle/nasa-battles-failure-of-space-station-computer-idUSN1337907120070614|archive-date=10 August 2023|access-date=11 July 2018|work=Reuters}}</ref> and 2017. The 2017 failure required a spacewalk to replace external components.<ref name="huffpost20170522">{{Cite news|last=Klotz|first=Irene|date=22 May 2017|title=NASA Plans Emergency Spacewalk To Replace Key Computer on International Space Station|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/iss-computer-failure-spacewalk_us_5922759ce4b03b485cb27a80|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811165009/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/iss-computer-failure-spacewalk_n_5922759ce4b03b485cb27a80|archive-date=11 August 2023|access-date=11 July 2018|work=Huffpost|agency=Reuters}}</ref> | |||
| == Fleet operations == | |||
| {{See also|List of human spaceflights to the International Space Station|List of unmanned spaceflights to the International Space Station}} | |||
| A wide variety of crewed and uncrewed spacecraft have supported the station's activities. More than 70 Progress spacecraft, including ] and ] which installed modules, and more than 50 crewed Soyuz spacecraft have flown to the ISS. The ] flew there 37 times before retirement. There have been 5 European ], 7 Japanese ], 15 ] and 10 Orbital ATK ] successful resupply missions. | |||
| SSC laptops are used for everything else on the station, including reviewing procedures, managing scientific experiments, communicating over e-mail or video chat, and for entertainment during downtime.<ref name="techrepublic-20160523" /> SSC laptops connect to the station's ] via ], which connects to the ground via the K<sub>u</sub> band. While originally this provided speeds of 10 ] download and 3 Mbit/s upload from the station,<ref name="tested20121019">{{Cite news|last=Smith|first=Will|date=19 October 2012|title=How Fast is the ISS's Internet? (and Other Space Questions Answered)|url=http://www.tested.com/science/space/449539-how-fast-isss-internet-and-other-space-questions-answered/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429212053/http://www.tested.com/science/space/449539-how-fast-isss-internet-and-other-space-questions-answered/|archive-date=29 April 2014|access-date=29 April 2014|work=Tested.com}}</ref> NASA upgraded the system in 2019 and increased the speeds to 600 Mbit/s.<ref name="universetoday-20190825">{{Cite news|last=Williams|first=Matt|date=25 August 2019|title=Upgraded ISS Now Has a 600 Megabit per Second Internet Connection|url=https://www.universetoday.com/143221/upgraded-iss-now-has-a-600-megabit-per-second-internet-connection/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906210636/https://www.universetoday.com/143221/upgraded-iss-now-has-a-600-megabit-per-second-internet-connection/|archive-date=6 September 2023|access-date=23 June 2020|work=Universe Today}}</ref> ISS crew members have access to the ].<ref name="Kuksov">{{Cite web|last1=Kuksov|first1=Igor|date=13 September 2019|title=Internet in space: Is there Net on Mars?|url=https://www.kaspersky.co.uk/blog/internet-in-space/16690/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230831095806/https://www.kaspersky.co.uk/blog/internet-in-space/16690/|archive-date=31 August 2023|access-date=5 December 2022|website=Kaspersky Daily|publisher=]}}</ref><ref name="ScienceAlert">{{Cite news|date=26 August 2019|title=The ISS Now Has Better Internet Than Most of Us After Its Latest Upgrade|url=https://www.sciencealert.com/the-iss-now-has-better-internet-than-most-of-us-after-its-latest-upgrade|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102150646/https://www.sciencealert.com/the-iss-now-has-better-internet-than-most-of-us-after-its-latest-upgrade|archive-date=2 November 2023|access-date=5 December 2022|work=ScienceAlert}}</ref> | |||
| === Currently docked/berthed === | |||
| ''See also the list of ], ], ] or just ].'' | |||
| ] | |||
| ==Operations== | |||
| ;Key | |||
| ===Expeditions=== | |||
| {{legend|lightblue|Uncrewed cargoships are in light blue}} | |||
| {{See also|List of International Space Station expeditions}} | |||
| {{legend|#cfc|Crewed spacecraft are in light green}} | |||
| {{multiple image | |||
| | align = right | |||
| | total_width = 400 | |||
| | image1 = Sts088-703-019e.jpg | |||
| | caption1 = ''Zarya'' and ''Unity'' were entered for the first time on 10 December 1998. | |||
| | image2 = Soyuz tm-31 transported to launch pad.jpg | |||
| | caption2 = Soyuz TM-31 being prepared to bring the first resident crew to the station in October 2000 | |||
| }} | |||
| Each permanent crew is given an expedition number. Expeditions run up to six months, from launch until undocking, an 'increment' covers the same time period, but includes cargo spacecraft and all activities. Expeditions 1 to 6 consisted of three-person crews. After the destruction of NASA's Space Shuttle ''Columbia'', Expeditions 7 to 12 were reduced to two-person "caretaker" crews who could maintain the station, because a larger crew could not be fully resupplied by the small Russian Progress cargo spacecraft.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Harwood|first=William|date=27 February 2003|title=O'Keefe says station set for two-man caretaker crew|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030227station/|access-date=5 November 2024|work=Spaceflight Now|publisher=]}}</ref> After the Shuttle fleet returned to flight, three person crews also returned to the ISS beginning with Expedition 13. As the Shuttle flights expanded the station, crew sizes also expanded, eventually reaching six around 2010.<ref name="ISSEx">{{cite web|date=10 April 2009|title=International Space Station Expeditions|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/index.html|access-date=13 April 2009|publisher=NASA|archive-date=14 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814024250/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="current">{{cite web|last=NASA|year=2008|title=International Space Station|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html|access-date=22 October 2008|publisher=NASA|archive-date=7 September 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050907073730/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> With the arrival of crew on larger US ] beginning in 2020,<ref name="bbc-20200119">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51169705|title=SpaceX completes emergency crew escape manoeuvre|date=19 January 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811163510/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51169705|archive-date=11 August 2023|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> crew size has been increased to seven, the number for which ISS was originally designed.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Morring|first=Frank|date=27 July 2012|title=ISS Research Hampered By Crew Availability|url=http://www.aviationweek.com/article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_07_26_2012_p01-02-480253.xml|url-status=dead|magazine=Aviation Week|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501214851/http://www.aviationweek.com/article.aspx?id=%2Farticle-xml%2Fasd_07_26_2012_p01-02-480253.xml|archive-date=1 May 2013|access-date=30 July 2012|quote=A commercial capability would allow the station's crew to grow from six to seven by providing a four-seat vehicle for emergency departures in addition to the three-seat Russian Soyuz capsules in use today.}}</ref><ref name="airandspace-201104">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/assembly-nearly-complete-2091210/|title=Assembly (Nearly) Complete|last=Hoversten|first=Paul|date=April 2011|publisher=]|access-date=8 May 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607224549/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/assembly-nearly-complete-2091210/|archive-date=7 June 2023|quote=In fact, we're designed on the U.S. side to take four crew. The ISS design is actually for seven. We operate with six because first, we can get all our work done with six, and second, we don't have a vehicle that allows us to fly a seventh crew member. Our requirement for the new vehicles being designed is for four seats. So I don't expect us to go down in crew size. I would expect us to increase it.|magazine=]}}</ref> | |||
| {| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto 1em auto; text-align:left; font-size:95%;" | |||
| |- style="text-align:center;" | |||
| ! colspan="3" | Spacecraft and mission | |||
| ! Location | |||
| ! Arrival (]) | |||
| ! Departure (planned) | |||
| ] of Roscosmos holds the record for the longest time spent in space and at the ISS, accumulating nearly 1,111 days in space over the course of five long-duration missions on the ISS (], ]/], ]/], ]/]/] and ]/]/]). He also served as commander three times (Expedition 31, 58/59 and 70/71).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cosmonaut Biography: Oleg D. Kononenko|url=http://spacefacts.de/bios/cosmonauts/english/kononenko_oleg_d.htm|access-date=2024-11-05|website=spacefacts.de}}</ref> | |||
| |- style="background:lightblue;" | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | Progress 71 cargo | |||
| | '']'' aft | |||
| | 18 November 2018<ref>{{cite web |title=Russian freighter arrives at International Space Station |url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/11/18/progress-ms-10-docking/ |website=Spaceflight Now |accessdate=19 November 2018}}</ref> | |||
| | March 2019<ref>{{cite web |title=Progress MS-10 arrives at International Space Station |url=http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/iss/progress-ms-10-arrives-at-international-space-station/ |website=Spaceflight Insider |accessdate=19 November 2018 |date=18 November 2018}}</ref> | |||
| ] of NASA and ] has spent the most time in space of any American, accumulating over 675 days in space during her time on Expeditions ], ], and ]/]/] and ].<ref>{{cite web|title=Biographies of U.S. Astronauts: Whitson|url=http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/whitson_peggy.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230618112418/http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/whitson_peggy.htm|archive-date=18 June 2023|access-date=18 June 2023|publisher=Spacefacts}}</ref><ref name="ax2commander">{{Cite press release|url=https://www.axiomspace.com/press-release/ax2|title=Record-holding astronaut Peggy Whitson and mission pilot John Shoffner to lead Axiom Space's Ax-2 mission to enable new research in space|date=25 May 2021|publisher=]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111164639/https://www.axiomspace.com/press-release/ax2|archive-date=11 November 2023}}</ref> | |||
| |- style="background:#cfc;" | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ]/] | |||
| | '']'' zenith | |||
| | 3 December 2018<ref name="soyuz_ms11">{{cite web |title=Soyuz crew enjoys problem-free launch, docks with space station |url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/12/03/soyuz-crew-enjoys-problem-free-launch-heads-for-space-station/ |website=Spaceflight Now |accessdate=4 December 2018}}</ref> | |||
| | July 2019 TBC | |||
| ===Private flights=== | |||
| |} | |||
| {{see also|Space tourism}} | |||
| Travellers who pay for their own passage into space are termed ]s by Roscosmos and NASA, and are sometimes referred to as "space tourists", a term they generally dislike.{{efn|Privately funded travellers who have objected to the term include Dennis Tito, the first such traveller,<ref>Associated Press, 8 May 2001</ref> ], founder of ],<ref>Associated Press, ''The Spokesman Review'', 6 January 2002, p. A4</ref> Gregory Olsen and ].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Schwartz|first=John|date=10 October 2008|title=Russia Leads Way in Space Tourism With Paid Trips into Orbit|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/science/space/11space.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722130339/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/science/space/11space.html|archive-date=22 July 2016}}</ref><ref name="nbc-20050913">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9323509|title=Space passenger Olsen to pull his own weight|last=Boyle|first=Alan|date=13 September 2005|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812203905/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9323509|archive-date=12 August 2023|publisher=]}}</ref> Canadian astronaut ] said the term does not seem appropriate, referring to his crewmate, ], founder of ].<ref>{{cite web|title=Flight to space ignited dreams | St. Catharines Standard|url=http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1975186&archive=true|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912062200/http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1975186&archive=true|archive-date=12 September 2012|access-date=1 May 2012|publisher=Stcatharinesstandard.ca}}</ref> Anousheh Ansari denied being a tourist<ref name="esa-notatourist">{{Cite web|url=https://www.esa.int/Applications/Technology_Transfer/I_am_NOT_a_tourist|title=I am NOT a tourist|date=16 February 2007|publisher=]|access-date=1 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126165131/https://www.esa.int/Applications/Technology_Transfer/I_am_NOT_a_tourist|archive-date=26 November 2023}}</ref> and took offence at the term.<ref name="spacecom-20060915">{{Cite news|url=https://www.space.com/2889-interview-anousheh-ansari-female-space-tourist.html|title=Interview with Anousheh Ansari, the First Female Space Tourist|last=Goudarzi|first=Sara|date=15 September 2006|access-date=1 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811174719/https://www.space.com/2889-interview-anousheh-ansari-female-space-tourist.html|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=]}}</ref>}} {{As of|2023|06}}, thirteen space tourists have visited the ISS; nine were transported to the ISS on Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and four were transported on American ] spacecraft. For one-tourist missions, when professional crews change over in numbers not divisible by the three seats in a Soyuz, and a short-stay crewmember is not sent, the spare seat is sold by MirCorp through Space Adventures. Space tourism was halted in 2011 when the Space Shuttle was retired and the station's crew size was reduced to six, as the partners relied on Russian transport seats for access to the station. Soyuz flight schedules increased after 2013, allowing five Soyuz flights (15 seats) with only two expeditions (12 seats) required.<ref name="sfn-20110112">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1101/12soyuz/|title=Resumption of Soyuz tourist flights announced|last=Harwood|first=William|date=12 January 2011|access-date=1 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131351/https://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1101/12soyuz/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=Spaceflight Now for ]}}</ref> The remaining seats were to be sold for around US$40 million each to members of the public who could pass a medical exam. ESA and NASA criticised private spaceflight at the beginning of the ISS, and NASA initially resisted training ], the first person to pay for his own passage to the ISS.{{efn|ESA director Jörg Feustel-Büechl said in 2001 that Russia had no right to send 'amateurs' to the ISS. A 'stand-off' occurred at the Johnson Space Center between Commander ] and NASA manager ] who refused to train Dennis Tito, a member of Musabayev's crew along with ]. Musabayev argued that Tito had trained 700 hours in the last year and was as qualified as any NASA astronaut, and refused to allow his crew to be trained on the USOS without Tito. Cabana would not allow training to begin, and the commander returned with his crew to their hotel.}} <!--<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bridges|first=Andrew|date=1 November 2011|title=The ISS won't be hosting paying guests anytime soon – at least not as far as NASA is concerned.|url=http://www.space.com/news/spacestation/mir_tour_iss_001101.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002185427/http://www.space.com/news/spacestation/mir_tour_iss_001101.html|archive-date=2 October 2009|access-date=26 January 2012|website=Space.com}}</ref>--> | |||
| === Soyuz MS-10 failure === | |||
| {{Main|Soyuz MS-10}} | |||
| Soyuz MS-10 (56S) aborted shortly after launch on 11 October 2018; it was carrying two crew members slated to join Expedition 57, who subsequently landed safely.<ref name="arstech-20181011">{{cite news |last1=Berger |first1=Eric |title=A Soyuz crew makes an emergency landing after rocket fails |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/10/a-soyuz-crew-makes-an-emergency-landing-after-rocket-fails/ |accessdate=11 October 2018 |work=Ars Technica |date=11 October 2018 |language=en-us}}</ref> The impact of this failure and subsequent investigation on the ISS crew schedule was not initially clear.<ref name="arstech-20181011" /> The Expedition 57 crew needed to depart by mid-December in ] due to the limited on-orbit lifespan of "about 200 days" of the Soyuz capsule, or no later than early January allowing for a small margin on the lifespan. NASA would have attempted to avoid de-crewing the ISS; commanding the station from the ground is feasible if necessary.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://spacenews.com/nasa-to-look-at-options-to-keep-crew-on-iss-while-soyuz-grounded/ |title=NASA to look at options to keep crew on ISS while Soyuz grounded |last=Foust |first=Jeff |date=11 October 2018 |work=SpaceNews |archive-url= |archive-date= |dead-url= |access-date=}}</ref> | |||
| ] became the first self-funded woman to fly to the ISS as well as the first Iranian in space. Officials reported that her education and experience made her much more than a tourist, and her performance in training had been "excellent."<ref name="rfe-20060915">{{Cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1071358.html|title=U.S.: Iranian-American To Be First Female Civilian in Space|last=Maher|first=Heather|date=15 September 2006|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|access-date=1 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906105719/https://www.rferl.org/a/1071358.html|archive-date=6 September 2023}}</ref> She did Russian and European studies involving medicine and microbiology during her 10-day stay. The 2009 documentary '']'' follows her journey to the station, where she fulfilled "an age-old dream of man: to leave our planet as a 'normal person' and travel into outer space."<ref name="space-tourists-film">{{Cite web|title=Space Tourists – A Film By Christian Frei|url=http://www.space-tourists-film.com/en/film_synopsis.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810130847/http://www.space-tourists-film.com/en/film_synopsis.php|archive-date=10 August 2023|access-date=1 May 2012|publisher=Space-tourists-film.com}}</ref> | |||
| On 23 October 2018, NASA Administrator Bridenstine announced that Soyuz flights to the ISS were expected to resume in December 2018.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/10/23/nasa-administrator-says-russians-on-track-for-december-soyuz-flight-to-station/ |title=NASA administrator says Russians on track for December Soyuz flight to station |work=Spaceflight Now |first=William |last=Harwood |date=23 October 2018 |accessdate=25 October 2018}}</ref> The ] spacecraft commanded by cosmonaut ], carrying him and flight engineers ] and ], successfully launched and docked to the ISS on 3 December 2018;<ref name="soyuz_ms11" /> the ] crew departed on 20 December and ] began as a three-person increment.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/12/soyuz-ms-09-land-unprecedented-orbit-repairs/ |title=Soyuz MS-09 lands after unprecedented on-orbit repairs, inspections |work=NASASpaceFlight.com |first=Chris |last=Gebhardt |date=19 December 2018 |accessdate=11 January 2019}}</ref> | |||
| In 2008, spaceflight participant ] placed a ] aboard the ISS during his flight.<ref>{{cite web|title=Geocaching – The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site|url=http://www.geocaching.com/|website=geocaching.com|access-date=27 February 2013|archive-date=2 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202192741/http://www.geocaching.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> This is currently the only non-terrestrial geocache in existence.<ref name="geekwire-20110829">{{Cite news|url=https://www.geekwire.com/2011/outer-space-ocean-floor-15m-geocaches-counting/|title=From outer space to the ocean floor, Geocaching.com now boasts more than 1.5 million hidden treasures|last=Cook|first=John|date=29 August 2011|access-date=27 February 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811163646/https://www.geekwire.com/2011/outer-space-ocean-floor-15m-geocaches-counting/|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=Geekwire.com}}</ref> At the same time, the ], an electronic record of eight digitised human ], was placed aboard the ISS.<ref name="abc-20081012">{{Cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=6016448|title=American game designer follows father into orbit|date=12 October 2008|access-date=16 May 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810130752/https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=6016448|archive-date=10 August 2023|publisher=ABC News|location=United States}}</ref> | |||
| === Scheduled missions === | |||
| * All dates are ]. Dates are the earliest possible dates and may change. | |||
| * Forward ports are at the front of the station according to its normal direction of travel and orientation (]). Aft is at the rear of the station, used by spacecraft boosting the station's orbit. ] is closest the Earth, ] is on top. | |||
| After a 12-year hiatus, the first two wholly space tourism-dedicated private spaceflights to the ISS were undertaken. ] launched in December 2021, carrying visiting Roscosmos cosmonaut ] and two Japanese space tourists under the aegis of the private company ];<ref name="space adventures">{{Cite web|url=https://spaceadventures.com/experiences/space-station/|title=Space Station Experience|last=Jefferson|first=Mark|date=9 January 2018|publisher=]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925164032/http://www.spaceadventures.com:80/experiences/space-station|archive-date=25 September 2018}}</ref><ref name="tass20200219">{{Cite news|url=https://tass.com/science/1045321|title=Roscosmos signs new contract on flight of two space tourists to ISS|date=19 February 2019|agency=]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810132826/https://tass.com/science/1045321|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref> in April 2022, the company ] chartered a ] spacecraft and sent its own employee astronaut ] and three space tourists to the ISS for ],<ref name="teslarati-1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-space-tourism-first-crew-dragon-contract/|title=SpaceX space tourism ambitions made real with Crew Dragon's first private contract|last=Ralph|first=Eric|date=9 March 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131652/https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-space-tourism-first-crew-dragon-contract/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=Teslarati}}</ref><ref name="axiom-first-private">{{Cite press release|url=https://www.axiomspace.com/post/axiom-space-plans-first-ever-fully-private-human-spaceflight-mission-to-international-space-station|title=Axiom Space plans first-ever fully private human spaceflight mission to International Space Station|date=5 March 2020|publisher=]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812223849/https://www.axiomspace.com/news/axiom-space-plans-first-ever-fully-private-human-spaceflight-mission-to-international-space-station|archive-date=12 August 2023}}</ref><ref name="ax1overview">{{Cite web|url=https://www.axiomspace.com/missions/ax1|title=Meet Ax-1, The Beginning of a New Era|publisher=]|access-date=18 June 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124155314/https://www.axiomspace.com/missions/ax1|archive-date=24 November 2023}}</ref> followed in May 2023 by one more tourist, ], alongside employee astronaut ] and two Saudi astronauts for the ].<ref name="Sheetz 2021">{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/02/axiom-space-expands-spacex-deal-for-private-crew-launches-to-iss-.html|title=Axiom Space expands SpaceX private crew launch deal, with four total missions to the space station|last=Sheetz|first=Michael|date=2 June 2021|access-date=2 August 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529151534/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/02/axiom-space-expands-spacex-deal-for-private-crew-launches-to-iss-.html|archive-date=29 May 2023|publisher=]}}</ref><ref name="Ax-2 Overview">{{Cite web|url=https://www.axiomspace.com/missions/ax2|title=Ax-2: The second private mission to the International Space Station|publisher=]|access-date=18 June 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124155431/https://www.axiomspace.com/missions/ax2|archive-date=24 November 2023}}</ref> | |||
| ;Key | |||
| {{legend|lightblue|Uncrewed cargo ships are in light blue colour}} | |||
| {{legend|#cfc|Crewed spacecraft are in light green colour}} | |||
| {{legend|wheat|Modules are in wheat colour}} | |||
| <div style="overflow:auto;"> | |||
| {| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto 1em auto; text-align:left; font-size:95%;" | |||
| ! Launch date ({{abbr|NET|Not Earlier Than}}) | |||
| ! Launch vehicle | |||
| ! Launch site | |||
| ! Launch service provider | |||
| ! Payload | |||
| ! Spacecraft | |||
| ! Mission | |||
| ! Docking / berthing port | |||
| === Fleet operations === | |||
| |- | |||
| Various crewed and uncrewed spacecraft have supported the station's activities. Flights to the ISS include 37 Space Shuttle, <!-- current to Progress MS-29 -->90 Progress,{{Efn|Including the modified DC-1, M-MIM2 and M-UM module transports}} <!-- current to Soyuz MS-26 -->71 Soyuz, 5 ], 9 ], <!-- OFT-2 and CFT -->2 ], <!-- Current to Crew-9, CRS-31 and Ax-3 -->45 ]{{Efn|Includes both crewed and uncrewed missions}} and <!-- Current to CRS NG-21 -->20 ] missions.<ref name="spacecom-20210810">{{Cite news|url=https://www.space.com/northrop-grumman-heaviest-cygnus-cargo-ship-launch|title=Antares rocket launches heaviest Cygnus cargo ship ever to space station for NASA|last=Thompson|first=Amy|date=10 August 2021|access-date=11 August 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405033657/https://www.space.com/northrop-grumman-heaviest-cygnus-cargo-ship-launch|archive-date=5 April 2023|work=]}}</ref> | |||
| | nowrap | 14 March 2019<ref name=russia /> | |||
| | ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|KAZ}} ] ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} ] | |||
| | style="background:#cfc;" | ] (58S) | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ]/] | |||
| | ] zenith | |||
| There are currently eight docking ports for visiting spacecraft, with four additional ports installed but not yet put into service:<ref name="her">{{Cite conference|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20110010964/downloads/20110010964.pdf|title=ISS Interface Mechanisms and their Heritage|last1=Cook|first1=John|last2=Aksamentov|first2=Valery|last3=Hoffman|first3=Thomas|last4=Bruner|first4=Wes|date=September 2011|publisher=]|location=Houston, Texas|access-date=31 March 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810133110/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20110010964/downloads/20110010964.pdf|archive-date=10 August 2023|quote=Docking is when one incoming spacecraft rendezvous with another spacecraft and flies a controlled collision trajectory in such a manner so as to align and mesh the interface mechanisms. The spacecraft docking mechanisms typically enter what is called soft capture, followed by a load attenuation phase, and then the hard docked position which establishes an air-tight structural connection between spacecraft. Berthing, by contrast, is when an incoming spacecraft is grappled by a robotic arm and its interface mechanism is placed in close proximity of the stationary interface mechanism. Then typically there is a capture process, coarse alignment and fine alignment and then structural attachment.|conference=AIAA Space}}</ref> | |||
| |- | |||
| | 4 April 2019<ref name=russia /> | |||
| | ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|KAZ}} ] ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | Progress 72 cargo | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| # '']'' forward (with ] & ]) | |||
| |- | |||
| # ''Harmony'' zenith (with ] & ]) | |||
| | 12 April 2019<ref name=cooper>{{cite web |url=http://www.launchphotography.com/Delta_4_Atlas_5_Falcon_9_Launch_Viewing.html |title=Rocket Launch Viewing Guide for Cape Canaveral |website=Launchphotography.com |first=Ben |last=Cooper |date=6 February 2018 |access-date=8 February 2018}}</ref> | |||
| # ''Harmony'' nadir (] port) | |||
| | ] | |||
| # '']'' nadir (] port) | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] or ] | |||
| # '']'' aft{{Efn|The Prichal aft, forward, port and starboard ports still have their protective covers in place and have yet to be used since the module originally docked at the station.|name=Prichal}} | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] | |||
| # ''Prichal'' forward{{Efn|name=Prichal}} | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| # ''Prichal'' nadir | |||
| | ] | |||
| # ''Prichal'' port{{Efn|name=Prichal}} | |||
| | Dragon 17 cargo | |||
| # ''Prichal'' starboard{{Efn|name=Prichal}} | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| # '']'' zenith | |||
| # '']'' nadir | |||
| # '']'' aft | |||
| Forward ports are at the front of the station according to its normal direction of travel and orientation (]). Aft is at the rear of the station. ] is Earth facing, ] faced away from Earth. ] is to the left if pointing one's feet towards the Earth and looking in the direction of travel and ] is to the right. | |||
| Cargo spacecraft that will perform an orbital re-boost of the station will typically dock at an aft, forward or nadir-facing port. | |||
| |- | |||
| | 17 April 2019<ref name=sfnow-schedule /> | |||
| | ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | Cygnus 11 cargo | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| ==== Crewed ==== | |||
| |- | |||
| {{Main|List of human spaceflights to the International Space Station}} | |||
| | April 2019<ref name=nasa-20190206 /> | |||
| ] | |||
| | ] N22 | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | Uncrewed test flight | |||
| | ] | |||
| {{As of|2024|10|24|url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/visitors-to-the-station-by-country/}}, 281 people representing 23 countries had visited the space station, many of them multiple times. The United States has sent 167 people, ] has 61, ] has sent 11, ] has sent nine, ] has sent six, ] and ] have each sent four, ], ] and the ] have each sent two, and there has been one person from ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and the ].<ref name="NASA Visitor Count 2023">{{cite web|last=Graf|first=Abby|title=Visitors to the Station by Country|website=NASA|date=24 October 2024|url=https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-visitors-by-country/|access-date=6 November 2024}}</ref> | |||
| |- | |||
| | 6 July 2019<ref name="ria20190226" /> | |||
| | ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|KAZ}} ] ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} ] | |||
| | style="background:#cfc;" | ] (59S) | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ]/] | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| ==== Uncrewed ==== | |||
| |- | |||
| {{Main|Uncrewed spaceflights to the International Space Station}} | |||
| | 8 July 2019<ref name=sfnow-schedule>{{cite web |url=http://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/ |title=Launch Schedule |work=Spaceflight Now |first=Stephen |last=Clark |date=28 January 2019 |access-date=8 February 2019}}</ref> | |||
| Uncrewed spaceflights are made primarily to deliver cargo, however several Russian modules have also docked to the outpost following uncrewed launches. Resupply missions typically use the Russian ] spacecraft, former European ], Japanese ] vehicles, and the American ] and ] spacecraft. | |||
| | ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] or ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | Dragon 18 cargo | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| ==== Currently docked/berthed ==== | |||
| ]] | |||
| ''All dates are ]. Departure dates are the earliest possible ({{abbr|NET|not earlier than}}) and may change.'' | |||
| {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="font-size:90%;" | |||
| |- style="text-align:center;" | |||
| ! scope="col" colspan="2" | Mission | |||
| ! scope="col" | Type | |||
| ! scope="col" | Spacecraft | |||
| ! scope="col" | Arrival | |||
| ! scope="col" | Departure | |||
| ! scope="col" | Port | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| | ] | |||
| | 31 July 2019<ref name="ria20190226" /> | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | Uncrewed | |||
| | {{flagicon|KAZ}} ] ] | |||
| | ] S.S. ''Francis R. "Dick" Scobee'' | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} ] | |||
| | 6 August 2024 | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| | January 2025 | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| | Progress 73 cargo | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | Uncrewed | |||
| | ] No. 458 | |||
| | 17 August 2024 | |||
| | February 2025 | |||
| | ] aft | | ] aft | ||
| |- | |- | ||
| | ] | |||
| | July 2019<ref name=nasa-20190206 /> | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | style="background:#cfc;" | Crewed | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] ] | |||
| | ] No. 757 ''Burlak'' | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] | |||
| | 11 September 2024 | |||
| | style="background:#cfc;" | ] | |||
| | 20 April 2025 | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| | Crewed test flight | |||
| | ] | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| | ] | |||
| | July 2019<ref name=japan>{{cite web |title=Japanese Launch Record (1966-present) |url=http://www.sworld.com.au/steven/space/japan-rec.txt |first=Steven |last=Pietrobon |date=2 October 2018 |access-date=2 October 2018}}</ref> | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | style="background:#cfc;" | Crewed | |||
| | {{flagicon|JPN}} ] ] | |||
| | {{ComV|Dragon 2|Freedom}} | |||
| | {{flagicon|JPN}} ] | |||
| | 29 September 2024 | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| | April 2025 | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] zenith | |||
| | HTV 8 cargo | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| | ] | |||
| | 22 August 2019<ref name="ria20190226" /> | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | Uncrewed | |||
| | {{flagicon|KAZ}} ] ] | |||
| | ] No. 459 | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} ] | |||
| | 23 November 2024 | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] (60S) | |||
| | May 2025 | |||
| | ] | |||
| | nowrap | Uncrewed test flight<ref name="ria20190226" /> | |||
| | ] zenith | | ] zenith | ||
| |} | |||
| ==== Scheduled missions ==== | |||
| |- | |||
| ''All dates are ]. Launch dates are the earliest possible ({{abbr|NET|not earlier than}}) and may change.'' | |||
| | August 2019<ref name=nasa-20190206>{{cite web |url=https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2019/02/06/ |title=NASA, Partners Update Commercial Crew Launch Dates |work=NASA Commercial Crew Program Blog |date=6 February 2019 |access-date=8 February 2019}}</ref> | |||
| | ] N22 | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] | |||
| | style="background:#cfc;" | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | Crewed test flight | |||
| | ] | |||
| {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="font-size:90%;" | |||
| ! scope="col" colspan="2" | Mission | |||
| ! scope="col" | Type | |||
| ! scope="col" | Spacecraft | |||
| ! scope="col" | Launch date<ref>{{Cite web|title=Rocket Launch Schedule|url=https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/|access-date=2024-08-07|website=Next Spaceflight}}</ref> | |||
| ! scope="col" | Launch vehicle | |||
| ! scope="col" | Launch site | |||
| ! scope="col" | Launch provider | |||
| ! scope="col" | Docking/berthing port | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| | ] | |||
| | 25 September 2019<ref name="ria20190226" /> | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | Uncrewed | |||
| | {{flagicon|KAZ}} ] ] | |||
| | ] No. 460 | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} ] | |||
| | 28 February 2025 | |||
| | style="background:#cfc;" | ] (61S) | |||
| | ] | | ] | ||
| | ], ] | |||
| | ]/] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] zenith | |||
| | ] aft | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| | ] | |||
| | 1 October 2019<ref name=seds-iss /><ref name=us-com>{{cite web |title=United States Commercial ELV Launch Manifest |url=http://www.sworld.com.au/steven/space/uscom-man.txt |first=Steven |last=Pietrobon |date=19 January 2019 |access-date=19 January 2019}}</ref> | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | style="background:#cfc;" | Crewed | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] ] | |||
| | {{ComV|Crew Dragon|C213}} | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] | |||
| | 25 March 2025 | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| | ] | | ] | ||
| | TBD<!-- ], ] --or-- ], ] --> | |||
| | Cygnus 12 cargo | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| | ] forward, later zenith | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| | ] | |||
| | 2 October 2019<ref name=seds-iss /> | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | Uncrewed | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] ] | |||
| | {{ComV|Cargo Dragon|TBD}} | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] | |||
| | March 2025 | |||
| | style="background:#cfc;" | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | TBD<!-- ], ] --or-- ], ] --> | |||
| | ] (?) | |||
| | ] | | ] | ||
| | ] forward | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| | ] | |||
| | 15 October 2019<ref name=seds-iss /><ref name=us-com /> | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | style="background:#cfc;" | Crewed | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] or ] | |||
| | ] No. 758 ''Favor'' | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] | |||
| | 8 April 2025 | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ], ] | |||
| | Dragon 19 cargo | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| | ] | |||
| | 20 December 2019<ref name="ria20190226" /><ref name=rn-20181001>{{cite news |url=https://ria.ru/20181001/1529737640.html |title=Источник: Россия отправит к МКС семь кораблей и модуль "Наука" в 2019 году |language=ru |trans-title=Russia plans to send seven spacecrafts and Nauka module to the ISS in 2019 |publisher=] |date=1 October 2018 |access-date=2 October 2018}}</ref> | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | Uncrewed | |||
| | {{flagicon|KAZ}} ] ] | |||
| | {{ComV|Dream Chaser|Tenacity}} | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} ] | |||
| | May 2025 | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ], ] | |||
| | Nauka equipment<ref name=rn-20181001 /> | |||
| | ] |
| ] | ||
| | ] or ] nadir | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| | ] | |||
| | January 2020<ref name=seds-iss>{{cite web |url=http://spider.seds.org/shuttle/iss-sche.html |title=International Space Station Flight Schedule |first=Hartmut |last=Frommert |date=8 December 2018 |access-date=10 December 2018}}</ref><ref name=us-com /> | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | Uncrewed | |||
| | nowrap | {{flagicon|USA}} ] or ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] | |||
| | June 2025 | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| | ] | | ] | ||
| | TBD<!-- ], ] --or-- ], ] --> | |||
| | Dragon 20 cargo | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| | ] | |||
| | February 2020<ref name=japan /> | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | style="background:#cfc;" | Crewed | |||
| | {{flagicon|JPN}} ] ] | |||
| | {{ComV|Crew Dragon|TBD}} | |||
| | {{flagicon|JPN}} ] | |||
| | Q2 2025 | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| | ] | | ] | ||
| | TBD<!-- ], ] --or-- ], ] --> | |||
| | HTV 9 cargo | |||
| | |
| ] | ||
| | ] forward | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| | ] | |||
| | Q1, 2020<ref name=rbc20190110 /> | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | Uncrewed | |||
| | {{flagicon|KAZ}} ] | |||
| | ] No. 461 | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} ] | |||
| | 3 July 2025 | |||
| | style="background:wheat;" | ]<ref name=zak-nauka>{{cite web |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss-fgb2-mlm-2017.html |title=Russian engineers tackle problems with MLM/Nauka module |work=Russian Space Web |first=Anatoly |last=Zak |date=27 March 2017 |access-date=28 March 2017}}</ref> | |||
| | ] | |||
| | {{n/a}} | |||
| | ], ] | |||
| | Module assembly | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| | ] zenith | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} | |||
| | style="background:#cfc;" | Crewed | |||
| | {{ComV|Crew Dragon|TBA}} | |||
| | July 2025 | |||
| | ] | |||
| | TBD<!-- ], ] --or-- ], ] --> | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ]<!-- Port TBD --> | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| | ] | |||
| | Q1, 2020<ref name=russia /> | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | Uncrewed | |||
| | {{flagicon|KAZ}} ] ] | |||
| | ] No. 462 | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} ] | |||
| | 11 September 2025 | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ], ] | |||
| | Progress 75 cargo | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] aft | | ] aft | ||
| |- | |- | ||
| | ] | |||
| | 15 April 2020<ref name=russia /> | |||
| | {{flagicon|Japan}} | |||
| | ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | Uncrewed | |||
| | {{flagicon|KAZ}} ] ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} ] | |||
| | September 2025 | |||
| | style="background:#cfc;" | ] (62S) | |||
| | ] | | ] | ||
| | ], ] | |||
| | ]/] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] or ] nadir | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} | |||
| | style="background:#cfc;" | Crewed | |||
| | ] No. 759 | |||
| | 27 November 2025 | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ], ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] nadir | | ] nadir | ||
| |- | |- | ||
| | ] | |||
| | H1, 2020<ref name=atk-crs2>{{cite news |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/06/orbital-atk-crs2-cygnus-flights-antares-commercial/ |title=Orbital ATK looks ahead to CRS2 Cygnus flights, Antares on the commercial market |work=] |first=Chris |last=Gebhardt |date=1 June 2018 |access-date=2 June 2018}}</ref> | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} | |||
| | nowrap | ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | Uncrewed | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] ] | |||
| | ] No. 463 | |||
| | {{flagicon|USA}} ] | |||
| | 19 December 2025 | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ], ] | |||
| | Cygnus 13 cargo | |||
| | ] | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| | ] zenith | |||
| |} | |||
| ==== Docking and berthing of spacecraft ==== | |||
| |- | |||
| {{See also|Docking and berthing of spacecraft}} | |||
| | Mid 2020<ref name=russia />{{Citation needed|reason=Source currently claims February 2020, which seems highly unlikely with Progress MS-13 and 14 scheduled to launch the same year|date=February 2019}} | |||
| ] resupply vehicle approaching the ISS in 2012. More than 50 unpiloted ] spacecraft have delivered supplies during the lifetime of the station.]] | |||
| | ] | |||
| The Russian spacecraft and can autonomously rendezvous and dock with the station without human intervention. Once within approximately {{Convert|200|km}}, the spacecraft begins receiving radio signals from the ] on the station. As the spacecraft nears the station, laser-based optical equipment precisely aligns the craft with the docking port and controls the final approach. While the crew on the ISS and spacecraft monitor the procedure, their role is primarily supervisory, with intervention limited to issuing abort commands in emergencies. Although initial development costs were substantial, the system's reliability and standardized components have yielded significant cost reductions for subsequent missions.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Woffinden|first1=David C.|last2=Geller|first2=David K.|date=July 2007|title=Navigating the Road to Autonomous Orbital Rendezvous|journal=Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets|volume=44|issue=4|pages=898–909|bibcode=2007JSpRo..44..898W|doi=10.2514/1.30734}}</ref> | |||
| | {{flagicon|KAZ}} ] ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | Progress 76 cargo | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| The American ] cargo and crewed spacecraft can autonomously rendezvous and dock with the station without human intervention. However, on crewed Dragon missions, the astronauts have the capability to intervene and fly the vehicle manually.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Burghardt|first=Thomas|date=2019-03-03|title=Crew Dragon successfully conducts debut docking with the ISS|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/03/crew-dragon-first-docking-iss-dm1/|access-date=2024-08-07|website=NASASpaceFlight.com}}</ref> | |||
| |- | |||
| | nowrap | 21 October 2020<ref name=russia /> | |||
| | nowrap | ] | |||
| | nowrap | {{flagicon|KAZ}} ] ] | |||
| | nowrap | {{flagicon|RUS}} ] | |||
| | nowrap style="background:#cfc;" | ] (63S) | |||
| | nowrap | ] | |||
| | nowrap | ]/] | |||
| | nowrap | ] zenith | |||
| ] berthing]] | |||
| |- | |||
| Other ] typically use a semi-automated process when arriving and departing from the station. These spacecraft are instructed to approach and park near the station. Once the crew on board the station is ready, the spacecraft is commanded to come close to the station, so that it can be grappled by an astronaut using the ] robotic arm. The final mating of the spacecraft to the station is achieved using the robotic arm (a process known as berthing). Spacecraft using this semi-automated process include the American ] and the Japanese ]. The now-retired American ], European ] and Japanese ] also used this process. | |||
| | Q4, 2020<ref name=russia>{{cite web |title=Russian Launch Manifest |url=http://www.sworld.com.au/steven/space/russia-man.txt |first=Steven |last=Pietrobon |date=8 February 2019 |access-date=8 February 2019}}</ref> | |||
| | ] | |||
| | nowrap | {{flagicon|KAZ}} ] ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} ] | |||
| | style="background:lightblue;" | ] | |||
| | ] | |||
| | nowrap | Progress 77 cargo | |||
| | ] aft | |||
| ==== Launch and docking windows ==== | |||
| |- | |||
| Prior to a spacecraft's docking to the ISS, navigation and attitude control (]) is handed over to the ground control of the spacecraft's country of origin. GNC is set to allow the station to drift in space, rather than fire its thrusters or turn using gyroscopes. The solar panels of the station are turned edge-on to the incoming spacecraft, so residue from its thrusters does not damage the cells. Before its retirement, Shuttle launches were often given priority over Soyuz, with occasional priority given to Soyuz arrivals carrying crew and time-critical cargoes, such as biological experiment materials.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Trinidad|first1=Katherine|last2=Thomas|first2=Candrea|date=22 May 2009|title=NASA's Space Shuttle Landing Delayed by Weather|url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/may/HQ_09-118_Shuttle_Landing_Delayed.html|access-date=26 June 2015|publisher=NASA|archive-date=7 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307235001/http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/may/HQ_09-118_Shuttle_Landing_Delayed.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| | 2022 (TBD)<ref name=rbc20190110 /> | |||
| | ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|KAZ}} ] | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} ] | |||
| | style="background:wheat;" | ] | |||
| | Progress M-UM | |||
| | Module assembly | |||
| | ] nadir | |||
| ===Repairs=== | |||
| |- | |||
| {{Main|Maintenance of the International Space Station}} | |||
| | 2022 (TBD)<ref name=rbc20190110>{{cite news |title=Рогозин — РБК: "Формула "космос вне политики" не работает" |trans-title=Rogozin to RBC: The "cosmos out of politics" formula does not work |url=https://www.rbc.ru/interview/politics/10/01/2019/5c35bef19a794700cd1694fd |accessdate=12 January 2019 |website=RBC.ru |date=10 January 2019 |language=ru}}</ref> | |||
| ]; some are externally stored on pallets called ] and ].]] | |||
| | ] | |||
| ] during ], astronaut ] performs makeshift repairs to a US solar array that was damaged during unfolding|alt=Two black and orange solar arrays, shown uneven and with a large tear visible. A crew member in a spacesuit, attached to the end of a robotic arm, holds a latticework between two solar sails.]] | |||
| | {{flagicon|KAZ}} ] | |||
| ] during a spacewalk]] | |||
| | {{flagicon|RUS}} ] | |||
| | style="background:wheat;" | ] | |||
| | {{n/a}} | |||
| | Module assembly | |||
| | ] | |||
| ]s (ORUs) are spare parts that can be readily replaced when a unit either passes its design life or fails. Examples of ORUs are pumps, storage tanks, controller boxes, antennas, and battery units. Some units can be replaced using robotic arms. Most are stored outside the station, either on small pallets called ]s (ELCs) or share larger platforms called ]s (ESPs) which also hold science experiments. Both kinds of pallets provide electricity for many parts that could be damaged by the cold of space and require heating. The larger logistics carriers also have local area network (LAN) connections for telemetry to connect experiments. A heavy emphasis on stocking the USOS with ORU's occurred around 2011, before the end of the NASA shuttle programme, as its commercial replacements, Cygnus and Dragon, carry one tenth to one quarter the payload. | |||
| |} | |||
| </div> | |||
| Unexpected problems and failures have impacted the station's assembly time-line and work schedules leading to periods of reduced capabilities and, in some cases, could have forced abandonment of the station for safety reasons. Serious problems include an air leak from the USOS in 2004,<ref name="nbc-20040106">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3882962|title=Crew finds 'culprit' in space station leak|last=Oberg|first=James|date=6 January 2004|access-date=22 August 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812204804/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3882962|archive-date=12 August 2023|publisher=]}}</ref> the venting of fumes from an '']'' oxygen generator in 2006,<ref name="sfn-20060918">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp13/060918elektron.html|title=Oxygen Generator Problem Triggers Station Alarm|last=Harwood|first=William|date=18 September 2006|access-date=24 November 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811173756/https://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp13/060918elektron.html|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=Spaceflight Now for ]}}</ref> and the failure of the computers in the ROS in 2007 during ] that left the station without thruster, ''Elektron'', '']'' and other environmental control system operations. In the latter case, the root cause was found to be condensation inside electrical connectors leading to a short circuit.<ref name="toledo-blade-20081004">{{Cite news|last=Reindl|first=J. C.|date=4 October 2008|title=University of Toledo alumnus had role in rescue of space station|url=https://www.toledoblade.com/local/education/2008/10/04/University-of-Toledo-alumnus-had-role-in-rescue-of-space-station/stories/200810040061|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811162936/https://www.toledoblade.com/local/education/2008/10/04/University-of-Toledo-alumnus-had-role-in-rescue-of-space-station/stories/200810040061|archive-date=11 August 2023|access-date=31 July 2019|website=]|location=Toledo, Ohio}}</ref> | |||
| === Docking === | |||
| {{See also|Docking and berthing of spacecraft}} | |||
| ], ] and ] docked to the ISS, as seen from the departing ]|alt=A side-on view of the ISS showing a Space Shuttle docked to the forward end, an ATV to the aft end and Soyuz & Progress spacecraft projecting from the Russian segment.]] | |||
| All Russian spacecraft and self-propelled modules are able to rendezvous and dock to the space station without human intervention using the ] docking system. Radar allows these vehicles to detect and intercept ISS from over 200 kilometres away. The European ATV uses star sensors and GPS to determine its intercept course. When it catches up it uses laser equipment to ] recognise ''Zvezda'', along with the Kurs system for redundancy. <!--At 4.5 km the atv switches from AGPS to RGPS -p--> Crew supervise these craft, but do not intervene except to send abort commands in emergencies. The Japanese ] parks itself in progressively closer orbits to the station, and then awaits 'approach' commands from the crew, until it is close enough for a robotic arm to grapple and berth the vehicle to the USOS. The American Space Shuttle was manually docked, and on missions with a ], the container would be berthed to the Station with the use of manual robotic arms. Berthed craft can transfer ]s. Japanese spacecraft berth for one to two months. Russian and European Supply craft can remain at the ISS for six months,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/esaMI/ATV/SEMBW0PR4CF_0.html |title=ESA — ATV — Crew role in mission control |publisher=Esa.int |date=2 March 2011 |accessdate=23 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/esaHS/ESA4ZJ0VMOC_iss_0.html |title=ESA — Human Spaceflight and Exploration — International Space Station — Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) |publisher=Esa.int |date=16 January 2009 |accessdate=23 May 2011}}</ref> allowing great flexibility in crew time for loading and unloading of supplies and trash. NASA Shuttles could remain docked for 11–12 days.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boeing.com/news/frontiers/archive/2005/july/i_ids4.html |title=Space Shuttle upgrade lets astronauts at ISS stay in space longer |last=Memi |first=Ed |publisher=Boeing |accessdate=17 September 2011}}</ref> | |||
| During STS-120 in 2007 and following the relocation of the P6 truss and solar arrays, it was noted during unfurling that the solar array had torn and was not deploying properly.<ref name="Astronauts notice tear in solar panel">{{Cite news|url=https://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1123767/astronauts_notice_tear_in_solar_panel|title=Astronauts notice tear in solar panel|last=Savage|first=Sam|date=30 October 2007|access-date=30 October 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813201109/https://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1123767/astronauts_notice_tear_in_solar_panel/|archive-date=13 August 2023|agency=]|work=redOrbit.com}}</ref> An EVA was carried out by ], assisted by ]. Extra precautions were taken to reduce the risk of electric shock, as the repairs were carried out with the solar array exposed to sunlight.<ref name="Space Station">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110300227.html|title=Space Station's Damaged Panel Is Fixed|last=Stein|first=Rob|date=4 November 2007|access-date=4 November 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629024200/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110300227.html|archive-date=29 June 2011|newspaper=]}}</ref> The issues with the array were followed in the same year by problems with the starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ), which rotates the arrays on the starboard side of the station. Excessive vibration and high-current spikes in the array drive motor were noted, resulting in a decision to substantially curtail motion of the starboard SARJ until the cause was understood. Inspections during EVAs on STS-120 and ] showed extensive contamination from metallic shavings and debris in the large drive gear and confirmed damage to the large metallic bearing surfaces, so the joint was locked to prevent further damage.<ref name="joint-update">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts123/080325sarj/index.html|title=Station chief gives detailed update on joint problem|last=Harwood|first=William|date=25 March 2008|access-date=5 November 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811162701/https://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts123/080325sarj/index.html|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=Spaceflight Now for ]}}</ref><ref name="iss-joint-investigation">{{Cite conference|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20100003841/downloads/20100003841.pdf|title=The International Space Station Solar Alpha Rotary Joint Anomaly Investigation|last1=Harik|first1=Elliot P.|last2=McFatter|first2=Justin|last3=Sweeney|first3=Daniel J.|last4=Enriquez|first4=Carlos F.|last5=Taylor|first5=Deneen M.|last6=McCann|first6=David S.|year=2010|id=JSC-CN-19606|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406025937/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20100003841/downloads/20100003841.pdf|archive-date=6 April 2023|display-authors=1|conference=40th Aerospace Mechanisms Symposium. 12–14 May 2010. Cocoa Beach, Florida.}}</ref> Repairs to the joints were carried out during ] with lubrication and the replacement of 11 out of 12 trundle bearings on the joint.<ref>{{cite web|date=30 October 2008|title=Crew Expansion Prep, SARJ Repair Focus of STS-126|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts126/126_overview.html|access-date=5 November 2008|publisher=NASA|archive-date=28 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081128072943/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts126/126_overview.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="sfn-20081118">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts126/081118fd5/index.html|title=Astronauts prepare for first spacewalk of shuttle flight|last=Harwood|first=William|date=18 November 2008|access-date=22 November 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131509/https://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts126/081118fd5/index.html|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=Spaceflight Now for ]}}</ref> | |||
| ] resupply vehicle as it approaches the ISS in 2012. Over 50 unpiloted ] spacecraft have been sent with supplies during the lifetime of the station.]] | |||
| In September 2008, damage to the S1 radiator was first noticed in Soyuz imagery. The problem was initially not thought to be serious.<ref name="Radiator">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/04/iss-concern-s1-radiator-may-require-replacement-shuttle-mission/|title=ISS concern over S1 Radiator – may require replacement via shuttle mission|last=Bergin|first=Chris|date=1 April 2009|access-date=3 April 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811165211/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/04/iss-concern-s1-radiator-may-require-replacement-shuttle-mission/|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=]}}</ref> The imagery showed that the surface of one sub-panel had peeled back from the underlying central structure, possibly because of micro-meteoroid or debris impact. On 15 May 2009, the damaged radiator panel's ammonia tubing was mechanically shut off from the rest of the cooling system by the computer-controlled closure of a valve. The same valve was then used to vent the ammonia from the damaged panel, eliminating the possibility of an ammonia leak.<ref name="Radiator" /> It is also known that a Service Module thruster cover struck the S1 radiator after being jettisoned during an EVA in 2008, but its effect, if any, has not been determined. | |||
| The American manual approach to docking allows greater initial flexibility and less complexity. The downside to this mode of operation is that each mission becomes unique and requires specialised training and planning, making the process more labour-intensive and expensive. The Russians pursued an automated methodology that used the crew in override or monitoring roles. Although the initial development costs were high, the system has become very reliable with standardisations that provide significant cost benefits in repetitive routine operations.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Navigating the Road to Autonomous Orbital Rendezvous |journal=Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets |first1=David C. |last1=Woffinden |first2=David K. |last2=Geller |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=898–909 |date=July 2007 |doi=10.2514/1.30734 |bibcode=2007JSpRo..44..898W}}</ref> An automated approach could allow assembly of modules orbiting other worlds prior to crew arrival. | |||
| In the early hours of 1 August 2010, a failure in cooling Loop A (starboard side), one of two external cooling loops, left the station with only half of its normal cooling capacity and zero redundancy in some systems.<ref name="SpaceFlightNow1007_31">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1007/31station/|title=Spacewalks needed to fix station cooling problem|last=Harwood|first=William|date=31 July 2010|access-date=16 November 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811162357/https://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1007/31station/|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=Spaceflight Now for ]}}</ref><ref name="iss-report-20100801">{{Cite press release|url=https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/reports/iss_reports/2010/08012010.html|title=ISS On-Orbit Status 08/01/10|date=June 2023|publisher=]|access-date=16 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230917233416/https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/reports/iss_reports/2010/08012010.html|archive-date=17 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=21 November 2006|title=International Space Station Active Thermal Control System|url=http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/systems/atcs.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330004837/http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/systems/atcs.html|archive-date=30 March 2010|access-date=16 November 2010|publisher=Boeing}}</ref> The problem appeared to be in the ammonia pump module that circulates the ammonia cooling fluid. Several subsystems, including two of the four CMGs, were shut down. | |||
| Soyuz spacecraft used for crew rotation also serve as lifeboats for emergency evacuation; they are replaced every six months and have been used once to remove excess crew after the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.astronautix.com/flights/isseo6.htm |title=ISS EO-6 |publisher=Astronautix.com |accessdate=1 May 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618005710/http://www.astronautix.com/flights/isseo6.htm |archivedate=18 June 2012}}</ref> Expeditions require, on average, {{nowrap|2,722 kg}} of supplies, and {{As of|2011|03|09|lc=yes}}, crews had consumed a total of around {{nowrap|22,000 meals}}.<ref name="ISStD" /> Soyuz crew rotation flights and Progress resupply flights visit the station on average two and three times respectively each year,<ref name="Livelist">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/resupply/index.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080803015945/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/resupply/index.html |archivedate=3 August 2008 |title=Live listing of spacecraft operations |publisher=NASA |date=1 December 2009 |accessdate=8 December 2009}}</ref> with the ATV and HTV planned to visit annually from 2010 onwards.{{Citation needed|date=January 2012}} ] and ] were contracted to fly cargo to the station after retirement of the NASA Shuttle.<ref>{{cite web |author=Space Operations Mission Directorate |title=Human Space Flight Transition Plan |publisher=NASA |date=30 August 2006 |url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/315546main_space_flight_transition_plan.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |publisher=NASA |date=18 January 2006 |title=NASA Seeks Proposals for Crew and Cargo Transportation to Orbit |url=http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=18791 |accessdate=21 November 2006}}</ref> | |||
| Planned operations on the ISS were interrupted through a series of EVAs to address the cooling system issue. A first EVA on 7 August 2010, to replace the failed pump module, was not fully completed because of an ammonia leak in one of four quick-disconnects. A second EVA on 11 August removed the failed pump module.<ref name="sfn-20100810">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp24/100810evapre/|title=Wednesday spacewalk to remove failed coolant pump|last=Harwood|first=William|date=10 August 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131919/https://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp24/100810evapre/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=Spaceflight Now for ]}}</ref><ref name="nsf-20100811">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/08/live-second-eva-with-pump-module-changeout/|title=Large success for second EVA as failed Pump Module is removed|last=Gebhardt|first=Chris|date=11 August 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810132125/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/08/live-second-eva-with-pump-module-changeout/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=]}}</ref> A third EVA was required to restore Loop A to normal functionality.<ref name="sfn-20100811">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp24/100811eva2/index5.html|title=Station's bad pump removed; more spacewalking ahead|last=Harwood|first=William|date=11 August 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810133016/https://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp24/100811eva2/index5.html|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=Spaceflight Now for ]}}</ref><ref name="nsf-20100818">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/08/iss-cooling-returning-normal-confirming-etcs-pm-success/|title=ISS cooling configuration returning to normal confirming ETCS PM success|last=Bergin|first=Chris|date=18 August 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101024194307/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/08/iss-cooling-returning-normal-confirming-etcs-pm-success/|archive-date=24 October 2010|work=]}}</ref> | |||
| From 26 February 2011 to 7 March 2011 four of the governmental partners (United States, ESA, Japan and Russia) had their spacecraft (NASA Shuttle, ATV, HTV, Progress and Soyuz) docked at the ISS, the only time this has happened to date.<ref>{{cite news |title=NASA proposes Soyuz photo op; shuttle launch readiness reviewed (UPDATED) |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/home/spacenews/files/b0e194a8338c336e823c03601f046707-157.html |publisher=CBS |accessdate=11 February 2011}}</ref> On 25 May 2012, ] became the world's first privately held company to send cargo, via the ], to the International Space Station.<ref name="NYT-20120525">{{cite news |last=Chang |first=Kenneth |title=Space X Capsule Docks at Space Station |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/26/science/space/space-x-capsule-docks-at-space-station.html |date=25 May 2012 |work=] |accessdate=25 May 2012}}</ref> | |||
| The USOS's cooling system is largely built by the US company Boeing,<ref name="spacecom-20100802">{{Cite news|url=https://www.space.com/8865-cooling-system-malfunction-highlights-space-station-complexity.html|title=Cooling System Malfunction Highlights Space Station's Complexity|last=Chow|first=Denise|date=2 August 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811162718/https://www.space.com/8865-cooling-system-malfunction-highlights-space-station-complexity.html|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=]}}</ref> which is also the manufacturer of the failed pump.<ref name=SpaceFlightNow1007_31 /> | |||
| === Launch and docking windows === | |||
| Prior to a ship's docking to the ISS, navigation and attitude control (GNC) is handed over to the ground control of the ships' country of origin. GNC is set to allow the station to drift in space, rather than fire its thrusters or turn using gyroscopes. The solar panels of the station are turned edge-on to the incoming ships, so residue from its thrusters does not damage the cells. When a NASA ] docked to the station, other ships were grounded, as the Shuttle's ] wing leading edges, cameras, windows, and instruments were too much at risk from damage or contamination by thruster residue from other ships' movements. | |||
| The four Main Bus Switching Units (MBSUs, located in the S0 truss), control the routing of power from the four solar array wings to the rest of the ISS. Each MBSU has two power channels that feed 160V DC from the arrays to two DC-to-DC power converters (DDCUs) that supply the 124V power used in the station. In late 2011, MBSU-1 ceased responding to commands or sending data confirming its health. While still routing power correctly, it was scheduled to be swapped out at the next available EVA. A spare MBSU was already on board, but a 30 August 2012 EVA failed to be completed when a bolt being tightened to finish installation of the spare unit jammed before the electrical connection was secured.<ref name="nsf-20120830">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2012/08/astronaut-perform-first-post-shuttle-spacewalk-iss|title=Astronaut duo complete challenging first post-Shuttle US spacewalk on ISS|last=Harding|first=Pete|date=30 August 2012|access-date=22 October 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811162809/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2012/08/astronaut-perform-first-post-shuttle-spacewalk-iss/|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=]}}</ref> The loss of MBSU-1 limited the station to 75% of its normal power capacity, requiring minor limitations in normal operations until the problem could be addressed. | |||
| Approximately 30% of NASA shuttle launch delays were caused by poor weather. Occasional priority was given to the Soyuz arrivals at the station where the Soyuz carried crew with time-critical cargoes such as biological experiment materials, also causing shuttle delays. Departure of the NASA shuttle was often delayed or prioritised according to weather over its two landing sites.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/may/HQ_09-118_Shuttle_Landing_Delayed.html |title=NASA's Space Shuttle Landing Delayed by Weather |publisher=NASA |first1=Katherine |last1=Trinidad |first2=Candrea |last2=Thomas |date=22 May 2009 |accessdate=26 June 2015}}</ref> Whilst the Soyuz is capable of landing anywhere, anytime, its planned landing time and place is chosen to give consideration to helicopter pilots and ground recovery crew, to give acceptable flying weather and lighting conditions. Soyuz launches occur in adverse weather conditions, but the cosmodrome has been shut down on occasions when buried by snow drifts up to 6 metres in depth, hampering ground operations. | |||
| On 5 September 2012, in a second six-hour EVA, astronauts Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide successfully replaced MBSU-1 and restored the ISS to 100% power.<ref name="spaceref-20120905">{{Cite news|url=https://spaceref.com/space-stations/critical-space-station-spacewalk-a-success/|title=Critical Space Station Spacewalk a Success|last=Boucher|first=Marc|date=5 September 2012|work=SpaceRef}}</ref> | |||
| On 24 December 2013, astronauts installed a new ammonia pump for the station's cooling system. The faulty cooling system had failed earlier in the month, halting many of the station's science experiments. Astronauts had to brave a "mini blizzard" of ammonia while installing the new pump. It was only the second Christmas Eve spacewalk in NASA history.<ref>{{Cite news|date=24 December 2013|title=Astronauts Complete Rare Christmas Eve Spacewalk|work=Leaker|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.leaker.com/astronauts-complete-rare-christmas-eve-spacewalk/|url-status=dead|access-date=24 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226025635/http://www.leaker.com/astronauts-complete-rare-christmas-eve-spacewalk/|archive-date=26 December 2013}}</ref> | |||
| === Mission control centres === | |||
| {{main|International Space Station programme#Mission control centres}} | |||
| The components of the ISS are operated and monitored by their respective space agencies at ]s across the globe, primarily the ] in Houston and the ] (TsUP) in Moscow, with support from ] in Japan, ] in Huntsville, Alabama, U.S., ] in Munich, Germany and ] Control at the ]'s headquarters in ]. | |||
| ==Life aboard== | ==Life aboard== | ||
| ===Living quarters=== | |||
| ] at work inside the '']'' service module crew quarters]]The living and working space aboard the International Space Station (ISS) is larger than a six-bedroom house, equipped with seven private sleeping quarters, three bathrooms, two dining rooms, a gym, and a panoramic 360-degree-view bay window.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Howell |first=Elizabeth |date=2022-08-24 |title=International Space Station: Facts, History & Tracking |url=https://www.space.com/16748-international-space-station.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401024329/https://www.space.com/16748-international-space-station.html |archive-date=1 April 2019 |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=Space.com}}</ref> | |||
| The station provides dedicated crew quarters for long-term crew members. Two "sleep stations" are located in the ''Zvezda'' module, one in ''Nauka'', and four in ''Harmony''.<ref name="roscomos-20210811">{{Cite web |date=11 August 2021 |title=Новости. Космонавт рассказал, кто может первым заселиться в модуль "Наука" на МКС |trans-title=A cosmonaut explained who can be the first to settle in the 'Nauka' module on the ISS |url=https://www.roscosmos.ru/32150/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822052138/https://www.roscosmos.ru/32150/ |archive-date=22 August 2022 |access-date=12 August 2021 |publisher=] |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=6 December 2010 |title=At Home with Commander Scott Kelly (Video) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4dG9vSyUFQ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Q4dG9vSyUFQ |archive-date=11 December 2021 |access-date=8 May 2011 |publisher=NASA |location=International Space Station}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="roscomos-nauka-booklet">{{Cite web |title=Nauka module prelaunch booklet |url=https://www.roscosmos.ru/media/files/nauka.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822181356/https://www.roscosmos.ru/media/files/nauka.pdf |archive-date=22 August 2022 |publisher=]}}</ref><ref name="sae-08ICES-0222">{{Cite conference |last1=Broyan |first1=James Lee |last2=Borrego |first2=Melissa Ann |last3=Bahr |first3=Juergen F. |year=2008 |title=International Space Station USOS Crew Quarters Development |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20080013462/downloads/20080013462.pdf |conference=International Conference on Environmental Systems |location=San Francisco, California |publisher=] |volume=38 |id=08ICES-0222 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118224703/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20080013462/downloads/20080013462.pdf |archive-date=18 November 2023 |access-date=8 May 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> These soundproof, person-sized booths offer privacy, ventilation, and basic amenities such as a sleeping bag, a reading lamp, a desktop, a shelf, and storage for personal items.<ref name="ESALife">{{Cite web |date=19 July 2004 |title=Daily life |url=https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Daily_life |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812210927/https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Daily_life |archive-date=12 August 2023 |access-date=28 October 2009 |publisher=]}}</ref><ref name="NASACrewEquip">{{cite web |last=Mansfield |first=Cheryl L. |date=7 November 2008 |title=Station Prepares for Expanding Crew |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/126_payload.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204054653/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/126_payload.html |archive-date=4 December 2008 |access-date=17 September 2009 |publisher=NASA}}</ref><ref name="CSALife">{{cite web |title=Living and Working on the International Space Station |url=http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/pdf/educator-liv_wor_iss.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090419045323/http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/pdf/educator-liv_wor_iss.pdf |archive-date=19 April 2009 |access-date=28 October 2009 |publisher=CSA}}</ref> The quarters in ''Zvezda'' include a small window but have less ventilation and soundproofing. | |||
| Visiting crew members use tethered sleeping bags attached to available wall space. While it is possible to sleep floating freely, this is generally avoided to prevent collisions with sensitive equipment.<ref name="SRLife">{{Cite news |last=Malik |first=Tariq |date=27 July 2009 |title=Sleeping in Space is Easy, But There's No Shower |url=https://www.space.com/7060-sleeping-space-easy-shower.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812222844/https://www.space.com/7060-sleeping-space-easy-shower.html |archive-date=12 August 2023 |access-date=29 October 2009 |work=]}}</ref> Proper ventilation is critical, as astronauts risk oxygen deprivation if exhaled carbon dioxide accumulates in a bubble around their heads.<ref name="ESALife" /> | |||
| The station’s lighting system is adjustable, allowing for dimming, switching off, and ] changes to support crew activities and rest.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNgMzNN23kE |title=Bedtime in space |time={{time needed|date=September 2019}} |access-date=21 September 2019 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/yNgMzNN23kE |archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="nasa-stem-sleepscience">{{Cite web |date=13 December 2018 |title=STEMonstrations: Sleep Science |url=https://images.nasa.gov/details-jsc2018m000902-STEMonstrations_Sleep_Science_MP4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231125172450/https://images.nasa.gov/details-jsc2018m000902-STEMonstrations_Sleep_Science_MP4 |archive-date=25 November 2023 |access-date=13 June 2020 |website=NASA Image and Video Library |publisher=] |format=AV media |id=jsc2018m000902-STEMonstrations_Sleep_Science_MP4}}</ref> | |||
| ===Crew activities=== | ===Crew activities=== | ||
| ] looking out of a window|left]] | |||
| {{multiple image |align=right |total_width=400 | |||
| |image1=Exp18home nasa big.jpg |caption1=] peers out of a window | |||
| |image2=ISS-34 Chris A. Hadfield inside his sleeping quarter in Node 2.jpg|caption2=] inside his sleeping compartment in Node 2 | |||
| }} | |||
| ] mission specialists working on robotic equipment in the US lab]] | |||
| The ISS operates on ] (UTC).<ref name="bbc-iss-timezone">{{Cite magazine |last=Mitchell |first=Gareth |title=What time zone do they use on the International Space Station? |url=https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/what-time-zone-do-they-use-on-the-international-space-station/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324101052/https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/what-time-zone-do-they-use-on-the-international-space-station/ |archive-date=24 March 2023 |access-date=26 May 2021 |magazine=]}}</ref> A typical day aboard the ISS begins at 06:00 with wake-up, post-sleep routines, and a morning inspection of the station. After breakfast, the crew holds a daily planning conference with Mission Control, starting work around 08:10. Morning tasks include scheduled exercise, scientific experiments, maintenance, or operational duties. Following a one-hour lunch break at 13:05, the crew resumes their afternoon schedule of work and exercise. Pre-sleep activities, including dinner and a crew conference, begin at 19:30, with the scheduled sleep period starting at 21:30.<ref name=":3">{{cite web |date=5 November 2008 |title=ISS Crew Timeline |url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/287386main_110508_tl.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730044854/http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/287386main_110508_tl.pdf |archive-date=30 July 2016 |access-date=5 November 2008 |publisher=NASA}}</ref> | |||
| The crew works approximately 10 hours on weekdays and 5 hours on Saturdays, with the remaining time allocated for relaxation or catching up on tasks. Free time often involves enjoying personal hobbies, communicating with family, or gazing out at Earth through the station’s windows.<ref name=":3" /> | |||
| The time zone used aboard the ISS is ] (UTC). The windows are covered at night hours to give the impression of darkness because the station experiences 16 sunrises and sunsets per day. During visiting Space Shuttle missions, the ISS crew mostly follows the shuttle's ] (MET), which is a flexible time zone based on the launch time of the shuttle mission.<ref>{{cite web |title=NASA – Time in Space, A Space in Time |url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/time_in_space.html |website=www.nasa.gov |accessdate=5 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A Slice of Time Pie |url=http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/ISS%20Science%20Blog/posts/post_1340820317951.html |date=17 March 2013 |accessdate=5 May 2015 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317075600/http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/ISS%20Science%20Blog/posts/post_1340820317951.html |archivedate=17 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Human Space Flight (HSF) – Crew Answers |url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/answer/crew/sts-113/index_2.html |website=spaceflight.nasa.gov |accessdate=5 May 2015}}</ref> | |||
| When the Space Shuttle was operating, the ISS crew aligned with the shuttle crew's ], a flexible schedule based on the shuttle's launch.<ref>{{cite web |title=NASA – Time in Space, A Space in Time |url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/time_in_space.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420050836/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/time_in_space.html |archive-date=20 April 2015 |access-date=5 May 2015 |website=nasa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=17 March 2013 |title=A Slice of Time Pie |url=http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/ISS%20Science%20Blog/posts/post_1340820317951.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317075600/http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/ISS%20Science%20Blog/posts/post_1340820317951.html |archive-date=17 March 2013 |access-date=5 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Human Space Flight (HSF) – Crew Answers |url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/answer/crew/sts-113/index_2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721054011/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/answer/crew/sts-113/index_2.html |archive-date=21 July 2011 |access-date=5 May 2015 |website=spaceflight.nasa.gov}}</ref> | |||
| The station provides crew quarters for each member of the expedition's crew, with two 'sleep stations' in the ''Zvezda'' and four more installed in ''Harmony''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4dG9vSyUFQ |title=At Home with Commander Scott Kelly (Video) |date=6 December 2010 |publisher=NASA |accessdate=8 May 2011 |location=International Space Station}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20080013462_2008012884.pdf |title=International Space Station USOS Crew Quarters Development |first1=James Lee |last1=Broyan |first2=Melissa Ann |last2=Borrego |first3=Juergen F. |last3=Bahr |year=2008 |publisher=SAE International |accessdate=8 May 2011}}</ref> The American quarters are private, approximately person-sized soundproof booths. The Russian crew quarters include a small window, but provide less ventilation and sound proofing. A crew member can sleep in a crew quarter in a tethered sleeping bag, listen to music, use a laptop, and store personal items in a large drawer or in nets attached to the module's walls. The module also provides a reading lamp, a shelf and a desktop.<ref name="ESALife">{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/esaHS/ESAH1V0VMOC_astronauts_0.html |publisher=ESA |accessdate=28 October 2009 |date=19 July 2004 |title=Daily life}}</ref><ref name="NASACrewEquip">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/126_payload.html |title=Station Prepares for Expanding Crew |publisher=NASA |first=Cheryl L. |last=Mansfield |date=7 November 2008 |accessdate=17 September 2009}}</ref><ref name="CSALife">{{cite web |url=http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/pdf/educator-liv_wor_iss.pdf |title=Living and Working on the International Space Station |accessdate=28 October 2009 |publisher=CSA |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090419045323/http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/pdf/educator-liv_wor_iss.pdf |archivedate=19 April 2009}}</ref> Visiting crews have no allocated sleep module, and attach a sleeping bag to an available space on a wall. It is possible to sleep floating freely through the station, but this is generally avoided because of the possibility of bumping into sensitive equipment.<ref name="SRLife">{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090827-sts127-space-sleeping.html |title=Sleeping in Space is Easy, But There's No Shower |first=Tariq |last=Malik |accessdate=29 October 2009 |date=27 July 2009 |publisher=Space.com}}</ref> It is important that crew accommodations be well ventilated; otherwise, astronauts can wake up oxygen-deprived and gasping for air, because a bubble of their own exhaled carbon dioxide has formed around their heads.<ref name="ESALife" /> | |||
| {{See also|Christmas on the International Space Station}} | |||
| To simulate night conditions, the station’s windows are covered during designated sleep periods, as the ISS experiences 16 sunrises and sunsets daily due to its orbital speed. | |||
| ===Food=== | |||
| ] and ] enjoy a meal inside ''Unity''.]] | |||
| {{See also|Space food}} | |||
| ] | |||
| Most of the food aboard is vacuum sealed in plastic bags. Cans are rare because they are heavy and expensive to transport. Preserved food is not highly regarded by the crew, and taste is reduced in microgravity.<ref name="ESALife" /> Therefore, effort is made to make the food more palatable, such as using more spices than in regular cooking. The crew looks forward to the arrival of any ships from Earth, as they bring fresh fruit and vegetables. Care is taken that foods do not create crumbs. Sauces are often used to avoid contaminating station equipment. Each crew member has individual food packages and cooks them using the on-board galley. The galley features two food warmers, a refrigerator added in November 2008, and a water dispenser that provides both heated and unheated water.<ref name="NASACrewEquip" /> Drinks are provided as dehydrated powder that is mixed with water before consumption.<ref name="NASACrewEquip" /><ref name="CSALife" /> Drinks and soups are sipped from plastic bags with straws. Solid food is eaten with a knife and fork attached to a tray with magnets to prevent them from floating away. Any food that floats away, including crumbs, must be collected to prevent it from clogging the station's air filters and other equipment.<ref name="CSALife" /> | |||
| === Reflection and material culture === | |||
| ===Hygiene=== | |||
| Reflection of individual and crew characteristics are found particularly in the decoration of the station and expressions in general, such as religion.<ref name="z534">{{cite web|last=Archaeology|first=ISS|title=Religious life on ISS|website=ISS Archaeology|date=2017-11-11|url=https://issarchaeology.org/religious-life-on-iss/|access-date=2024-07-22}}</ref> The latter has produced a certain material economy between the station and Russia in particular.<ref name="q938">{{cite journal|last1=Salmond|first1=Wendy|last2=Walsh|first2=Justin|last3=Gorman|first3=Alice|title=Eternity in Low Earth Orbit: Icons on the International Space Station|journal=Religions|volume=11|issue=11|date=2020-11-17|issn=2077-1444|doi=10.3390/rel11110611|doi-access=free|page=611}}</ref> | |||
| {{multiple image |align=right |total_width=400 | |||
| |image1=Zvezda toilet.jpg |caption1=Space toilet in the '']'' service module | |||
| The micro-society of the station, as well as wider society, and possibly the emergence of distinct station cultures,<ref name="p157">{{cite journal|last1=Walsh|first1=Justin St. P.|last2=Gorman|first2=Alice C.|last3=Salmond|first3=Wendy|title=Visual Displays in Space Station Culture: An Archaeological Analysis|journal=Current Anthropology|volume=62|issue=6|date=2021-12-01|issn=0011-3204|doi=10.1086/717778|pages=804–818|doi-access=free}}</ref> is being studied by analyzing many aspects, from art to dust accumulation, as well as archaeologically how material of the ISS has been discarded.<ref name="e121">{{cite web|title=Life and culture on the International Space Station|website=News|date=2021-10-10|url=https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2021/10/11/life-and-culture-on-the-international-space-station/|access-date=2024-07-22}}</ref> | |||
| |image2=Node_3_toilet.jpg |caption2=The main toilet in the US Segment inside the ] module | |||
| ===Food and personal hygiene=== | |||
| {{See also|Space food}} | |||
| {{multiple image | |||
| | align = left | |||
| | total_width = 350 | |||
| | image1 = Zvezda toilet.jpg | |||
| | caption1 = The space toilet in the '']'' module in the Russian segment | |||
| | image2 = Node_3_toilet.jpg | |||
| | caption2 = The main toilet in the US Segment inside the '']'' module | |||
| | caption3 = | |||
| | footer = * Both toilets are a Russian design. | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| ] and ] enjoy a meal inside ''Unity''.]] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| On the USOS, most of the food aboard is vacuum sealed in plastic bags; cans are rare because they are heavy and expensive to transport. Preserved food is not highly regarded by the crew and taste is reduced in microgravity,<ref name="ESALife" /> so efforts are taken to make the food more palatable, including using more spices than in regular cooking. The crew looks forward to the arrival of any spacecraft from Earth as they bring fresh fruit and vegetables. Care is taken that foods do not create crumbs, and liquid condiments are preferred over solid to avoid contaminating station equipment. Each crew member has individual food packages and cooks them in the ], which has two food warmers, a refrigerator (added in November 2008), and a water dispenser that provides heated and unheated water.<ref name="NASACrewEquip" /> Drinks are provided as dehydrated powder that is mixed with water before consumption.<ref name="NASACrewEquip" /><ref name="CSALife" /> Drinks and soups are sipped from plastic bags with straws, while solid food is eaten with a knife and fork attached to a tray with magnets to prevent them from floating away. Any food that floats away, including crumbs, must be collected to prevent it from clogging the station's air filters and other equipment.<ref name="CSALife" /> | |||
| Showers on space stations were introduced in the early 1970s on ''Skylab'' and ''Salyut'' 3.<ref name="livingandworking"> |
Showers on space stations were introduced in the early 1970s on ''Skylab'' and ''Salyut'' 3.<ref name="livingandworking">{{Cite web|url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4208/contents.htm|title=Living and Working in Space: A History of Skylab|last1=Benson|first1=Charles Dunlap|last2=Compton|first2=William David|date=January 1983|publisher=]|id=SP-4208|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124155632/https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4208/contents.htm|archive-date=24 November 2023}}</ref>{{rp|139}}<!--<ref name="belew1977" />{{rp|80}}--> By ''Salyut'' 6, in the early 1980s, the crew complained of the complexity of showering in space, which was a monthly activity.<ref name="Portree1995-86">{{Cite tech report|url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4225/documentation/mhh/mirheritage.pdf|title=Mir Hardware Heritage|last=Portree|first=David S. F.|date=March 1995|publisher=]|page=86|oclc=755272548|id=Reference Publication 1357|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810130808/https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4225/documentation/mhh/mirheritage.pdf|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref> The ISS does not feature a shower; instead, crewmembers wash using a water jet and wet wipes, with soap dispensed from a toothpaste tube-like container. Crews are also provided with rinseless shampoo and edible toothpaste to save water.<ref name="SRLife" /><ref>{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIjNfZbUYu8|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/uIjNfZbUYu8|archive-date=11 December 2021|url-status=live|title=Karen Nyberg Shows How You Wash Hair in Space|date=12 July 2013|last=Nyberg|first=Karen|publisher=NASA|access-date=6 June 2015|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> | ||
| There are two ]s on the ISS, both of Russian design, located in '' |
There are two ]s on the ISS, both of Russian design, located in ''Zvezda'' and ''Tranquility''.<ref name="NASACrewEquip" /> These Waste and Hygiene Compartments use a fan-driven suction system similar to the Space Shuttle Waste Collection System. Astronauts first fasten themselves to the toilet seat, which is equipped with spring-loaded restraining bars to ensure a good seal.<ref name="ESALife" /> A lever operates a powerful fan and a suction hole slides open: the air stream carries the waste away. Solid waste is collected in individual bags which are stored in an aluminium container. Full containers are transferred to Progress spacecraft for disposal.<ref name="NASACrewEquip" /><ref>{{cite web|last=Lu|first=Ed|date=8 September 2003|title=Greetings Earthling|url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/crew/exp7/luletters/lu_letter9.html|access-date=1 November 2009|publisher=NASA|archive-date=1 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901183936/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/crew/exp7/luletters/lu_letter9.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Liquid waste is evacuated by a hose connected to the front of the toilet, with anatomically correct "urine funnel adapters" attached to the tube so that men and women can use the same toilet. ] is collected and transferred to the Water Recovery System, where it is recycled into drinking water.<ref name="CSALife" /> In 2021, the arrival of the Nauka module also brought a third toilet to the ISS.<ref>{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJyMw5J-GsQ|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/fJyMw5J-GsQ|archive-date=11 December 2021|url-status=live|title=Thomas tours the MLM module (in French with English subtitles available)|date=18 August 2021|last=Pesquet|first=Thomas|publisher=ESA|access-date=29 August 2021|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> | ||
| ==Crew health and safety== | ===Crew health and safety=== | ||
| {{Main|Effect of spaceflight on the human body}} | {{Main|Effect of spaceflight on the human body}} | ||
| === |
====Overall==== | ||
| On 12 April 2019, NASA reported medical results from the ]. Astronaut ] spent a year in space on the ISS, while ] spent the year on Earth. Several long-lasting changes were observed, including those related to alterations in ] and ], when one twin was compared with the other.<ref name="NYT-20190412">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/science/scott-mark-kelly-twins-space-nasa.html|url-access=subscription|title=Scott Kelly Spent a Year in Orbit. His Body Is Not Quite the Same|last=Zimmer|first=Carl|author-link=Carl Zimmer|date=11 April 2019|access-date=12 April 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522170617/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/science/scott-mark-kelly-twins-space-nasa.html|archive-date=22 May 2020|quote=NASA scientists compared the astronaut to his earthbound twin, Mark. The results hint at what humans will have to endure on long journeys through space.|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="SCI-20190412">{{Cite journal|title=The NASA Twins Study: A multidimensional analysis of a year-long human spaceflight|last=Garrett-Bakeman|first=Francine E.|date=12 April 2019|pages=eaau8650|bibcode=2019Sci...364.8650G|doi=10.1126/science.aau8650|display-authors=et al.|volume=364|journal=]|pmc=7580864|issue=6436|pmid=30975860}}</ref> | |||
| The ISS is partially protected from the space environment by Earth's ]. From an average distance of about {{convert|70,000|km|abbr=on}}, depending on Solar activity, the ] begins to deflect ] around Earth and ISS. ] are still a hazard to the crew, who may receive only a few minutes warning. In 2005, during the initial 'proton storm' of an X-3 class solar flare, the crew of ] took shelter in a more heavily shielded part of the ] designed for this purpose.<ref>{{cite web |title=Solar Flare Hits Earth and Mars |author=Ker Than |publisher=Space.com |date=23 February 2006 |url=http://www.space.com/2080-solar-flare-hits-earth-mars.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A new kind of solar storm |publisher=NASA |date=10 June 2005 |url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/10jun_newstorm/}}</ref> | |||
| In November 2019, researchers reported that astronauts experienced serious ] and ] problems while on board the ISS, based on a six-month study of 11 healthy astronauts. The results may influence long-term spaceflight, including a mission to the planet Mars, according to the researchers.<ref name="CNN-20191115">{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/15/health/astronaut-blood-flow-clot-scn-trnd/index.html|title=Astronauts experienced reverse blood flow and blood clots on the space station, study says|last=Strickland|first=Ashley|date=15 November 2019|access-date=16 November 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811175409/https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/15/health/astronaut-blood-flow-clot-scn-trnd/index.html|archive-date=11 August 2023|publisher=CNN}}</ref><ref name="JAMA-20191113">{{Cite journal|last=Marshall-Goebel|first=Karina|display-authors=et al.|date=13 November 2019|title=Assessment of Jugular Venous Blood Flow Stasis and Thrombosis During Spaceflight|journal=]|volume=2|issue=11|pages=e1915011|doi=10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.15011|pmc=6902784|pmid=31722025}}</ref> | |||
| ====Radiation==== | |||
| {{See also|Coronal mass ejection}} | |||
| ], taken by the crew of ] on an ascending pass from south of ] to just north of Australia over the Indian Ocean]] | |||
| The ISS is partially protected from the space environment by ]. From an average distance of about {{convert|70000|km|abbr=on}} from the Earth's surface, depending on Solar activity, the ] begins to deflect ] around Earth and the space station. ]s are still a hazard to the crew, who may receive only a few minutes warning. In 2005, during the initial "proton storm" of an X-3 class solar flare, the crew of ] took shelter in a more heavily shielded part of the ROS designed for this purpose.<ref name="spacecom-20060223">{{Cite news|url=https://www.space.com/2080-solar-flare-hits-earth-mars.html|title=Solar Flare Hits Earth and Mars|last=Than|first=Ker|date=23 February 2006|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811164550/https://www.space.com/2080-solar-flare-hits-earth-mars.html|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=10 June 2005|title=A new kind of solar storm|url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/10jun_newstorm/|publisher=NASA|access-date=12 July 2017|archive-date=16 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516030602/https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/10jun_newstorm/|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| Subatomic charged particles, primarily ]s from cosmic rays and solar wind, are normally absorbed by Earth's atmosphere. When they interact in sufficient quantity, their effect is visible to the naked eye in a phenomenon called an ]. Outside Earth's atmosphere, ISS crews are exposed to approximately one ] each day (about a year's worth of natural exposure on Earth), resulting in a higher risk of cancer. Radiation can penetrate living tissue and damage the DNA and ]s of ]s; being central to the ], any damage to these cells could contribute to the lower ] experienced by astronauts. Radiation has also been linked to a higher incidence of ]s in astronauts. Protective shielding and medications may lower the risks to an acceptable level.<ref name="JCB" /> | |||
| Radiation levels on the ISS are between 12 and 28.8 milli rads per day,<ref name="Forbes 2018">{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/11/13/how-much-radiation-are-iss-astronauts-exposed-to/|title=How Much Radiation Are ISS Astronauts Exposed To?|last=Frost|first=Robert|date=13 November 2018|work=]|access-date=4 September 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131701/https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/11/13/how-much-radiation-are-iss-astronauts-exposed-to/?sh=704809db18a9|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref> about five times greater than those experienced by airline passengers and crew, as Earth's electromagnetic field provides almost the same level of protection against solar and other types of radiation in low Earth orbit as in the stratosphere. For example, on a 12-hour flight, an airline passenger would experience 0.1 millisieverts of radiation, or a rate of 0.2 millisieverts per day; this is one fifth the rate experienced by an astronaut in LEO. Additionally, airline passengers experience this level of radiation for a few hours of flight, while the ISS crew are exposed for their whole stay on board the station.<ref>{{cite web|title=Galactic Radiation Received in Flight|url=http://jag.cami.jccbi.gov./cariprofile.asp|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329130826/http://jag.cami.jccbi.gov/cariprofile.asp|archive-date=29 March 2010|access-date=20 May 2010|publisher=FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute}}</ref> | |||
| ====Stress==== | |||
| ] taken by the crew of ] on an ascending pass from south of ] to just north of Australia over the Indian Ocean.]] | |||
| There is considerable evidence that ] stressors are among the most important impediments to optimal crew morale and performance.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Suedfeld|first1=Peter|author1-link=Peter Suedfeld|last2=Wilk|first2=Kasia E.|last3=Cassel|first3=Lindi|contribution=Flying with Strangers: Postmission Reflections of Multinational Space Crews|title=Psychology of Space Exploration, Contemporary Research in Historical Perspective|editor-last=Vakoch|editor-first=Douglas A.|year=2011|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform|pages=143–176|isbn=978-1-46999770-4}}</ref> Cosmonaut ] wrote in his journal during a particularly difficult period on board the ] space station: "All the conditions necessary for murder are met if you shut two men in a cabin measuring 18 feet by 20 and leave them together for two months." | |||
| NASA's interest in ] caused by space travel, initially studied when their crewed missions began, was rekindled when astronauts joined cosmonauts on the Russian space station ''Mir''. Common sources of stress in early US missions included maintaining high performance under public scrutiny and isolation from peers and family. The latter is still often a cause of stress on the ISS, such as when the mother of NASA astronaut ] died in a car accident, and when Michael Fincke was forced to miss the birth of his second child. | |||
| Subatomic charged particles, primarily ]s from ]s and solar wind, are normally absorbed by Earth's atmosphere. When they interact in sufficient quantity, their effect is visible to the naked eye in a phenomenon called an ]. Outside Earth's atmosphere, crews are exposed to about 1 ] each day, which is about a year of natural exposure on Earth. This results in a higher risk of cancer for astronauts. Radiation can penetrate living tissue and damage the ] and ]s of ]. These cells are central to the ], and so any damage to them could contribute to the lower ] experienced by astronauts. Radiation has also been linked to a higher incidence of ]s in astronauts. Protective shielding and drugs may lower risks to an acceptable level.<ref name="JCB"/> | |||
| A study of the longest spaceflight concluded that the first three weeks are a critical period where attention is adversely affected because of the demand to adjust to the extreme change of environment.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Manzey|first1=D.|last2=Lorenz|first2=B.|last3=Poljakov|first3=V.|year=1998|title=Mental performance in extreme environments: Results from a performance monitoring study during a 438-day spaceflight|journal=Ergonomics|volume=41|issue=4|pages=537–559|doi=10.1080/001401398186991|pmid=9557591}}</ref> ISS crew flights typically last about five to six months. | |||
| Radiation levels on the ISS are about five times greater than those experienced by airline passengers and crew. Earth's electromagnetic field provides almost the same level of protection against solar and other radiation in low Earth orbit as in the stratosphere. For example, on a 12-hour flight an airline passenger would experience 0.1 millisieverts of radiation, or a rate of 0.2 millisieverts per day; only 1/5 the rate experienced by an astronaut in LEO. Additionally, airline passengers experience this level of radiation for a few hours of flight, while ISS crew are exposed for their whole stay.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jag.cami.jccbi.gov./cariprofile.asp |title=Galactic Radiation Received in Flight |accessdate=20 May 2010 |publisher=FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329130826/http://jag.cami.jccbi.gov/cariprofile.asp |archivedate=29 March 2010}}</ref> | |||
| {{See also|Coronal mass ejection|Aurora (astronomy)}} | |||
| The ISS working environment includes further stress caused by living and working in cramped conditions with people from very different cultures who speak a different language. First-generation space stations had crews who spoke a single language; second- and third-generation stations have crew from many cultures who speak many languages. Astronauts must speak English and Russian, and knowing additional languages is even better.<ref>{{cite web|date=23 August 2004|title=Behind the Scenes: The Making of an Astronaut|url=https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/support/training/isstraining/index.html|publisher=NASA|access-date=29 June 2018|archive-date=19 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160719025001/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/support/training/isstraining/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| ===Stress=== | |||
| ] at work inside '']'' service module crew quarters]] | |||
| There is considerable evidence that ] stressors are among the most important impediments to optimal crew morale and performance.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Peter Suedfeld1 |author2=Kasia E. Wilk |author3=Lindi Cassel |title=Flying with Strangers: Postmission Reflections of Multinational Space Crews}}</ref> Cosmonaut ] wrote in his journal during a particularly difficult period on board the ] space station: "All the conditions necessary for murder are met if you shut two men in a cabin measuring 18 feet by 20 and leave them together for two months." | |||
| Due to the lack of gravity, confusion often occurs. Even though there is no up and down in space, some crew members feel like they are oriented upside down. They may also have difficulty measuring distances. This can cause problems like getting lost inside the space station, pulling switches in the wrong direction or misjudging the speed of an approaching vehicle during docking.<ref name="bbc-20141007">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20141007-why-astronauts-get-space-stupid|title=Why astronauts get the 'space stupids'|last=Robson|first=David|date=7 October 2014|publisher=BBC|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811164510/https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20141007-why-astronauts-get-space-stupid|archive-date=11 August 2023}}</ref> | |||
| NASA's interest in ] caused by space travel, initially studied when their manned missions began, was rekindled when astronauts joined cosmonauts on the Russian space station ''Mir''. Common sources of stress in early American missions included maintaining high performance under public scrutiny and isolation from peers and family. The latter is still often a cause of stress on the ISS, such as when the mother of NASA Astronaut ] died in a car accident, and when Michael Fincke was forced to miss the birth of his second child. | |||
| ====Medical==== | |||
| A study of the longest spaceflight concluded that the first three weeks are a critical period where attention is adversely affected because of the demand to adjust to the extreme change of environment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Manzey |first1=D. |last2=Lorenz |first2=B. |last3=Poljakov |first3=V. |doi=10.1080/001401398186991 |title=Mental performance in extreme environments: Results from a performance monitoring study during a 438-day spaceflight |journal=Ergonomics |volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=537–559 |year=1998 |pmid=9557591 |pmc=}}</ref> ''Skylab''{{'s}} three crews remained one, two, and three months, respectively; long-term crews on ''Salyut'' 6, ], and the ISS last about five to six months, and ''Mir''{{'s}} expeditions often lasted longer. | |||
| ], attached to the ] with bungee cords aboard the ISS|alt=A man running on a treadmill, smiling at the camera, with bungee cords stretching down from his waistband to the sides of the treadmill]] | |||
| The ] effects of long-term weightlessness include ], deterioration of the skeleton (]), fluid redistribution, a slowing of the cardiovascular system, decreased production of red blood cells, balance disorders, and a weakening of the immune system. Lesser symptoms include loss of body mass, and puffiness of the face.<ref name="JCB" /> | |||
| Sleep is regularly disturbed on the ISS because of mission demands, such as incoming or departing spacecraft. Sound levels in the station are unavoidably high. The atmosphere is unable to ] naturally, so fans are required at all times to process the air which would stagnate in the freefall (zero-G) environment. | |||
| The ISS working environment includes further stress caused by living and working in cramped conditions with people from very different cultures who speak a different language. First-generation space stations had crews who spoke a single language; second- and third-generation stations have crew from many cultures who speak many languages. Astronauts must speak ] and ], and knowing additional languages is even better.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/support/training/isstraining/index.html |title=Behind the Scenes: The Making of an Astronaut |publisher=NASA |date=23 August 2004}}</ref> | |||
| To prevent some of the adverse effects on the body, the station is equipped with: two ] treadmills (including the COLBERT); the ] (Advanced Resistive Exercise Device), which enables various weightlifting exercises that add muscle without raising (or compensating for) the astronauts' reduced bone density;<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Schneider|first1=S. M.|last2=Amonette|first2=W. E.|last3=Blazine|first3=K.|last4=Bentley|first4=J.|last5=c. Lee|first5=S. M.|last6=Loehr|first6=J. A.|last7=Moore|first7=A. D.|last8=Rapley|first8=M.|last9=Mulder|first9=E. R. |last10=Smith |first10=S. M.|year=2003|title=Training with the International Space Station Interim Resistive Exercise Device|journal=Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise|volume=35|issue=11|pages=1935–1945|doi=10.1249/01.MSS.0000093611.88198.08|pmid=14600562|doi-access=free}}</ref> and a stationary bicycle. Each astronaut spends at least two hours per day exercising on the equipment.<ref name="ESALife" /><ref name="NASACrewEquip" /> Astronauts use bungee cords to strap themselves to the treadmill.<ref>{{cite web|date=16 June 2009|title=Bungee Cords Keep Astronauts Grounded While Running|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/bungee_running.html|access-date=23 August 2009|publisher=NASA|archive-date=15 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815015910/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/bungee_running.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Kauderer|first=Amiko|date=19 August 2009|title=Do Tread on Me|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/colbert_feature.html|access-date=23 August 2009|publisher=NASA|archive-date=21 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090821165909/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/colbert_feature.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| The ISS is unique because visitors are not classed automatically into 'host' or 'guest' categories as with previous stations and spacecraft, and may not suffer from feelings of isolation in the same way. Crew members with a military pilot background and those with an academic science background or teachers and politicians may have problems understanding each other's jargon and worldview. | |||
| ====Microbiological environmental hazards==== | |||
| Due to the lack of gravity, confusion often occurs. Even though there is no up and down in space, some crew members feel like they are oriented upside down. They may also have difficulty measuring distances. This can cause problems like getting lost inside the space station, pulling switches in the wrong direction or misjudging the speed of an approaching vehicle during docking.<ref></ref> | |||
| {{see also|Mir#Microbiological environmental hazards|l1=Microbiological environmental hazards on the Mir space station}} | |||
| Hazardous molds that can foul air and water filters may develop aboard space stations. They can produce acids that degrade metal, glass, and rubber. They can also be harmful to the crew's health. Microbiological hazards have led to a development of the ] (a portable test system) which identifies common bacteria and molds faster than standard methods of ], which may require a sample to be sent back to Earth.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bell|first=Trudy E.|date=11 May 2007|title=Preventing "Sick" Spaceships|url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/11may_locad3/|access-date=29 March 2015|publisher=NASA|archive-date=14 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170514233537/https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/11may_locad3|url-status=dead}}</ref> Researchers in 2018 reported, after detecting the presence of five '']'' bacterial strains on the ISS (none of which are ]ic to humans), that microorganisms on the ISS should be carefully monitored to continue assuring a medically healthy environment for astronauts.<ref name="EA-20181122">{{Cite press release|url=https://www.biomedcentral.com/about/press-centre/science-press-releases/23-11-18|title=ISS microbes should be monitored to avoid threat to astronaut health|last=Korn|first=Anne|date=23 November 2018|publisher=]|access-date=11 January 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810145840/https://www.biomedcentral.com/about/press-centre/science-press-releases/23-11-18|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref><ref name="BMC-20181123">{{Cite journal|last1=Singh|first1=Nitin K.|last2=Bezdan|first2=Daniela|last3=Sielaff|first3=Aleksandra Checinska|last4=Wheeler|first4=Kevin|last5=Mason|first5=Christopher E.|last6=Vendateswaran|first6=Kasthuri|display-authors=1|date=23 November 2018|title=Multi-drug resistant Enterobacter bugandensis species isolated from the International Space Station and comparative genomic analyses with human pathogenic strains|journal=]|volume=18|issue=1|page=175|doi=10.1186/s12866-018-1325-2|pmc=6251167|pmid=30466389|doi-access=free}}</ref> | |||
| Contamination on space stations can be prevented by reduced humidity, and by using paint that contains mold-killing chemicals, as well as the use of antiseptic solutions. All materials used in the ISS are tested for resistance against ].<ref>{{cite web|first=Patrick L.|last=Barry|year=2000|title=Microscopic Stowaways on the ISS|url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2000/ast26nov_1/|access-date=29 March 2015|archive-date=2 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302090949/http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2000/ast26nov_1/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Since 2016, a series of ESA-sponsored experiments have been conducted to test the anti-bacterial properties of various materials, with the goal of developing "smart surfaces" that mitigate bacterial growth in multiple ways, using the best method for a particular circumstance. Dubbed "Microbial Aerosol Tethering on Innovative Surfaces" (MATISS), the programme involves deployment of small plaques containing an array of glass squares covered with different test coatings. They remain on the station for six months before being returned to earth for analysis.<ref name="eoportal-iss-matiss">{{Cite web|url=https://www.eoportal.org/other-space-activities/iss-matiss|title=ISS: MATISS|date=30 June 2023|publisher=]|access-date=11 June 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810132645/https://www.eoportal.org/other-space-activities/iss-matiss|archive-date=10 August 2023|website=eoportal.org}}</ref> The most recent and final experiment of the series was launched on 5 June 2023 aboard the ] cargo mission to ISS, comprising four plaques. Whereas previous experiments in the series were limited to analysis by ], this experiment uses quartz glass made of pure silica, which will allow ]. Two of the plaques were returned after eight months and the remaining two after 16 months.<ref name="arstechnica-20230608">{{Cite news|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/06/testing-antibacterial-surfaces-on-the-international-space-station/|title=Testing antibacterial surfaces on the International Space Station|last=Khadilkar|first=Dhananjay|date=8 June 2023|access-date=11 June 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231108032832/https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/06/testing-antibacterial-surfaces-on-the-international-space-station/|archive-date=8 November 2023|work=]}}</ref> | |||
| ===Medical=== | |||
| ] is attached to the ] with bungee cords aboard the International Space Station|alt=Astronaut Frank De Winne is attached to the TVIS treadmill with bungee cords aboard the International Space Station]] | |||
| Medical effects of long-term weightlessness include ], deterioration of the skeleton ], fluid redistribution, a slowing of the cardiovascular system, decreased production of red blood cells, balance disorders, and a weakening of the immune system. Lesser symptoms include loss of body mass, and puffiness of the face.<ref name="JCB" /> | |||
| In April 2019, NASA reported that a comprehensive study had been conducted into the microorganisms and fungi present on the ISS. The experiment was performed over a period of 14 months on three different flight missions, and involved taking samples from 8 predefined locations inside the station, then returning them to earth for analysis. In prior experiments, analysis was limited to culture-based methods, thus overlooking microbes which cannot be grown in culture. The present study used ]-based methods in addition to culturing, resulting in a more complete catalog. The results may be useful in improving the health and safety conditions for astronauts, as well as better understanding other closed-in environments on Earth such as clean rooms used by the pharmaceutical and medical industries.<ref name="EA-20190407">{{Cite press release|url=https://www.biomedcentral.com/about/press-centre/science-press-releases/08-04-19|title=NASA researchers catalogue all microbes and fungi on the International Space Station|last=Korn|first=Anne|date=7 April 2019|publisher=]|access-date=30 August 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131751/https://www.biomedcentral.com/about/press-centre/science-press-releases/08-04-19|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref><ref name="MBJ-20190408">{{Cite journal|last=Sielaff|first=Aleksandra Checinska|display-authors=et al.|date=8 April 2019|title=Characterization of the total and viable bacterial and fungal communities associated with the International Space Station surfaces|journal=Microbiome|volume=7|issue=50|page=50|doi=10.1186/s40168-019-0666-x|pmc=6452512|pmid=30955503|doi-access=free}}</ref> | |||
| Sleep is disturbed on the ISS regularly because of mission demands, such as incoming or departing ships. Sound levels in the station are unavoidably high. Because the atmosphere is unable to ], fans are required at all times to allow processing of the atmosphere which would stagnate in the freefall (zero-g) environment. | |||
| ====Noise==== | |||
| To prevent some of these adverse ] effects, the station is equipped with two treadmills (including the ]), and the aRED (advanced Resistive Exercise Device) which enables various weightlifting exercises which add muscle but do not compensate for or raise astronauts' reduced bone density,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Schneider |first1=S. M. |last2=Amonette |first2=W. E. |last3=Blazine |first3=K. |last4=Bentley |first4=J. |last5=c. Lee |first5=S. M. |last6=Loehr |first6=J. A. |last7=Moore |first7=A. D. |last8=Rapley |first8=M. |last9=Mulder |first9=E. R. | last10 = Smith | first10 = S. M. |doi=10.1249/01.MSS.0000093611.88198.08 |title=Training with the International Space Station Interim Resistive Exercise Device |journal=Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise |volume=35 |issue=11 |pages=1935–1945 |year=2003 |pmid=14600562 |pmc=}}</ref> and a stationary bicycle; each astronaut spends at least two hours per day exercising on the equipment.<ref name="ESALife" /><ref name="NASACrewEquip" /> Astronauts use bungee cords to strap themselves to the treadmill.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/bungee_running.html |accessdate=23 August 2009 |title=Bungee Cords Keep Astronauts Grounded While Running |date=16 June 2009 |publisher=NASA}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/colbert_feature.html |accessdate=23 August 2009 |title=Do Tread on Me |date=19 August 2009 |author=Amiko Kauderer |publisher=NASA}}</ref> | |||
| Space flight is not inherently quiet, with noise levels exceeding acoustic standards as far back as the ].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Limardo|first1=José G.|last2=Allen|first2=Christopher S.|last3=Danielson|first3=Richard W.|title=43rd International Conference on Environmental Systems|chapter=Assessment of Crewmember Noise Exposures on the International Space Station|date=14 July 2013|location=Vail, Colorado|publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics|doi=10.2514/6.2013-3516|isbn=978-1-62410-215-8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Nakashima|first1=Ann|last2=Limardo|first2=José|last3=Boone|first3=Andrew|last4=Danielson|first4=Richard W.|date=31 January 2020|title=Influence of impulse noise on noise dosimetry measurements on the International Space Station|journal=International Journal of Audiology|volume=59|issue=sup1|pages=S40–S47|doi=10.1080/14992027.2019.1698067|issn=1499-2027|pmid=31846378|s2cid=209407363|doi-access=free}}</ref> For this reason, NASA and the International Space Station international partners have developed ] and ] prevention goals as part of the health program for crew members. Specifically, these goals have been the primary focus of the ISS Multilateral Medical Operations Panel (MMOP) Acoustics Subgroup since the first days of ISS assembly and operations.<ref name="MMOP_SSP_50260">{{cite web|date=May 2003|title=International Space Station Medical Operations Requirements Documents (ISS MORD), SSP 50260 Revision B|url=http://emits.sso.esa.int/emits-doc/ESTEC/AO6216-SoW-RD9.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220193031/http://emits.sso.esa.int/emits-doc/ESTEC/AO6216-SoW-RD9.pdf|archive-date=20 February 2020|website=emits.sso.esa.int|publisher=NASA}}</ref><ref name="iss-acoustics">{{Cite conference|last1=Allen|first1=Christopher S.|last2=Denham|first2=Samuel A.|date=17 July 2011|title=International Space Station Acoustics – A Status Report|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20100039608/downloads/20100039608.pdf|conference=International Conference on Environmental Systems|location=Portland, Oregon|id=JSC-CN-24071 / JSC-CN-22173|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118185324/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20100039608/downloads/20100039608.pdf|archive-date=18 November 2023|hdl-access=free|url-status=live|hdl=2060/20150010438|website=ntrs.nasa.gov}}</ref> The effort includes contributions from ], ], ], and physicians who comprise the subgroup's membership from NASA, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). | |||
| When compared to terrestrial environments, the noise levels incurred by astronauts and cosmonauts on the ISS may seem insignificant and typically occur at levels that would not be of major concern to the ] – rarely reaching 85 dBA. But crew members are exposed to these levels 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with current missions averaging six months in duration. These levels of noise also impose risks to crew health and performance in the form of sleep interference and communication, as well as reduced alarm ]. | |||
| ===Microbiological environmental hazards=== | |||
| {{see also|Mir#Microbiological environmental hazards}} | |||
| Hazardous moulds which can foul air and water filters may develop aboard space stations. They can produce acids which degrade metal, glass, and rubber. They can also be harmful for the crew's health. Microbiological hazards have led to a development of the ] that can identify common bacteria and moulds faster than standard methods of ], which may require a sample to be sent back to Earth.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/11may_locad3/ |title=Preventing "Sick" Spaceships |publisher=NASA |first=Trudy E. |last=Bell |date=11 May 2007 |access-date=29 March 2015}}</ref> {{As of|2012}}, 76 types of unregulated micro-organisms have been detected on the ISS.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://rt.com/news/iss-bacteria-mir-mutation-765/ |title=Mutant space microbes attack ISS: 'Munch' metal, may crack glass |work=] |date=23 April 2012 |access-date=29 March 2015}}</ref> Researchers in 2018 reported, after detecting the presence of five '']'' bacterial strains on the ISS, none ]ic to humans, that ]s on ISS should be carefully monitored to continue assuring a medically healthy environment for ]s.<ref name="EA-20181122">{{cite web |url=https://www.biomedcentral.com/about/press-centre/science-press-releases/23-11-18 |title=ISS microbes should be monitored to avoid threat to astronaut health |work=Biomed Central |first=Anne |last=Korn |date=23 November 2018 |accessdate=11 January 2019}}</ref><ref name="BMC-20181123">{{cite journal |title=Multi-drug resistant Enterobacter bugandensis species isolated from the International Space Station and comparative genomic analyses with human pathogenic strains |journal=] |first1=Nitin K. |last1=Singh |first2=Daniela |last2=Bezdan |first3=Aleksandra Checinska |last3=Sielaff |first4=Kevin |last4=Wheeler |first5=Christopher E. |last5=Mason |first6=Kasthuri |last6=Vendateswaran |display-authors=1 |volume=18 |page=175 |date=23 November 2018 |doi=10.1186/s12866-018-1325-2 |pmid=30466389 |pmc=6251167}}</ref> | |||
| Over the 19 plus year history of the ISS, significant efforts have been put forth to limit and reduce noise levels on the ISS. During design and pre-flight activities, members of the Acoustic Subgroup have written acoustic limits and verification requirements, consulted to design and choose the quietest available payloads, and then conducted acoustic verification tests prior to launch.<ref name=MMOP_SSP_50260 />{{rp|5.7.3}} During spaceflights, the Acoustics Subgroup has assessed each ISS module's in flight sound levels, produced by a large number of vehicle and science experiment noise sources, to assure compliance with strict acoustic standards. The acoustic environment on ISS changed when additional modules were added during its construction, and as additional spacecraft arrive at the ISS. The Acoustics Subgroup has responded to this dynamic operations schedule by successfully designing and employing acoustic covers, absorptive materials, ]s, and vibration isolators to reduce noise levels. Moreover, when pumps, fans, and ventilation systems age and show increased noise levels, this Acoustics Subgroup has guided ISS managers to replace the older, noisier instruments with quiet fan and pump technologies, significantly reducing ]s. | |||
| Reduced humidity, paint with mould-killing chemicals, and antiseptic solutions can be used to prevent contamination in space stations. All materials used in the ISS are tested for resistance against fungi.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2000/ast26nov_1/ |author=Patrick L. Barry |year=2000 |title=Microscopic Stowaways on the ISS |access-date=29 March 2015}}</ref> | |||
| NASA has adopted most-conservative damage risk criteria (based on recommendations from the ] and the ]), in order to protect all crew members. The MMOP Acoustics Subgroup has adjusted its approach to managing noise risks in this unique environment by applying, or modifying, terrestrial approaches for hearing loss prevention to set these conservative limits. One innovative approach has been NASA's Noise Exposure Estimation Tool (NEET), in which noise exposures are calculated in a task-based approach to determine the need for ]s (HPDs). Guidance for use of HPDs, either mandatory use or recommended, is then documented in the Noise Hazard Inventory, and posted for crew reference during their missions. The Acoustics Subgroup also tracks spacecraft noise exceedances, applies ], and recommends hearing protective devices to reduce crew noise exposures. Finally, hearing thresholds are monitored on-orbit, during missions. | |||
| ==Orbital debris threats== | |||
| {{Main|Space debris}} | |||
| There have been no persistent mission-related hearing threshold shifts among US Orbital Segment crewmembers (JAXA, CSA, ESA, NASA) during what is approaching 20 years of ISS mission operations, or nearly 175,000 work hours. In 2020, the MMOP Acoustics Subgroup received the ] for Innovation for their combined efforts to mitigate any health effects of noise.<ref>{{cite web|year=2020|title=Safe in Sound Winners|url=https://www.safeinsound.us/winners.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625051514/https://www.safeinsound.us/winners.html|archive-date=25 June 2020|website=safeinsound.us}}</ref> | |||
| ====Fire and toxic gases==== | |||
| An onboard fire or a toxic gas leak are other potential hazards. Ammonia is used in the external radiators of the station and could potentially leak into the pressurised modules.<ref>{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doN4t5NKW-k|title=Departing Space Station Commander Provides Tour of Orbital Laboratory|date=3 July 2015|last=Williams|first=Suni (presenter)|publisher=NASA|time=18.00–18.17|access-date=1 September 2019|quote=And some of the things we have to worry about in space are fire ... or if we had some type of toxic atmosphere. We use ammonia for our radiators so there is a possibility that ammonia could come into the vehicle.|medium=video|archive-date=14 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814155134/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doN4t5NKW-k|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| ==Orbit, environment, debris and visibility== | |||
| {{anchor|Orbit}} | |||
| ===Altitude and orbital inclination=== | |||
| {{multiple image |align=right |total_width=400 | {{multiple image |align=right |total_width=400 | ||
| |image1=Altitude of International Space Station.svg|caption1=Graph showing the changing altitude of the ISS from November 1998 until November 2018 | |||
| |image1=SDIO KEW Lexan projectile.jpg |caption1=A 7 g object (shown in centre) shot at {{convert|7|km/s|ft/s|abbr=on}}, the orbital velocity of the ISS, made this {{convert|15|cm|in|abbr=on}} crater in a solid block of ]. | |||
| |image2=Animation of International Space Station trajectory.gif |caption2=Animation of ISS orbit from 14 September 2018 to 14 November 2018. Earth is not shown. | |||
| |image2=Debris-GEO1280.jpg |caption2=]-trackable objects, including debris, with distinct ring of ] satellites | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| The ISS is currently maintained in a nearly circular orbit with a minimum mean altitude of {{convert|370|km|mi|-1|abbr=on}} and a maximum of {{convert|460|km|mi|-1|abbr=on}},<ref name="nasa-iss-overview">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-overview/|title=International Space Station Overview|last=Garcia|first=Mark|date=28 April 2016|publisher=]|access-date=28 March 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120175258/https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-overview/|archive-date=20 November 2023}}</ref> in the centre of the ], at an ] of 51.6 degrees to Earth's equator with an eccentricity of 0.007.{{citation needed|date=April 2024|reason=eccentricity is changing over time, heavens-above.com is reporting 0.0004733 as of 8 April 2024.}} This orbit was selected because it is the lowest inclination that can be directly reached by Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft launched from ] at 46° N latitude without overflying China or dropping spent rocket stages in inhabited areas.<ref name="MCC Answer">{{cite web|last=Cooney|first=Jim|title=Mission Control Answers Your Questions|url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/answer/mcc/sts-112/09_04_12_54_17.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627185009/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/feedback/expert/answer/mcc/sts-112/09_04_12_54_17.html|archive-date=27 June 2009|access-date=12 June 2011|quote=Jim Cooney ISS Trajectory Operations Officer|location=Houston, Texas}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Pelt|first=Michel van|title=Into the Solar System on a String : Space Tethers and Space Elevators|publisher=Springer New York|year=2009|isbn=978-0-387-76555-6|edition=1st|location=New York, New York|page=133}}</ref> It travels at an average speed of {{convert|28000|km/h|mph|-3|abbr=}}, and completes {{Orbit|daily orbits|15.5}} orbits per day (93 minutes per orbit).{{Orbit|ref|<ref name="heavens-above" />}}<ref name="tracking">{{Cite web|url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/index.html|title=Current ISS Tracking data|date=15 December 2008|publisher=]|access-date=28 January 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225022741/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/index.html|archive-date=25 December 2015}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> The station's altitude was allowed to fall around the time of each NASA shuttle flight to permit heavier loads to be transferred to the station. After the retirement of the shuttle, the nominal orbit of the space station was raised in altitude (from about 350 km to about 400 km).<ref name="nsf-20110620">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/06/europes-atv-2-depart-iss-make-way-russias-progress-m-11m/|title=Europe's ATV-2 departs ISS to make way for Russia's Progress M-11M|date=20 June 2011|access-date=1 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811170911/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/06/europes-atv-2-depart-iss-make-way-russias-progress-m-11m/|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=]}}</ref><ref name="Popular Mechanics">{{Cite magazine|first=Rand|last=Simberg|date=29 July 2008|title=The Uncertain Future of the International Space Station: Analysis|url=http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4275571.html|url-status=dead|magazine=]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331140838/http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4275571.html|archive-date=31 March 2009|access-date=6 March 2009}}</ref> Other, more frequent supply spacecraft do not require this adjustment as they are substantially higher performance vehicles.<ref name="Worldbook at NASA">{{cite web|last=Oberg|first=James|year=2005|title=International Space Station|url=http://www.worldbookonline.com/pl/referencecenter/article?id=ar279523|access-date=3 April 2016|publisher=World Book Online Reference Center}}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="nasa.gov-iss-environment">{{cite web|title=ISS Environment|url=http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/D-aboutiss/D6.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213164432/http://pdlprod3.hosc.msfc.nasa.gov/D-aboutiss/D6.html|archive-date=13 February 2008|access-date=15 October 2007|url-status=dead|publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
| At the low altitudes at which the ISS orbits, there is a variety of space debris,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://defensenews.com/blogs/space-symposium/2009/04/03/its-getting-crowded-up-there/#more-155 |publisher=Defense News |accessdate=7 October 2009 |author=Michael Hoffman |title=National Space Symposium 2009: It's getting crowded up there |date=3 April 2009}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> consisting of different objects including entire spent rocket stages, defunct satellites, explosion fragments—including materials from ] tests, paint flakes, slag from solid rocket motors, and coolant released by ] nuclear-powered satellites. These objects, in addition to natural ]s,<ref>{{cite magazine |author=F. L. Whipple |year=1949 |title=The Theory of Micrometeoroids |magazine=Popular Astronomy |volume=57 |page=517 |bibcode=1949PA.....57..517W}}</ref> are a significant threat. Large objects could destroy the station, but are less of a threat because their orbits can be predicted.<ref name="NSFdebris">{{cite web |publisher=NASASpaceflight.com |accessdate=28 June 2011 |date=28 June 2011 |author=Chris Bergin |url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/06/sts-135-frr-july-8-atlantis-debris-misses-iss/ |title=STS-135: FRR sets 8 July Launch Date for Atlantis – Debris misses ISS}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Henry Nahra |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19890016664_1989016664.pdf |title=Effect of Micrometeoroid and Space Debris Impacts on the Space Station Freedom Solar Array Surfaces |date=24–29 April 1989 |publisher=NASA |accessdate=7 October 2009}}</ref> Objects too small to be detected by optical and radar instruments, from approximately 1 cm down to microscopic size, number in the trillions. Despite their small size, some of these objects are a threat because of their ] and direction in relation to the station. Spacesuits of spacewalking crew could puncture, causing ].<ref name=debrisdecomp>{{cite web |title=Space Suit Punctures and Decompression |url=http://www.asi.org/adb/04/03/08/suit-punctures.html |publisher=The Artemis Project |accessdate=20 July 2011}}</ref> | |||
| Atmospheric drag reduces the altitude by about 2 km a month on average. Orbital boosting can be performed by the station's two main engines on the ''Zvezda'' service module, or Russian or European spacecraft docked to ''Zvezda''{{'s}} aft port. The Automated Transfer Vehicle is constructed with the possibility of adding a ] to its aft end, allowing other craft to dock and boost the station. It takes approximately two orbits (three hours) for the boost to a higher altitude to be completed.<ref name="nasa.gov-iss-environment" /> Maintaining ISS altitude uses about 7.5 tonnes of chemical fuel per annum<ref name="newscientist.com">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17918-rocket-company-tests-worlds-most-powerful-ion-engine/|title=Rocket company tests world's most powerful ion engine|last=Shiga|first=David|date=5 October 2009|access-date=10 August 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810145849/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17918-rocket-company-tests-worlds-most-powerful-ion-engine/|archive-date=10 August 2023|magazine=]}}</ref> at an annual cost of about $210 million.<ref name="aaESummary20100124">{{cite web|date=24 January 2010|title=Executive summary|url=http://www.adastrarocket.com/EXECUTIVE%20SUMMARY240110.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100331171616/http://www.adastrarocket.com/EXECUTIVE%20SUMMARY240110.pdf|archive-date=31 March 2010|access-date=27 February 2010|publisher=Ad Astra Rocket Company}}</ref> | |||
| Ballistic panels, also called micrometeorite shielding, are incorporated into the station to protect pressurised sections and critical systems. The type and thickness of these panels depend on their predicted exposure to damage. The station's shields and structure have different designs on the ROS and the USOS. On the USOS, ] are used, consisting generally of a thin aluminium sheet held apart from the hull, optionally with intermediate layers of Kevlar and Nextel, which causes objects to shatter into a cloud before hitting the hull, thereby spreading the energy of impact. On the ROS, a carbon plastic honeycomb screen is spaced from the hull, an aluminium honeycomb screen is spaced from that, with a screen-vacuum thermal insulation covering, and glass cloth over the top. | |||
| ] | |||
| ]: A NASA model showing areas at high risk from impact for the International Space Station.]] | |||
| The Russian Orbital Segment contains the Data Management System, which handles Guidance, Navigation and Control (ROS GNC) for the entire station.<ref name="Navigation">{{Cite web|url=https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/International_Space_Station/DMS-R_ESA_s_Data_Management_System|title=DMS-R: ESA's Data Management System|publisher=]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811163127/https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/International_Space_Station/DMS-R_ESA_s_Data_Management_System|archive-date=11 August 2023}}</ref> Initially, ''Zarya'', the first module of the station, controlled the station until a short time after the Russian service module ''Zvezda'' docked and was transferred control. ''Zvezda'' contains the ESA built DMS-R Data Management System.<ref name="EsaComputer">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.esa.int/esapub/onstation/onstation17/os17_chapter6.pdf|title=Exercising Control 49 months of DMS-R Operations|last1=Reimers|first1=Claus|last2=Guyomard|first2=Daniel|date=August 2004|publisher=]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811162355/https://www.esa.int/esapub/onstation/onstation17/os17_chapter6.pdf|archive-date=11 August 2023|magazine=on Station|volume=17}}</ref> Using two fault-tolerant computers (FTC), ''Zvezda'' computes the station's position and orbital trajectory using redundant Earth horizon sensors, Solar horizon sensors as well as Sun and star trackers. The FTCs each contain three identical processing units working in parallel and provide advanced fault-masking by majority voting. | |||
| Space debris is tracked remotely from the ground, and the station crew can be notified.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/library/EducationPackage.pdf |title=Microsoft PowerPoint – EducationPackage SMALL.ppt |accessdate=1 May 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408183946/http://www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/library/EducationPackage.pdf |archivedate=8 April 2008}}</ref> This allows for a ] (DAM) to be conducted, which uses thrusters on the Russian Orbital Segment to alter the station's orbital altitude, avoiding the debris. DAMs are not uncommon, taking place if computational models show the debris will approach within a certain threat distance.<!-- Original reference missing<ref name="NSFSafeHaven" /> --> Eight DAMs had been performed prior to March 2009,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16777-space-station-may-move-to-dodge-debris.html |title=Space station may move to dodge debris |work=New Scientist |date=16 March 2009 |accessdate=20 April 2010 |author=Rachel Courtland}}</ref> the first seven between October 1999 and May 2003.<ref name=ODOct08>{{cite journal |url=http://www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/newsletter/pdfs/ODQNv12i4.pdf |title=ISS Maneuvers to Avoid Russian Fragmentation Debris |pages=1&2 |journal=Orbital Debris Quarterly News |date=October 2008 |accessdate=20 April 2010 |volume=12 |issue=4 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527134134/http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/newsletter/pdfs/ODQNv12i4.pdf |archivedate=27 May 2010}}</ref> Usually, the orbit is raised by one or two kilometres by means of an increase in orbital velocity of the order of 1 m/s. Unusually, there was a lowering of 1.7 km on 27 August 2008, the first such lowering for 8 years.<ref name=ODOct08 /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/esaMI/ATV/SEM64X0SAKF_0.html |title=ATV carries out first debris avoidance manoeuvre for the ISS |publisher=ESA |date=28 August 2008 |accessdate=26 February 2010}}</ref> There were two DAMs in 2009, on 22 March and 17 July.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/newsletter/pdfs/ODQNv14i1.pdf |title=Avoiding satellite collisions in 2009 |page=2 |journal=Orbital Debris Quarterly News |volume=14 |date=January 2010 |issue=1 |accessdate=20 April 2010 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527142755/http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/newsletter/pdfs/ODQNv14i1.pdf |archivedate=27 May 2010}}</ref> If a threat from orbital debris is identified too late for a DAM to be safely conducted, the station crew close all the hatches aboard the station and retreat into their ], so that they would be able to evacuate in the event the station was seriously damaged by the debris. This partial station evacuation has occurred on 13 March 2009, 28 June 2011, 24 March 2012 and 16 June 2015.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17497766 |title=ISS crew take to escape capsules in space junk alert |accessdate=24 March 2012 |work=BBC News |date=24 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2015/07/16/station-crew-takes-precautions-for-close-pass-of-space-debris/ |title=Station Crew Takes Precautions for Close Pass of Space Debris |accessdate=16 June 2015 |work=NASA Blog |date=16 June 2015}}</ref> | |||
| == |
===Orientation=== | ||
| ''Zvezda'' uses gyroscopes (]s) and thrusters to turn itself. Gyroscopes do not require propellant; instead they use electricity to 'store' momentum in flywheels by turning in the opposite direction to the station's movement. The USOS has its own computer-controlled gyroscopes to handle its extra mass. When gyroscopes ], thrusters are used to cancel out the stored momentum. In February 2005, during Expedition 10, an incorrect command was sent to the station's computer, using about 14 kilograms of propellant before the fault was noticed and fixed. When attitude control computers in the ROS and USOS fail to communicate properly, this can result in a rare 'force fight' where the ROS GNC computer must ignore the USOS counterpart, which itself has no thrusters.<ref>{{cite web|date=7 October 2003|title=Russian / US GNC Force Fight|url=http://pims.grc.nasa.gov/pimsdocs/public/ISS%20Handbook/hb_qs_vehicle_RussianUSGNCForceFight.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720193844/http://pims.grc.nasa.gov/pimsdocs/public/ISS%20Handbook/hb_qs_vehicle_RussianUSGNCForceFight.pdf|archive-date=20 July 2012|access-date=1 May 2012|website=pims.grc.nasa.gov|publisher=]}}</ref><ref name="iss-report-05-07">{{Cite web|url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/issreports/2005/iss05-7.html|title=International Space Station Status Report #05-7|date=11 February 2005|publisher=]|access-date=23 November 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050317194246/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/issreports/2005/iss05-7.html|archive-date=17 March 2005}}</ref><ref name="nasa-dynamics-report">{{Cite tech report|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20030038806/downloads/20030038806.pdf|title=Dynamics and Control of Attitude, Power, and Momentum for a Spacecraft Using Flywheels and Control Moment Gyroscopes|last1=Roithmayr|first1=Carlos M.|last2=Karlgaard|first2=Christopher D.|last3=Kumar|first3=Renjith R.|last4=Seywald|first4=Hans|last5=Bose|first5=David M.|date=April 2003|publisher=]|location=Hampton, Virginia|id=TP-2003-212178|access-date=12 July 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810132103/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20030038806/downloads/20030038806.pdf|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref> | |||
| ], such as ]]] | |||
| According to a 2009 report, ] is considering methods to remove from the station some modules of the Russian Orbital Segment when the end of mission is reached and use them as a basis for a new station, called the ] (OPSEK). The modules under consideration for removal from the current ISS include the ] (Nauka), currently scheduled to be launched in November 2019, and other Russian modules which are planned to be attached to Nauka afterwards. Those modules would be within their useful lives in 2020 or 2024. The report presents a statement from an unnamed Russian engineer that, based on the experience from ''Mir'', a 30-year life should be possible, except for micrometeorite damage, because the Russian modules have been built with on-orbit refurbishment in mind.<ref name="RussiaSave">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8064060.stm |title=Russia 'to save its ISS modules' |work=BBC News |date=22 May 2009 |accessdate=23 May 2009 |author=Anatoly Zak}}</ref> | |||
| Docked spacecraft can also be used to maintain station attitude, such as for troubleshooting or during the ], which provides electrical power and data interfaces for the station's electronics.<ref name="nsf-20070614">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2007/06/atlantis-ready-to-support-iss-troubleshooting/|title=Atlantis ready to support ISS troubleshooting|last=Bergin|first=Chris|date=14 June 2007|access-date=6 March 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131051544/http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2007/06/atlantis-ready-to-support-iss-troubleshooting/|archive-date=31 January 2010|work=]}}</ref> | |||
| According to the ], the United States and Russia are legally responsible for all modules they have launched.<ref>. (PDF). United Nations. New York. 2002. {{ISBN|92-1-100900-6}}. Retrieved 8 October 2011.</ref> In ISS planning, NASA examined options including returning the station to Earth via shuttle missions (deemed too expensive, as the USOS is not designed for disassembly and this would require at least 27 shuttle missions<ref>{{cite book |url=http://search.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9794&page=28 |title=Engineering Challenges to the Long-Term Operation of the International Space Station |publisher=National Academies Press |first=Thomas |last=Kelly |pages=28–30 |year=2000 |doi=10.17226/9794 |isbn=978-0-309-06938-0}}</ref>), natural orbital decay with random reentry similar to '']'', boosting the station to a higher altitude (which would delay reentry) and a controlled targeted de-orbit to a remote ocean area.<ref name=ISSEIS>{{cite web |title=Tier 2 EIS for ISS |publisher=NASA |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19960053133_1996092350.pdf |accessdate=12 July 2011}}</ref> | |||
| ===Orbital debris threats=== | |||
| A controlled deorbit into a remote ocean was found to be technically feasible only with Russia's assistance.<ref name=ISSEIS /> The Russian Space Agency has experience from de-orbiting the ], ], ], ] and '']'' space stations; NASA's first intentional controlled de-orbit of a satellite (the ]) occurred in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |title=Entry Debris Field estimation methods and application to Compton Gamma Ray Observatory |publisher=Mission Operations Directorate, NASA Johnson Space Center |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20010084992_2001127597.pdf |accessdate=12 July 2011}}</ref> As of late 2010, the preferred plan is to use a slightly modified Progress spacecraft to de-orbit the ISS.<ref name=deo>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/578543main_asap_eol_plan_2010_101020.pdf |title=ISS End-of-Life Disposal Plan |last=Suffredini |first=Michael |date=October 2010 |publisher=NASA |accessdate=7 March 2012}}</ref> This plan was seen as the simplest, cheapest and with the highest margin.<ref name=deo /> '']'', the only space station built and launched entirely by the US, decayed from orbit slowly over 5 years, and no<!--yes the solar panels were re-arranged, but that has no significant effect, also, the atmospheric entry article helps with refs and explaining this--> attempt was made to de-orbit it using a ]. Remains of ''Skylab'' hit populated areas of ]<ref name="debris">{{cite web |url=http://www.eclipsetours.com/sat/debris.html |accessdate=28 May 2011 |title=Paul Maley's (Skylab spaceflight controller) Space Debris Page |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050227035256/http://www.eclipsetours.com/sat/debris.html |archivedate=27 February 2005}}</ref> without injuries or loss of life. | |||
| {{Main|Space debris}} | |||
| The low altitudes at which the ISS orbits are also home to a variety of space debris,<ref>{{cite web|last=Hoffman|first=Michael|date=3 April 2009|title=National Space Symposium 2009: It's getting crowded up there|url=http://defensenews.com/blogs/space-symposium/2009/04/03/its-getting-crowded-up-there/#more-155|access-date=7 October 2009|publisher=Defense News}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> including spent rocket stages, defunct satellites, explosion fragments (including materials from ] tests), paint flakes, slag from solid rocket motors, and coolant released by ] nuclear-powered satellites. These objects, in addition to natural ]s,<ref>{{Cite magazine|first=F. L.|last=Whipple|year=1949|title=The Theory of Micrometeoroids|magazine=Popular Astronomy|volume=57|page=517|bibcode=1949PA.....57..517W}}</ref> are a significant threat. Objects large enough to destroy the station can be tracked, and therefore are not as dangerous as smaller debris.<ref name="NSFdebris">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/06/sts-135-frr-july-8-atlantis-debris-misses-iss/|title=STS-135: FRR sets 8 July Launch Date for Atlantis – Debris misses ISS|last=Bergin|first=Chris|date=28 June 2011|access-date=28 June 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811180427/https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/06/sts-135-frr-july-8-atlantis-debris-misses-iss/|archive-date=11 August 2023|work=]}}</ref><ref name="nasa-micrometeoroid-report">{{Cite conference|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19890016664/downloads/19890016664.pdf|title=Effect of Micrometeoroid and Space Debris Impacts on the Space Station Freedom Solar Array Surfaces|last=Nahra|first=Henry|date=24–29 April 1989|publisher=]|location=San Diego, CA|id=TM-102287|access-date=7 October 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231125180642/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19890016664/downloads/19890016664.pdf|archive-date=25 November 2023|conference=Spring Meeting of the Materials Research Society}}</ref> Objects too small to be detected by optical and radar instruments, from approximately 1 cm down to microscopic size, number in the trillions. Despite their small size, some of these objects are a threat because of their ] and direction in relation to the station. Spacewalking crew in spacesuits are also at risk of suit damage and consequent ].<ref name="debrisdecomp">{{cite web|title=Space Suit Punctures and Decompression|url=http://www.asi.org/adb/04/03/08/suit-punctures.html|access-date=20 July 2011|publisher=The Artemis Project|archive-date=15 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615061834/http://www.asi.org/adb/04/03/08/suit-punctures.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| The ], a discussion by NASA and Boeing at the end of 2011, suggested using leftover USOS hardware and '] 2' {{sic}} as a refuelling depot and service station located at one of the Earth-Moon ], L1 or L2. The entire USOS cannot be reused and will be discarded, but some Russian modules are planned to be reused. '']'', the ], two science power platforms and ''Rassvet'', launched between 2010 and 2015 and joined to the ROS, may be separated to form ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_dc.html |title=DC-1 and MIM-2 |publisher=Russianspaceweb.com |accessdate=12 July 2011 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210130224/http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_dc.html |archivedate=10 February 2009}}</ref> ''Nauka'' will be used in the station, whose main goal is supporting manned deep space exploration. OPSEK will orbit at a higher inclination of 71 degrees, allowing observation to and from all of the Russian Federation. | |||
| Ballistic panels, also called micrometeorite shielding, are incorporated into the station to protect pressurised sections and critical systems. The type and thickness of these panels depend on their predicted exposure to damage. The station's shields and structure have different designs on the ROS and the USOS. On the USOS, ]s are used. The US segment modules consist of an inner layer made from {{cvt|1.5|–|5.0|cm|in|adj=mid|-thick}} ], a {{cvt|10|cm|in|adj=mid|-thick}} intermediate layers of ] and Nextel (a ceramic fabric),<ref name="nasa-20040716">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/missions/science/spinoff9_nextel_f.html|title=Superhero Ceramics!|last=Plain|first=Charlie|date=16 July 2004|publisher=]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123170947/https://www.nasa.gov/missions/science/spinoff9_nextel_f.html|archive-date=23 January 2008}}</ref> and an outer layer of ], which causes objects to shatter into a cloud before hitting the hull, thereby spreading the energy of impact. On the ROS, a ] honeycomb screen is spaced from the hull, an aluminium honeycomb screen is spaced from that, with a screen-vacuum thermal insulation covering, and glass cloth over the top.<ref name="roscomos-iss">{{Cite web|url=http://en.roscosmos.ru/202/|title=International Space Station|publisher=]|access-date=14 May 2020|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627235737/http://en.roscosmos.ru/202/|archive-date=27 June 2021}}</ref> | |||
| In February 2015, Roscosmos announced that it would remain a part of the ISS programme until 2024.<ref name=sn20150225>{{cite news |last1=de Selding |first1=Peter B. |title=Russia — and Its Modules — To Part Ways with ISS in 2024 |url=http://spacenews.com/russia-and-its-modules-to-part-ways-with-iss-in-2024/ |accessdate=26 February 2015 |work=Space News |date=25 February 2015}}</ref> Nine months earlier—in response to US sanctions against Russia over the ]—Russian Deputy Prime Minister ] had stated that Russia would reject a US request to prolong the orbiting station's use beyond 2020, and would only supply rocket engines to the US for non-military satellite launches.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10828964/Russia-to-ban-US-from-using-Space-Station-over-Ukraine-sanctions.html |title=Russia to ban US from using Space Station over Ukraine sanctions |agency=Reuters |work=The Telegraph |date=13 May 2014 |accessdate=14 May 2014}}</ref> | |||
| Space debris is tracked remotely from the ground, and the station crew can be notified.<ref name="nasa-debris-package">{{Cite web|url=http://www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/library/EducationPackage.pdf|title=Orbital Debris Education Package|last1=Jorgensen|first1=Kira|last2=Johnson|first2=Nicholas|publisher=]|access-date=1 May 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408183946/http://www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/library/EducationPackage.pdf|archive-date=8 April 2008}}</ref> If necessary, thrusters on the Russian Orbital Segment can alter the station's orbital altitude, avoiding the debris. These ]s (DAMs) are not uncommon, taking place if computational models show the debris will approach within a certain threat distance. Ten DAMs had been performed by the end of 2009.<ref name="newscientist-20090316">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16777-space-station-may-move-to-dodge-debris.html|title=Space station may move to dodge debris|last=Courtland|first=Rachel|date=16 March 2009|access-date=20 April 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812203203/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16777-space-station-may-move-to-dodge-debris/|archive-date=12 August 2023|magazine=]}}</ref><ref name="ODOct08">{{Cite journal|date=October 2008|title=ISS Maneuvers to Avoid Russian Fragmentation Debris|url=http://www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/newsletter/pdfs/ODQNv12i4.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=Orbital Debris Quarterly News|volume=12|issue=4|pages=1&2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527134134/http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/newsletter/pdfs/ODQNv12i4.pdf|archive-date=27 May 2010|access-date=20 April 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=January 2010|title=Avoiding satellite collisions in 2009|url=http://www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/newsletter/pdfs/ODQNv14i1.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=Orbital Debris Quarterly News|volume=14|issue=1|page=2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527142755/http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/newsletter/pdfs/ODQNv14i1.pdf|archive-date=27 May 2010|access-date=20 April 2010}}</ref> Usually, an increase in orbital velocity of the order of 1 m/s is used to raise the orbit by one or two kilometres. If necessary, the altitude can also be lowered, although such a manoeuvre wastes propellant.<ref name=ODOct08 /><ref name="esa-20080828">{{Cite press release|url=https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/ATV_carries_out_first_debris_avoidance_manoeuvre_for_the_ISS|title=ATV carries out first debris avoidance manoeuvre for the ISS|date=28 August 2008|publisher=]|access-date=26 February 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929091613/https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/ATV_carries_out_first_debris_avoidance_manoeuvre_for_the_ISS|archive-date=29 September 2022}}</ref> If a threat from orbital debris is identified too late for a DAM to be safely conducted, the station crew close all the hatches aboard the station and retreat into their spacecraft in order to be able to evacuate in the event the station was seriously damaged by the debris. Partial station evacuations have occurred on 13 March 2009, 28 June 2011, 24 March 2012, 16 June 2015,<ref name="bbc-20120324">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17497766|title=ISS crew take to escape capsules in space junk alert|date=24 March 2012|access-date=24 March 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107060517/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-17497766|archive-date=7 November 2023|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> November 2021,<ref name="reuters-20211203">{{Cite news|last=Tétrault-Farber|first=Gabrielle|date=3 December 2021|editor1-last=Coghill|editor1-first=Kim|title=International Space Station swerves to dodge space junk|url=https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/international-space-station-swerves-dodge-space-junk-2021-12-03/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131607/https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/international-space-station-swerves-dodge-space-junk-2021-12-03/|archive-date=10 August 2023|access-date=3 December 2021|work=Reuters|editor2-last=Jones|editor2-first=Gareth}}</ref> and ].<ref name="cnn_27Jun2024">{{cite news|title=Russian satellite blasts debris in space, forces ISS astronauts to shelter|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/27/russian-satellite-blasts-debris-in-space-forces-iss-astronauts-to-shelter.html|access-date=27 June 2024|publisher=CNBC|date=27 June 2024}}</ref> | |||
| A proposed modification that would reuse some of the ISS American and European segments is to attach a ] drive module to the vacated Node with its own onboard power source. This would allow long-term reliability testing of the concept for less cost than building a dedicated space station from scratch.<ref name="nbcnews">{{cite web |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/48260759/ns/technology_and_science-space/ |title=From the earth to the moon, and then beyond – Technology & science – Space | NBC News |publisher=nbcnews.com |accessdate=27 May 2014 |date=20 July 2012}}</ref> | |||
| The November 2021 evacuation was caused by a Russian anti-satellite ].<ref name="verge-20211115">{{Cite news|last1=Grush|first1=Loren|date=15 November 2021|title=Russia blows up a satellite, creating a dangerous debris cloud in space|url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/15/22782946/russia-asat-test-satellite-international-space-station-debris|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005233548/https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/15/22782946/russia-asat-test-satellite-international-space-station-debris|archive-date=5 October 2023|work=]}}</ref><ref name="BBC_16Nov21">{{cite news|date=16 November 2021|title=Russian Anti-Satellite Missile Test Poses No Threat – Moscow|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59169899|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117062626/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59169899|archive-date=17 November 2021|access-date=19 November 2021|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> NASA administrator ] said it was unthinkable that Russia would endanger the lives of everyone on ISS, including their own cosmonauts.<ref name="cnn_15Nov21">{{cite news|last1=Atwood|first1=Kylie|last2=Sciutto|first2=Jim|last3=Fisher|first3=Kristin|last4=Gaouette|first4=Nicole|title=US says it "won't tolerate" Russia's "reckless and dangerous" anti-satellite missile test|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/15/politics/russia-anti-satellite-weapon-test-scn/index.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119112659/https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/15/politics/russia-anti-satellite-weapon-test-scn/index.html|archive-date=19 November 2021|access-date=20 November 2021|publisher=CNN}}</ref> | |||
| On 28 March 2015, Russian sources announced that Roscosmos and NASA had agreed to collaborate on the development of a replacement for the current ISS.<ref name="independent20150328">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/russia-and-the-us-will-build-a-new-space-station-together-10140890.html |title=Russia and the US will build a new space station together |publisher=The Independent |first=Zachary Davies |last=Boren |date=28 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="rtcom20150328">{{Cite news |url=http://rt.com/news/244797-russia-us-new-space-station/ |title=Russia & US agree to build new space station after ISS, work on joint Mars project |work=RT.com |date=28 March 2015 |access-date=28 March 2015}}</ref> ], the head of Russia's Roscosmos, made the announcement with NASA administrator Charles Bolden at his side. Komarov said "Roscosmos together with NASA will work on the programme of a future orbital station", "We agreed that the group of countries taking part in the ISS project will work on the future project of a new orbital station", "The first step is that the ISS will operate until 2024", and that Roscosmos and NASA "do not rule out that the station's flight could be extended".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Russia_announces_plan_to_build_new_space_station_with_NASA_999.html |title=Russia announces plan to build new space station with NASA |work=Space Daily |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=28 March 2015}}</ref> In a statement provided to SpaceNews on 28 March, NASA spokesman David Weaver said the agency appreciated the Russian commitment to extending the ISS, but did not confirm any plans for a future space station.<ref name="no plans">{{cite news |url=http://spacenews.com/nasa-says-no-plans-for-iss-replacement-with-russia/ |title=NASA Says No Plans for ISS Replacement with Russia |publisher=SpaceNews |first=Jeff |last=Foust |date=28 March 2015}}</ref> | |||
| <gallery widths="200" heights="160"> | |||
| On 30 September 2015, Boeing's contract with NASA as prime contractor for the ISS was extended to 30 September 2020. Part of Boeing's services under the contract will relate to extending the station's primary structural hardware past 2020 to the end of 2028.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_extends_Boeing_contract_for_International_Space_Station_999.html |title=NASA extends Boeing contract for International Space Station |work=Space Daily |agency=UPI |first=Ryan |last=Maass |date=30 September 2015 |accessdate=2 October 2015}}</ref> | |||
| File:SDIO KEW Lexan projectile.jpg|A 7-gram object (shown in centre) shot at {{convert|7|km/s|ft/s|abbr=on}}, the orbital velocity of the ISS, made this {{convert|15|cm|in|abbr=on}} crater in a solid block of ]. | |||
| File:Debris-GEO1280.jpg|]-trackable objects, including debris, with distinct ring of ] satellites | |||
| File:ISS impact risk.jpg|Example of ]: A NASA model showing areas at high risk from impact for the International Space Station | |||
| </gallery> | |||
| ===Visibility from Earth=== | |||
| Regarding extending the ISS, on 15 November 2016 General Director Vladimir Solntsev of RSC Energia stated "Maybe the ISS will receive continued resources. Today we discussed the possibility of using the station until 2028," and "Much will depend on the political moments in relations with the Americans, with the new administration. It will be discussed."<ref name="sputnik20161115">{{cite news |url=https://sputniknews.com/russia/201611151047447591-russia-iss-rsc-lifespan/ |title=ISS' Life Span Could Extend Into 2028 – Space Corporation Energia Director |work=Sputnik |date=15 November 2016 |accessdate=18 November 2016}}</ref><ref name="sputnik20161116">{{cite news |url=https://sputniknews.com/science/201611161047493600-russia-orbital-station/ |title=Space Cowboys: Moscow to Mull Building Russian Orbital Station in Spring 2017 |work=Sputnik |date=16 November 2016 |accessdate=18 November 2016}}</ref> There have also been suggestions that the station could be converted to commercial operations after it is retired by government entities.<ref name="trump-budget-request">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/24/16930154/nasa-international-space-station-president-trump-budget-request-2025 |title=Trump administration wants to end NASA funding for the International Space Station by 2025 |work=The Verge |last=Grush |first=Loren |date=24 January 2018 |access-date=24 April 2018}}</ref> In September 2018, ] member ] introduced legislation intended to extend operations of the ISS to 2030;<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.spacenews.com/house-joins-senate-in-push-to-extend-iss/ |title=House joins Senate in push to extend ISS |website=SpaceNews |last=Foust |first=Jeff |date=27 September 2018 |accessdate=2 October 2018}}</ref> which was approved on 20 December.<ref name=nelson-20181020 /> | |||
| {{further|Satellite watching|Satellite flare}} | |||
| The ISS is visible in the ] to the ] as a visibly moving, bright white dot, when crossing the sky and being illuminated by the Sun, during ], the hours after sunset and before sunrise, when the station remains sunlit, outside of ], but the ground and sky are dark.<ref name="Price2005">{{Cite book|last=Price|first=Pat|title=The Backyard Stargazer: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Skywatching With and Without a Telescope|publisher=Quarry Books|year=2005|isbn=978-1-59253-148-6|location=Gloucester, Massachusetts|page=140}}</ref> It crosses the skies at latitudes between the ]s.<ref name="d361">{{cite web|last=Litvinov|first=Nikita|title=The season of summer visibility of the ISS has begun in Ukraine|website=Universe Space Tech|date=2024-07-10|url=https://universemagazine.com/en/do-look-up-the-season-of-summer-visibility-of-the-iss-has-begun-in-ukraine/|access-date=2024-07-22}}</ref> Depending on the path it takes across the sky, the time it takes the station to move across the horizon or from one to the other may be short or up to 10 minutes, while likely being only visible part of that time because of it moving into or out of Earth's shadow. It then returns around every 90 minutes, with the time of the day that it crosses the sky shifting over the course of some weeks, and therefore before returning to twilight and visible illumination. | |||
| ==Cost== | |||
| The ISS has been described as the most expensive single item ever constructed.<ref>{{cite web |author=Zidbits |url=http://zidbits.com/?p=19 |title=What Is The Most Expensive Object Ever Built? |publisher=Zidbits.com |date=6 November 2010 |accessdate=22 October 2013}}</ref> In 2010 the cost was expected to be $150 billion. This includes NASA's budget of $58.7 billion (inflation-unadjusted) for the station from 1985 to 2015 ($72.4 billion in 2010 dollars), Russia's $12 billion, Europe's $5 billion, Japan's $5 billion, Canada's $2 billion, and the cost of 36 shuttle flights to build the station; estimated at $1.4 billion each, or $50.4 billion in total. Assuming 20,000 person-days of use from 2000 to 2015 by two- to six-person crews, each person-day would cost $7.5 million, less than half the inflation-adjusted $19.6 million ($5.5 million before inflation) per person-day of ''Skylab''.<ref name="lafleur20100308">{{cite news |url=http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1579/1 |title=Costs of US piloted programs |work=The Space Review |date=8 March 2010 |accessdate=18 February 2012 |author=Lafleur, Claude}} See author correction in comments.</ref> | |||
| Because of the size of its reflective surface area, the ISS is the brightest artificial object in the sky (excluding other ]s), with an approximate maximum ] of −4 when in sunlight and overhead (similar to ]), and a maximum ] of 63 arcseconds.<ref name="Angular size">{{Cite web|url=https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/weekly/7Page1.pdf|title=Problem 346: The International Space Station and a Sunspot: Exploring angular scales|date=19 August 2018|access-date=20 May 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810130645/https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/weekly/7Page1.pdf|archive-date=10 August 2023|website=Space Math @ NASA !}}</ref> | |||
| Tools are provided by a number of websites such as ] (see ] below) as well as ] applications that use ] and the observer's longitude and latitude to indicate when the ISS will be visible (weather permitting), where the station will appear to rise, the altitude above the horizon it will reach and the duration of the pass before the station disappears either by setting below the horizon or entering into Earth's shadow.<ref name="see">{{cite web|date=2 July 2008|title=International Space Station Sighting Opportunities|url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/index.html|access-date=28 January 2009|publisher=NASA|archive-date=21 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151221111201/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=ISS – Information|url=http://www.heavens-above.com/satinfo.aspx?satid=25544&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=CET|access-date=8 July 2010|publisher=Heavens-Above.com|archive-date=24 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624080244/http://www.heavens-above.com/satinfo.aspx?lat=0&lng=0&alt=0&loc=Unspecified&TZ=CET&satid=25544|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|first=Harold F.|last=Weaver|year=1947|title=The Visibility of Stars Without Optical Aid|journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific|volume=59|issue=350|page=232|bibcode=1947PASP...59..232W|doi=10.1086/125956|s2cid=51963530}}</ref><ref name="daytime visibility">{{Cite web|url=http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=05&month=06&year=2009|title=ISS visible during the daytime|date=5 June 2009|publisher=Spaceweather.com|access-date=5 June 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811172429/https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=05&month=06&year=2009|archive-date=11 August 2023}}</ref> | |||
| In November 2012 NASA launched its "Spot the Station" service, which sends people text and email alerts when the station is due to fly above their town.<ref>{{Cite news|date=6 November 2012|title=Get notified when the International Space Station is in your area|work=3 News NZ|url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Get-notified-when-the-International-Space-Station-is-in-your-area/tabid/1160/articleID/275612/Default.aspx|url-status=dead|access-date=21 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012231134/http://www.3news.co.nz/Get-notified-when-the-International-Space-Station-is-in-your-area/tabid/1160/articleID/275612/Default.aspx|archive-date=12 October 2013}}</ref> The station is visible from 95% of the inhabited land on Earth, but is not visible from extreme northern or southern latitudes.<ref name="MCC Answer" /> | |||
| Under specific conditions, the ISS can be observed at night on five consecutive orbits. Those conditions are 1) a mid-latitude observer location, 2) near the time of the solstice with 3) the ISS passing in the direction of the pole from the observer near midnight local time. The three photos show the first, middle and last of the five passes on 5–6 June 2014. | |||
| <gallery widths="200px" heights="135px"> | |||
| File:ISS 2008-01-10.jpg|Skytrack long duration exposure of the ISS | |||
| File:The ISS passing nearly overhead shortly after sunset in June 2014.jpg|The ISS on its first pass of the night passing nearly overhead shortly after sunset in June 2014 | |||
| File:The ISS passing north near local midnight in June 2014.jpg|The ISS passing north on its third pass of the night near local midnight in June 2014 | |||
| The ISS passing west on its 5th pass of the night before sunrise in June 2014.jpg|The ISS passing west on its fifth pass of the night before sunrise in June 2014 | |||
| </gallery> | |||
| ====Astrophotography==== | |||
| <!-- Re: Section title: using the popular conversational usage of the term-->]]] | |||
| Using a telescope-mounted camera to photograph the station is a popular hobby for astronomers,<!-- there are a million refs that can go here, pick one from google --><ref name="hobbyspace-satwatching">{{Cite web|url=https://www.hobbyspace.com/SatWatching/|title=Satellite Watching|publisher=HobbySpace|access-date=1 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811162457/https://www.hobbyspace.com/SatWatching/|archive-date=11 August 2023}}</ref> while using a mounted camera to photograph the Earth and stars is a popular hobby for crew.<ref name="nasa-20030324">{{Cite web|url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/24mar_noseprints/|title=Space StationAstrophotography – NASA Science|date=24 March 2003|publisher=]|access-date=1 May 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811173359/https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/24mar_noseprints|archive-date=11 August 2023}}</ref> The use of a telescope or binoculars allows viewing of the ISS during daylight hours.<ref>{{cite web|date=20 July 2011|title=[VIDEO] The ISS and Atlantis shuttle as seen in broad daylight|url=http://www.zmescience.com/space/video-the-iss-and-atlantis-shuttle-as-seen-in-broad-daylight/|access-date=1 May 2012|publisher=Zmescience.com|archive-date=20 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120820023638/http://www.zmescience.com/space/video-the-iss-and-atlantis-shuttle-as-seen-in-broad-daylight/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| ] Moon]] | |||
| ] of the ISS in front of the Sun, particularly during an ] (and so the Earth, Sun, Moon, and ISS are all positioned approximately in a single line) are of particular interest for amateur astronomers.<ref>{{cite web|date=22 August 2017|title=Space Station Transiting 2017 ECLIPSE, My Brain Stopped Working – Smarter Every Day 175|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lepQoU4oek4|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/lepQoU4oek4|archive-date=11 December 2021|url-status=live|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="wired-20110105">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2011/01/double-eclipse/|title=Moon and Space Station Eclipse the Sun|last=Grossman|first=Lisa|date=5 January 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810130728/https://www.wired.com/2011/01/double-eclipse/|archive-date=10 August 2023|magazine=]}}</ref> | |||
| ==International co-operation== | ==International co-operation== | ||
| {{Main|Politics of the International Space Station|International Space Station programme}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| {{Main|Politics of the International Space Station|International Space Station program}} | |||
| Involving five space programs and fifteen countries,<ref name="International Cooperation">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-international-cooperation/|title=International Cooperation|date=25 March 2015|publisher=]|access-date=12 April 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120175307/https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-international-cooperation/|archive-date=20 November 2023}}</ref> the International Space Station is the most politically and legally complex space exploration programme in history.<ref name="International Cooperation" /> The 1998 Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement sets forth the primary framework for international cooperation among the parties. A series of subsequent agreements govern other aspects of the station, ranging from jurisdictional issues to a code of conduct among visiting astronauts.<ref name="farand-iss-framework">{{Cite web|url=http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/file_download.php/785db0eec4e0cdfc43e1923624154cccFarand.pdf|title=Astronauts' behaviour onboard the International Space Station: regulatory framework|last=Farand|first=André|publisher=]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060913194014/http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/file_download.php/785db0eec4e0cdfc43e1923624154cccFarand.pdf|archive-date=13 September 2006}}</ref> | |||
| ;Participating countries | |||
| {{columns-list|colwidth=15em| | |||
| Brazil was also invited to participate in the programme, the only developing country to receive such an invitation. Under the agreement framework, Brazil was to provide six pieces of hardware, and in exchange, would receive ISS utilization rights. However, Brazil was unable to deliver any of the elements due to a lack of funding and political priority within the country. Brazil officially dropped out of the ISS programme in 2007.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Henriques da Silva|first=Darly|date=2005-02-01|title=Brazilian participation in the International Space Station (ISS) program: commitment or bargain struck?|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0265964604000797|journal=Space Policy|volume=21|issue=1|pages=55–63|doi=10.1016/j.spacepol.2004.11.006|bibcode=2005SpPol..21...55H|issn=0265-9646}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ansdell|first1=M.|last2=Ehrenfreund|first2=P.|last3=McKay|first3=C.|date=2011-06-01|title=Stepping stones toward global space exploration|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0094576510004169|journal=Acta Astronautica|volume=68|issue=11|pages=2098–2113|doi=10.1016/j.actaastro.2010.10.025|bibcode=2011AcAau..68.2098A|issn=0094-5765}}</ref> | |||
| <!--Brazil dropped out before any of their planned hardware was completed--> | |||
| * '''{{flagcountry|Canada}}''' | |||
| Following the ], continued cooperation between Russia and other countries on the International Space Station has been put into question. Roscosmos Director General ] insinuated that Russian withdrawal could cause the International Space Station to de-orbit due to lack of reboost capabilities, writing in a series of tweets, "If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an unguided de-orbit to impact on the territory of the US or Europe? There's also the chance of impact of the 500-ton construction in India or China. Do you want to threaten them with such a prospect? The ISS doesn't fly over Russia, so all the risk is yours. Are you ready for it?"<ref name="arstechnica-20220225">{{Cite news|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/the-russian-invasion-of-ukraine-will-have-myriad-impacts-on-spaceflight/|title=The Russian invasion of Ukraine will have myriad impacts on spaceflight|last=Berger|first=Eric|date=25 February 2022|access-date=4 March 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905025847/https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/the-russian-invasion-of-ukraine-will-have-myriad-impacts-on-spaceflight/|archive-date=5 September 2023|work=]}}</ref> (This latter claim is untrue: the ISS flies over all parts of the Earth between 51.6 degrees latitude north and south, approximately the latitude of ].) Rogozin later tweeted that normal relations between ISS partners could only be restored once sanctions have been lifted, and indicated that Roscosmos would submit proposals to the Russian government on ending cooperation.<ref name="arstechnica-20220402">{{Cite news|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/04/no-no-no-russia-is-not-halting-cooperation-on-the-space-station/|title=Russia asked NASA to end sanctions to save the ISS, but the West didn't blink|last1=Berger|first1=Eric|date=2 April 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810130453/https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/04/no-no-no-russia-is-not-halting-cooperation-on-the-space-station/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=]}}</ref> NASA stated that, if necessary, US corporation ] has offered a reboost capability that would keep the ISS in orbit.<ref name="guardian-20220301">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/mar/01/nasa-explores-how-to-keep-international-space-station-in-orbit-without-russian-help|title=Nasa explores how to keep international space station in orbit without Russian help|date=1 March 2022|access-date=30 April 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005203717/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/mar/01/nasa-explores-how-to-keep-international-space-station-in-orbit-without-russian-help|archive-date=5 October 2023|work=The Guardian|agency=]}}</ref> | |||
| * '''{{flagcountry|Japan}}''' | |||
| * '''{{flagcountry|Russia}}''' | |||
| On 26 July 2022, ], Rogozin's successor as head of Roscosmos, submitted to Russian President Putin plans for withdrawal from the programme after 2024.<ref name="26JulyBorisovQuote">{{Cite news|last=Harwood|first=William|date=26 July 2022|title=Russia says it will withdraw from the International Space Station after 2024|publisher=]|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-international-space-station-exit-2024/|url-status=live|access-date=26 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131755/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-international-space-station-exit-2024/|archive-date=10 August 2023}}</ref> However, Robyn Gatens, the NASA official in charge of the space station, responded that NASA had not received any formal notices from Roscosmos concerning withdrawal plans.<ref name="Roulette 2022">{{Cite news|last1=Roulette|first1=Joey|last2=Brunnstrom|first2=David|last3=Hunnicutt|first3=Trevor|last4=Gorman|first4=Steve|date=27 July 2022|title=Russia signals space station pullout, but NASA says it's not official yet|work=Reuters|editor1-last=Dunham|editor1-first=Will|url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/russia-has-not-signaled-space-station-withdrawal-nasa-us-official-says-2022-07-26/|url-status=live|access-date=26 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010212934/https://www.reuters.com/technology/russia-has-not-signaled-space-station-withdrawal-nasa-us-official-says-2022-07-26/|archive-date=10 October 2023|editor4-first=Marguerita|editor2-last=Porter|editor3-last=Oatis|editor4-last=Choy|editor3-first=Jonathan|editor2-first=Mark}}</ref> | |||
| * '''{{flagcountry|United States}}''' | |||
| * ] ''']''' | |||
| ===Participating countries=== | |||
| ** {{flagcountry|Austria}} | |||
| * {{flagcountry|Canada}} | |||
| * {{flagdeco|EU}} ] | |||
| ** {{flagcountry|Belgium}} | ** {{flagcountry|Belgium}} | ||
| ** {{flagcountry|Denmark}} | ** {{flagcountry|Denmark}} | ||
| Line 1,147: | Line 1,212: | ||
| ** {{flagcountry|Netherlands}} | ** {{flagcountry|Netherlands}} | ||
| ** {{flagcountry|Norway}} | ** {{flagcountry|Norway}} | ||
| ** {{flagcountry|Portugal}} | |||
| ** {{flagcountry|Spain}} | ** {{flagcountry|Spain}} | ||
| ** {{flagcountry|Sweden}} | ** {{flagcountry|Sweden}} | ||
| ** {{flagcountry|Switzerland}} | ** {{flagcountry|Switzerland}} | ||
| ** {{flagcountry|United Kingdom}} | ** {{flagcountry|United Kingdom}} | ||
| * {{flagcountry|Japan}} | |||
| }} | |||
| * {{flagcountry|Russia}} | |||
| * {{flagcountry|United States}} | |||
| ==End of mission== | |||
| Originally the ISS was planned to be a 15-year mission.<ref name="s750">{{cite web|title=Future Plans for the International Space Station|website=NASA|date=2022-07-24|url=https://www.nasa.gov/missions/station/iss-research/ad-astra-future-plans-for-the-international-space-station/|access-date=2024-07-20}}</ref> | |||
| Therefore, an end of mission had been worked on,<ref name="w234"/> but was several times postponed due to the success and support for the operation of the station.<ref name="q972">{{cite web|title=The ISS was never supposed to end like this|publisher=NBC News|date=2018-02-22|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/iss-was-never-supposed-end-ncna848771|access-date=2024-07-20}}</ref> As a result, the oldest modules of the ISS have been in orbit for more than 20 years, with their reliability having decreased.<ref name="w234"/> It has been proposed to use funds elsewhere instead, for example for a return to the Moon.<ref name="q972"/> According to the ], the parties are legally responsible for all spacecraft or modules they launch.<ref name="outerspacetreaty">{{Cite book|url=https://www.unoosa.org/pdf/publications/STSPACE11E.pdf|title=United Nations Treaties and Principles on Outer Space|year=2002|publisher=]|location=New York|isbn=92-1-100900-6|id=ST/SPACE/11|access-date=8 October 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107063629/https://www.unoosa.org/pdf/publications/STSPACE11E.pdf|archive-date=7 November 2023}}</ref> An ] would pose an ] and ] hazard. | |||
| Russia has stated that it plans to pull out of the ISS program after 2025.<ref name="y941"/> However, Russian modules will provide ] until 2028.<ref name="w234">{{cite web|title=What will replace the International Space Station?|website=BBC Sky at Night Magazine|date=2023-12-07|url=https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-missions/replace-international-space-station|access-date=2024-07-20}}</ref> | |||
| The US planned in 2009 to deorbit the ISS in 2016.<ref name="q972"/> But on 30 September 2015, Boeing's contract with NASA as prime contractor for the ISS was extended to 30 September 2020. Part of Boeing's services under the contract related to extending the station's primary structural hardware past 2020 to the end of 2028.<ref name="spacedaily-20150930">{{Cite news|url=https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_extends_Boeing_contract_for_International_Space_Station_999.html|title=NASA extends Boeing contract for International Space Station|last=Maass|first=Ryan|date=30 September 2015|access-date=2 October 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230824213345/https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_extends_Boeing_contract_for_International_Space_Station_999.html|archive-date=24 August 2023|work=Space Daily|agency=]}}</ref> In July 2018, the Space Frontier Act of 2018 was intended to extend operations of the ISS to 2030. This bill was unanimously approved in the Senate, but failed to pass in the U.S. House.<ref name="nelson-20181020">{{cite web|date=22 December 2018|title=Commercial space bill dies in the House|url=https://spacenews.com/commercial-space-bill-dies-in-the-house/|access-date=18 March 2019|website=SpaceNews.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Cruz|first=Ted|date=21 December 2018|title=S.3277 – 115th Congress (2017–2018): Space Frontier Act of 2018|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/3277|access-date=18 March 2019|publisher=United States Congress|archive-date=9 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109091955/https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/3277|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2018, the Leading Human Spaceflight Act was introduced with the intent to extend operations of the ISS to 2030, and was confirmed in December 2018.<ref name="auto">{{Cite tweet|number=1075840067569139712|user=SenBillNelson|title=The Senate just passed my bill to help commercial space companies launch more than one rocket a day from Florida! This is an exciting bill that will help create jobs and keep rockets roaring from the Cape. It also extends the International Space Station to 2030!|first=Bill|last=Nelson|date=20 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606083410/https://twitter.com/SenBillNelson/status/1075840067569139712|archive-date=6 June 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite web|date=27 September 2018|title=House joins Senate in push to extend ISS|url=https://spacenews.com/house-joins-senate-in-push-to-extend-iss/|access-date=9 May 2021|website=SpaceNews|archive-date=21 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221112740/https://spacenews.com/house-joins-senate-in-push-to-extend-iss/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Babin|first=Brian|date=26 September 2018|title=H.R.6910 – 115th Congress (2017–2018): Leading Human Spaceflight Act|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/6910|access-date=18 March 2019|publisher=United States Congress|archive-date=12 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190112142740/https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/6910|url-status=live}}</ref> Congress later passed similar provisions in its ], signed into law by U.S. President ] on 9 August 2022.<ref name="politico-20220809">{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/09/biden-ends-slog-on-semiconductor-bill-with-signature-00050530|title=Biden ends slog on semiconductor bill with signature|last=Johnson|first=Lamar|date=9 August 2022|access-date=24 August 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621192521/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/09/biden-ends-slog-on-semiconductor-bill-with-signature-00050530|archive-date=21 June 2023|work=]}}</ref><ref name="Errick 2022">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2022/08/nasa-authorization-act-aims-strengthen-us-space-exploration/375394/|title=NASA Authorization Act Aims to Strengthen U.S. Space Exploration|last=Errick|first=Kirsten|date=4 August 2022|access-date=24 August 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810144458/https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2022/08/nasa-authorization-act-aims-strengthen-us-space-exploration/375394/|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=Nextgov.com}}</ref> | |||
| If until 2031 ] are not sufficient to accommodate NASA's projects, NASA is suggesting to extend ISS operations beyond 2031.<ref name="2024DV">{{Cite tech report|url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/iss-deorbit-analysis-summary.pdf?emrc=669c48a232340|title=International Space Station Deorbit Analysis Summary|date=July 2024|publisher=]|access-date=21 July 2024}}</ref> | |||
| ===NASA's disposal plans=== | |||
| ;Former member: | |||
| ], such as ].]]NASA considered originally several possible disposal options: natural orbital decay with random reentry (as with Skylab), boosting the station to a higher altitude (which would delay reentry), and a controlled de-orbit targeting a remote ocean area.<ref name="ISSEIS">{{Cite tech report|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19960053133/downloads/19960053133.pdf|title=Final Tier 2 Environmental Impact Statement for International Space Station|date=May 1996|publisher=]|id=TM-111720|access-date=12 July 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407113700/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19960053133/downloads/19960053133.pdf|archive-date=7 April 2023}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> | |||
| * '''{{flagcountry|Brazil}}''' | |||
| {{clear}} | |||
| NASA determined that random reentry carried an unacceptable risk of producing hazardous space debris that could hit people or property and re-boosting the station would be costly and could also create hazards. | |||
| ==Sightings from Earth== | |||
| {{multiple image |direction=horizontal |align=right |perrow=2 |total_width=400 | |||
| Prior to 2010, plans had contemplated using a slightly modified Progress spacecraft to de-orbit the ISS. However, NASA concluded Progress would not be adequate for the job, and decided on a spacecraft specifically designed for the job.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.planetary.org/articles/how-nasa-plans-to-deorbit-the-international-space-station|title=How NASA plans to deorbit the International Space Station|first=Jason|last=Davis|date=21 November 2023|publisher=]|access-date=8 June 2024}}</ref> | |||
| |image1=Isshtv120090917200858nm.jpg |caption1=The ISS and HTV photographed from Earth by ] | |||
| |image2=ISS 2008-01-10.jpg |caption2=A time exposure of a station pass | |||
| {{Location map | Pacific Ocean | |||
| |image3=International_Space_Station_orbit-August_2_2018.png |caption3=Simulated motion of the ISS over North America, with 12 second motion markers and vertical lines projecting down to the surface of the Earth. The ISS is shown red when it enters the earth's shadow and can't be seen. It is only easily visible in the twilight interval of night just after sunset, or before sunrise. | |||
| | width = 220 | |||
| | lon_deg = 142 | |||
| | lon_min = 43 | |||
| | lon_sec = 12 | |||
| | lon_dir = W | |||
| | lat_deg = 43 | |||
| | lat_min = 34 | |||
| | lat_sec = 48 | |||
| | lat_dir = S | |||
| | mark = Cercle rouge 100%.svg | |||
| | marksize = 20 | |||
| | caption = Destination of the deorbiting ISS: the ] (roughly centered on "]", the ]) in the Pacific Ocean | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| In January 2022, NASA announced a planned date of January 2031 to de-orbit the ISS using the "U.S. Deorbit Vehicle" and direct any remnants into a remote area of the South Pacific Ocean that has come to be known as the ].<ref name="sky-20220201">{{Cite news|url=https://news.sky.com/story/nasa-plans-to-take-international-space-station-out-of-orbit-in-january-2031-by-crashing-it-into-spacecraft-cemetery-12530194|title=NASA plans to take International Space Station out of orbit in January 2031 by crashing it into 'spacecraft cemetery'|date=1 February 2022|access-date=1 February 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010112515/https://news.sky.com/story/nasa-plans-to-take-international-space-station-out-of-orbit-in-january-2031-by-crashing-it-into-spacecraft-cemetery-12530194|archive-date=10 October 2023|publisher=]}}</ref> NASA plans to launch the deorbit vehicle in 2030, docking at the Harmony forward port.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Harwood|first=William|date=18 July 2024|title=NASA plans for space station's demise with new SpaceX 'Deorbit Vehicle'|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2024/07/18/nasa-plans-for-space-stations-demise-with-new-spacex-deorbit-vehicle/|access-date=2024-08-09|website=Spaceflight Now}}</ref> The deorbit vehicle will remain attached, dormant, for about a year as the station's orbit naturally decays to {{cvt|220|km}}. The spacecraft would then conduct one or more orientation burns to lower the perigee to {{cvt|150|km}}, followed by a final deorbiting burn.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Foust|first=Jeff|date=9 May 2023|title=NASA proposes 'hybrid' contract approach for space station deorbit vehicle|url=https://spacenews.com/nasa-proposals-hybrid-contract-approach-for-space-station-deorbit-vehicle/|access-date=10 May 2023|website=SpaceNews}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Casillas|first=Beverly|date=2024-07-25|title=NASA, SpaceX Share Updates on ISS Deorbit Vehicle|url=https://www.spacescout.info/2024/07/nasa-spacex-share-updates-on-iss-deorbit-vehicle/|access-date=2024-08-09|website=Space Scout}}</ref> | |||
| ===Naked eye=== | |||
| The ISS is visible to the ] as a slow-moving, bright white dot because of reflected sunlight, and can be seen in the hours after sunset and before sunrise, when the station remains sunlit but the ground and sky are dark.<ref name="Price2005">{{cite book |title=The Backyard Stargazer: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Skywatching With and Without a Telescope |publisher=Quarry Books |location=Gloucester, MA |first=Pat |last=Price |page=140 |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-59253-148-6}}</ref> The ISS takes about 10 minutes to pass from one horizon to another, and will only be visible part of that time because of moving into or out of the ]. Because of the size of its reflective surface area, the ISS is the brightest artificial object in the sky, excluding ], with an approximate maximum ] of −4 when overhead (similar to Venus). The ISS, like many satellites including the ], can also produce flares of up to 8 or 16 times the brightness of ] as sunlight glints off reflective surfaces.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.calsky.com/cs.cgi/Satellites/8 |title=Artificial Satellites > (Iridium) Flares |publisher=Calsky.com |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref><ref name="haydenplanetarium">{{cite web |url=http://www.amnh.org/our-research/hayden-planetarium/blog/how-to-spot-the-international-space-station-and-other-satellites |title=How to Spot the International Space Station (and other satellites) |publisher=Hayden Planetarium |accessdate=12 July 2011}}</ref> The ISS is also visible in broad daylight, albeit with a great deal more difficulty. | |||
| NASA began planning for the deorbit vehicle after becoming wary of Russia pulling out of the ISS abruptly, leaving the other partners with few good options for a controlled reentry.<ref name="Nelson">{{Cite web|last=Foust|first=Jeff|date=2024-05-01|title=Nelson lobbies Congress to fund ISS deorbit vehicle in supplemental spending bill|url=https://spacenews.com/nelson-lobbies-congress-to-fund-iss-deorbit-vehicle-in-supplemental-spending-bill/|access-date=2024-05-03|website=SpaceNews}}</ref> In June 2024, NASA selected SpaceX to develop the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, a contract potentially worth $843 million. The vehicle will consist of an existing ] spacecraft which will be paired with a significantly lengthened ] which will be equipped with 46 Draco thrusters (instead of the normal 16) and will carry {{Convert|30000|kg|abbr=on}} of propellant, nearly six times the normal load. NASA is still working to secure all the necessary funding to build, launch and operate the deorbit vehicle.<ref name=":2b" /><ref name="Nelson" /> | |||
| Tools are provided by a number of websites such as ] (see ] below) as well as ] applications that use ] and the observer's longitude and latitude to indicate when the ISS will be visible (weather permitting), where the station will appear to rise, the altitude above the horizon it will reach and the duration of the pass before the station disappears either by setting below the horizon or entering into Earth's shadow.<ref name="see">{{cite web |url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/index.html |title=International Space Station Sighting Opportunities |accessdate=28 January 2009 |publisher=NASA |date=2 July 2008 |author=NASA}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heavens-above.com/satinfo.aspx?satid=25544&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=CET |title=ISS – Information |publisher=Heavens-Above.com |accessdate=8 July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Harold F. Weaver |title=The Visibility of Stars Without Optical Aid |journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific |volume=59 |issue=350 |year=1947 |doi=10.1086/125956 |bibcode=1947PASP...59..232W |page=232}}</ref><ref name="daytime visibility">{{cite web |url=http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=05&month=06&year=2009 |title=ISS visible during the daytime |accessdate=5 June 2009 |publisher=Spaceweather.com |date=5 June 2009}}</ref> | |||
| ===Post mission proposals and plans=== | |||
| In November 2012 NASA launched its "Spot the Station" service, which sends people text and email alerts when the station is due to fly above their town.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Get-notified-when-the-International-Space-Station-is-in-your-area/tabid/1160/articleID/275612/Default.aspx |work=3 News NZ |title=Get notified when the International Space Station is in your area |date=6 November 2012 |access-date=21 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012231134/http://www.3news.co.nz/Get-notified-when-the-International-Space-Station-is-in-your-area/tabid/1160/articleID/275612/Default.aspx |archive-date=12 October 2013 |dead-url=yes}}</ref> The station is visible from 95% of the inhabited land on Earth, but is not visible from extreme northern or southern latitudes.<ref name="MCC Answer" /> | |||
| The follow-up to NASA's program/strategy is the ], meant to allow private industry to build and maintain their own stations, and NASA procuring access as a customer, starting in 2028.<ref name="f400">{{cite web|title=How NASA plans to deorbit the International Space Station|publisher=The Planetary Society|date=2023-11-21|url=https://www.planetary.org/articles/how-nasa-plans-to-deorbit-the-international-space-station|access-date=2024-07-20}}</ref> Similarly, the ESA has been seeking new private space stations to provide orbital services, as well as retrieve materials, from the ISS.<ref name="s075">{{cite web|last=Lea|first=Robert|title=European Space Agency signs on to upcoming 'Starlab' space station|website=Space.com|date=2023-11-14|url=https://www.space.com/starlab-space-station-esa-airbus-voyager-space|access-date=2024-07-20}}</ref><ref name="y695">{{cite news|last=Speed|first=Richard|title=ESA to fetch stuff from space before ISS takes the plunge|website=The Register|date=2024-05-23|url=https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/23/esa_iss_retrieval/|access-date=2024-07-20}}</ref> ] is planned to begin as a single module temporarily hosted at the ISS in 2027.<ref name="sn-20241218" /> Additionally, there have been suggestions in the commercial space industry that the ISS could be converted to commercial operations after it is retired by government entities,<ref name="trump-budget-request">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/24/16930154/nasa-international-space-station-president-trump-budget-request-2025|title=Trump administration wants to end NASA funding for the International Space Station by 2025|last=Grush|first=Loren|date=24 January 2018|access-date=24 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810131807/https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/24/16930154/nasa-international-space-station-president-trump-budget-request-2025|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=]}}</ref> including turning it into a space hotel.<ref name="q972"/> | |||
| Russia previously has planned to use its orbital segment for the construction of its ] station after the ISS is decommissioned. The modules under consideration for removal from the current ISS included the Multipurpose Laboratory Module (''Nauka''; ''MLM''), launched in July 2021, and the other new Russian modules that are proposed to be attached to ''Nauka''. These newly launched modules would still be well within their useful lives in 2024.<ref name="RussiaSave">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8064060.stm|title=Russia 'to save its ISS modules'|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|date=22 May 2009|access-date=23 May 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624122107/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8064060.stm|archive-date=24 June 2023|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> At the end of 2011, the ] concept also proposed using leftover USOS hardware and ''Zvezda 2'' as a refuelling depot and service station located at one of the Earth–Moon ]. However, the entire USOS was not designed for disassembly and will be discarded.<ref>{{cite web|title=DC-1 and MIM-2|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_dc.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210130224/http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss_dc.html|archive-date=10 February 2009|access-date=12 July 2011|website=RussianSpaceWeb}}</ref> | |||
| ===Astrophotography=== | |||
| <!-- Re: Section title: using the popular conversational usage of the term--> | |||
| ] the sun during an ] (4 frame composite image)]] | |||
| Using a telescope-mounted camera to photograph the station is a popular hobby for astronomers,<!-- there are a million refs that can go here, pick one from google --><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hobbyspace.com/SatWatching/ |title=Satellite Watching |publisher=HobbySpace |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> while using a mounted camera to photograph the Earth and stars is a popular hobby for crew.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/24mar_noseprints/ |title=Space StationAstrophotography – NASA Science |publisher=Science.nasa.gov |date=24 March 2003 |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> The use of a telescope or binoculars allows viewing of the ISS during daylight hours.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zmescience.com/space/video-the-iss-and-atlantis-shuttle-as-seen-in-broad-daylight/ |title=[VIDEO] The ISS and Atlantis shuttle as seen in broad daylight |publisher=Zmescience.com |date=20 July 2011 |accessdate=1 May 2012}}</ref> | |||
| Western space industry has suggested in 2022 using the ISS as a platform to develop orbital salvage capacities, by companies such as CisLunar Industries working on using space debris as fuel,<ref name="g664">{{cite web|last=Manov|first=Elyse|title=Neumann Drive to fuel US Space Force project – SASIC|website=SASIC|date=2023-05-16|url=https://sasic.sa.gov.au/events-news-media/news/neumann-drive-to-fuel-us-space-force-project/|access-date=2024-07-21}}</ref> instead of plunging it into the ocean.<ref name="y941">{{cite web|last=O'Callaghan|first=Jonathan|title=A fiery end? How the ISS will end its life in orbit|publisher=BBC Home|date=2023-05-03|url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230502-a-fiery-end-how-the-iss-will-end-its-life-in-orbit|access-date=2024-07-20}}</ref> | |||
| Some amateur astronomers also use telescopic lenses to photograph the ISS while it ] the sun, sometimes doing so during an ] (and so the Sun, Moon, and ISS are all positioned approximately in a single line). One example is during the ], where at one location in Wyoming, images of the ISS were captured during the eclipse.<ref>{{cite web |title=Space Station Transiting 2017 ECLIPSE, My Brain Stopped Working - Smarter Every Day 175 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lepQoU4oek4 |website=www.youtube.com |date=22 August 2017}}</ref> Similar images were captured by NASA from a location in Washington. | |||
| NASA has stated that by July 2024 it has not seen any viable proposals for reuse of the ISS or parts of it.<ref name="2024DV"/> | |||
| Parisian engineer and astrophotographer Thierry Legault, known for his photos of spaceships transiting the Sun, travelled to Oman in 2011 to photograph the Sun, Moon and space station all lined up.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wired.com/2011/01/double-eclipse/ |work=Wired |first=Lisa |last=Grossman |title=Moon and Space Station Eclipse the Sun}}</ref> Legault, who received the Marius Jacquemetton award from the ] in 1999, and other hobbyists, use websites that predict when the ISS will transit the Sun or Moon and from what location those passes will be visible. | |||
| {{clear}} | |||
| ==Cost== | |||
| The ISS has been described as the ] ever constructed.<ref name="zidbits-expensive">{{Cite web|url=http://zidbits.com/?p=19|title=What Is The Most Expensive Object Ever Built?|date=6 November 2010|access-date=22 October 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805150710/https://zidbits.com/?p=19|archive-date=5 August 2021|website=Zidbits.com}}</ref> As of 2010, the total cost was US$150 billion. This includes ]'s budget of $58.7 billion ($89.73 billion in 2021 dollars) for the station from 1985 to 2015, Russia's $12 billion, Europe's $5 billion, Japan's $5 billion, Canada's $2 billion, and the cost of 36 shuttle flights to build the station, estimated at $1.4 billion each, or $50.4 billion in total. Assuming 20,000 man-days of use from 2000 to 2015 by two- to six-person crews, each man-day would cost $7.5 million, less than half the inflation-adjusted $19.6 million ($5.5 million before inflation) per man-day of ].<ref name="lafleur20100308">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thespacereview.com/article/1579/1|title=Costs of US piloted programs|last=Lafleur, Claude|date=8 March 2010|access-date=18 February 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801132840/https://www.thespacereview.com/article/1579/1|archive-date=1 August 2023|work=The Space Review}} See author correction in comments.</ref> | |||
| == In culture == | |||
| The ISS has become an international symbol of human capabilities, particularly human cooperation and science,<ref name="w619">{{cite web|title=The International Space Station (ISS), humanity's shared orbital…|publisher=The Planetary Society|date=2019-03-14|url=https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/international-space-station|access-date=2024-07-22}}</ref> defining a cooperative international approach and period, instead of a looming ] and ] interplanetary world.<ref name="v592">{{cite web|last=McNulty|first=Stephen|title=The International Space Station was a symbol of solidarity. Its impending doom should worry us.|website=America Magazine|date=2022-07-28|url=https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2022/07/28/international-space-station-russia-withdrawal-243434|access-date=2024-07-22}}</ref> | |||
| ===In film=== | |||
| Beside numerous documentaries such as the IMAX documentaries '']'' from 2002,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290296/|title=Space Station 3D|publisher=IMDb|access-date=20 March 2022|archive-date=19 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319150635/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290296/|url-status=live}}</ref> or '']'' from 2016,<ref>{{cite web|title=A Beautiful Planet – Experience Earth Like Never Before|url=http://abeautifulplanet.imax.com/|access-date=20 March 2022|work=abeautifulplanet.imax.com|archive-date=21 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421182448/http://abeautifulplanet.imax.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> and films like '']'' (2012)<ref name="huffpost-20120114">{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/richard-garriott-space-movie_n_1206198|title=Richard Garriott's "Apogee of Fear," First Sci Fi Movie Ever Shot in Space, Fails To Launch|last=Wall|first=Mike|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410150201/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/richard-garriott-space-movie_n_1206198|archive-date=10 April 2023|work=]}}</ref> and '']'' (2016)<ref name="ria-20161212">{{Cite web|url=https://ria.ru/rus_cinema/20161212/1483374933.html|title=Бекмамбетов: фильм "Елки-5" могут включить в книгу Гиннесса|trans-title=Bekmambetov: the movie 'Yolki-5' might be included in the Guinness Book of Records|date=12 December 2016|publisher=]|language=ru|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427142206/https://ria.ru/20161212/1483374933.html|archive-date=27 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Ёлки 5 в 720HD|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdqByKDISFg|access-date=2023-10-30|language=ru|archive-date=30 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030163850/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdqByKDISFg&gl=US&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref> the ISS is the subject of feature films such as '']'' (2004),<ref name="shaw2008">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/technoculturekey0000shaw|title=Technoculture: The Key Concepts|last=Shaw|first=Debra Benita|date=2008|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|page=67|isbn=978-1-84520-298-9}}</ref> '']'' (2011),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1541874/|title=Love|publisher=IMDb|access-date=20 March 2022|archive-date=20 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320185158/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1541874/|url-status=live}}</ref> together with the Chinese station ] in '']'' (2013),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454468/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt|title=Gravity|publisher=IMDb|access-date=21 March 2022|archive-date=21 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321195947/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454468/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt|url-status=live}}</ref> '']'' (2017),<ref name="sony-life">{{Cite web|title=Life|url=https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/life|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810132103/https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/life|archive-date=10 August 2023|access-date=20 March 2022|work=Sony Pictures|publisher=]}}</ref> and '']'' (2023).<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Coggan|first=Devan|date=2023-12-04|title=Ariana DeBose is an astronaut at war in trailer for space-set thriller I.S.S.|url=https://ew.com/ariana-debose-iss-trailer-8409986|access-date=2024-01-22|magazine=]|archive-date=16 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116012349/https://ew.com/ariana-debose-iss-trailer-8409986|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| In 2022, the movie ] was filmed aboard the ISS, and was notable for being the first feature film in which both professional actors and director worked together in space.<ref name="nyt-20210916">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/16/world/europe/russia-movie-space.html|url-access=subscription|title=Russia to Open New Frontier in Space, Shooting First Full-Length Movie|last1=Kramer|first1=Andrew E.|date=16 September 2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810145219/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/16/world/europe/russia-movie-space.html|archive-date=10 August 2023|work=The New York Times}}</ref> | |||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| {{Portal|Astronomy|Aviation|Earth sciences|Spaceflight|Stars|Outer space}} | |||
| {{Misplaced Pages books|International Space Station}} | |||
| * '']'' (2016) – IMAX documentary film showing scenes of Earth, as well as astronaut life aboard the ISS | |||
| {{Portal|Spaceflight|Space|International Space Station}} | |||
| * '']'' – 2016 IMAX documentary film showing scenes of Earth, as well as astronaut life aboard the ISS | |||
| * ] – operates the US National Laboratory on the ISS | * ] – operates the US National Laboratory on the ISS | ||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * '']'' |
* ] | ||
| * '']'' (2002) – Canadian documentary | |||
| * ] – another permanently crewed station operating in Low Earth orbit | |||
| ==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
| {{Notelist}} | |||
| {{Reflist|group="note"}} | |||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
| {{Reflist |
{{Reflist}} | ||
| <ref name="ria20190226">{{cite news |title=Россия в 2019 году отправит на МКС семь космических кораблей |trans-title=Russia will launch seven spaceships to the ISS in 2019 |url=https://ria.ru/20190226/1551383647.html |accessdate=26 February 2019 |agency=RIA Novosti |date=26 February 2019 |language=ru}}</ref> | |||
| === Attributions === | |||
| }} | |||
| {{Include-NASA}}<br/> | |||
| {{NARA|url=https://nara.getarchive.net/collections/building-iss-timeline|article=Building ISS}} | |||
| ==Further reading== | ==Further reading== | ||
| * {{ |
* {{Cite book|url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/np-2015-05-022-jsc-iss-guide-2015-update-111015-508c.pdf|title=Reference Guide to the International Space Station|date=September 2015|publisher=NASA|edition=Utilization|id=NP-2015-05-022-JSC|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-date=4 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504183603/https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/np-2015-05-022-jsc-iss-guide-2015-update-111015-508c.pdf|url-status=live}} | ||
| * {{ |
* {{Cite book|url=https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/508318main_ISS_ref_guide_nov2010.pdf|title=Reference Guide to the International Space Station|year=2010|publisher=NASA|isbn=978-0-16-086517-6|edition=Assembly Complete|id=NP-2010-09-682-HQ|access-date=9 January 2018|archive-date=3 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503192448/https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/508318main_ISS_ref_guide_nov2010.pdf|url-status=live}} | ||
| * O'Sullivan, John. ''European Missions to the International Space Station: 2013 to 2019'' (Springer Nature, 2020). | |||
| * {{cite journal|last1=Ruttley|first1=Tara M.|last2=Robinson|first2=Julie A.|last3=Gerstenmaier|first3=William H.|title=The International Space Station: Collaboration, Utilization, and Commercialization|journal=Social Science Quarterly|volume=98|issue=4|year=2017|issn=0038-4941|doi=10.1111/ssqu.12469|pages=1160–1174|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322066773}} | |||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| {{Sister project links|wikt=no|n=Category:International Space Station|voy=Space}} | {{Sister project links|wikt=no|n=Category:International Space Station|voy=Space}} | ||
| * {{Official website}} | |||
| * {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814110202/https://www.karhukoti.com/Satellites/?search=ISS |date=14 August 2021 }} | |||
| ===Agency ISS websites=== | ===Agency ISS websites=== | ||
| * {{flagicon|CAN}} | * {{flagicon|CAN}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090404061218/http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/iss/default.asp |date=4 April 2009 }} | ||
| * ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513175732/http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/International_Space_Station |date=13 May 2020 }} | |||
| * ] | |||
| * {{flagicon|FRA}} | * {{flagicon|FRA}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228205138/https://iss.cnes.fr/en/internatinal-space-station |date=28 February 2020 }} | ||
| * {{flagicon|GER}} | * {{flagicon|GER}} . {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107055123/https://www.dlr.de/content/en/articles/missions-projects/iss/iss-international-space-station.html |date=7 November 2020 }}. | ||
| * {{flagicon|ITA}} | * {{flagicon|ITA}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809232228/https://www.asi.it/en/life-in-space/international-space-station/ |date=9 August 2020 }} | ||
| * {{flagicon|JPN}} | * {{flagicon|JPN}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720095815/http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/ |date=20 July 2011 }} | ||
| * {{flagicon|RUS}} | * {{flagicon|RUS}} . {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627050937/http://www.energia.ru/eng/iss/iss.html |date=27 June 2017 }}. | ||
| * {{flagicon|RUS}} | * {{flagicon|RUS}} . {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627235737/http://en.roscosmos.ru/202/ |date=27 June 2021 }}. | ||
| * {{flagicon|USA}} | * {{flagicon|USA}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050907073730/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html |date=7 September 2005 }} | ||
| ===Research=== | ===Research=== | ||
| * | * {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190303120134/https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/ |date=3 March 2019 }} | ||
| * | * {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816151423/https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html |date=16 August 2018 }} | ||
| * | * | ||
| * | * . {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111224059/https://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/iss-researches.html |date=11 January 2018 }}. | ||
| ===Live viewing=== | ===Live viewing=== | ||
| {{See also|List of satellite pass predictors}} | {{See also|List of satellite pass predictors}} | ||
| * by NASA at uStream.tv | * {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019125241/http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-iss-stream |date=19 October 2013 }} by NASA at uStream.tv | ||
| * by NASA ] at uStream.tv | * {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229042858/http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iss-hdev-payload |date=29 December 2016 }} by NASA ] at uStream.tv | ||
| * at NASA.gov | * {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825234753/https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ |date=25 August 2021 }} at NASA.gov | ||
| * {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012161445/https://karhukoti.com/webtracker?s=25544 |date=12 October 2022 }} at KarhuKoti.com | |||
| * at Heavens-above.com | |||
| * at |
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827200011/http://heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=25544 |date=27 August 2021 }} at Heavens-above.com | ||
| * {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817053537/https://uphere.space/satellites/25544 |date=17 August 2021 }} at uphere.space | |||
| ===Multimedia=== | ===Multimedia=== | ||
| * at Flickr |
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816021011/https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore |date=16 August 2021 }} at ] | ||
| * by NASA |
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814155134/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doN4t5NKW-k |date=14 August 2021 }} by NASA (on ]) | ||
| * by ESA |
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818023349/https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbyvawxScNbsoD_tGlw8kWCw3S5htiVKZ |date=18 August 2021 }} by ESA (on YouTube) | ||
| * by JAXA |
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818123538/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMmcLmu3V1k |date=18 August 2021 }} by JAXA (on YouTube) | ||
| * Seán Doran's compiled videos of orbital photography from the ISS: | |||
| * Seán Doran's videos of orbital photography from the ISS: ; ; (see for more) | |||
| ** {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817165952/https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=7KXGZAEWzn0 |date=17 August 2021 }} | |||
| ** {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818150554/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkEV4FljRaM |date=18 August 2021 }} | |||
| ** {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821060425/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loOVYBSkLXQ |date=21 August 2021 }} | |||
| ** {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819060741/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gPzIKe92-M |date=19 August 2021 }} | |||
| ** {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818012012/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9vWyEPAboM |date=18 August 2021 }} | |||
| ** {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310081852/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3djDeb-GW3g |date=10 March 2022 }} (see {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815190051/https://www.flickr.com/photos/seandoran/albums/72157665417217399 |date=15 August 2021 }} for more) | |||
| * {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017200406/https://g3xwh.com/index.php/home/iss-contact-march-2002/hlc-video-of-the-iss-contact |date=17 October 2023 }} | |||
| {{International Space Station}} | |||
| {{People currently in space}} | |||
| {{ISS expeditions}} | |||
| {{ISS modules}} | |||
| {{Navboxes|list= | |||
| {{Extreme motion}} | {{Extreme motion}} | ||
| {{Spaceflight}} | {{Spaceflight}} | ||
| {{Space stations}} | {{Space stations}} | ||
| {{Crewed spacecraft}} | {{Crewed spacecraft}} | ||
| {{US human spaceflight programs}} | |||
| {{People currently in space}} | |||
| {{Russian human spaceflight programs}} | |||
| {{ISS modules}} | |||
| {{Russian space program}} | |||
| {{ISS expeditions}} | |||
| {{European human spaceflight}} | |||
| {{Manned ISS flight}} | |||
| {{Unmanned ISS resupply flights}} | |||
| {{US manned space programs}} | |||
| {{Russian manned space programs}} | |||
| {{European manned spaceflight}} | |||
| {{Orbital launches in 1998}} | {{Orbital launches in 1998}} | ||
| {{Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation}} | |||
| {{Russia–United States relations}} | |||
| }} | |||
| {{Authority control}} | {{Authority control}} | ||
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Latest revision as of 00:07, 21 January 2025
Inhabited space station in low Earth orbit (1998–present) "ISS" redirects here. For other uses, see ISS (disambiguation).
 Oblique underside view in November 2021 | |
 International Space Station programme emblem with flags of the original signatory states | |
| Station statistics | |
|---|---|
| COSPAR ID | 1998-067A |
| SATCAT no. | 25544 |
| Call sign | Alpha, Station |
| Crew |
|
| Launch | 20 November 1998 (26 years ago) (1998-11-20) |
| Launch pad | |
| Mass | 450,000 kg (990,000 lb) |
| Length | 109 m (358 ft) (overall), 94 m (310 ft) (truss) |
| Width | 73 m (239 ft) (solar array) |
| Pressurised volume | 1,005.0 m (35,491 cu ft) |
| Atmospheric pressure | 1 atm (101.3 kPa; 14.7 psi) 79% nitrogen, 21% oxygen |
| Perigee altitude | 413 km (256.6 mi) AMSL |
| Apogee altitude | 422 km (262.2 mi) AMSL |
| Orbital inclination | 51.64° |
| Orbital speed | 7.67 km/s; 27,600 km/h; 17,100 mph |
| Orbital period | 92.9 minutes |
| Orbits per day | 15.5 |
| Orbit epoch | 16 August 16:19:30 |
| Days in orbit | 26 years, 2 months, 3 days as of 24 January 2025 |
| Days occupied | 24 years, 2 months, 21 days as of 24 January 2025 |
| No. of orbits | 141,117 as of August 2023 |
| Orbital decay | 2 km/month (1.2 mi/month) |
| Statistics as of 22 December 2022 (unless noted otherwise) References: | |
| Configuration | |
 Station elements as of December 2022(exploded view) | |
The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (Europe), JAXA (Japan), and CSA (Canada). As the largest space station ever constructed, it primarily serves as a platform for conducting scientific experiments in microgravity and studying the space environment.
The station is divided into two main sections: the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS), developed by Roscosmos, and the US Orbital Segment (USOS), built by NASA, ESA, JAXA, and CSA. A striking feature of the ISS is the Integrated Truss Structure, which connect the station’s vast system of solar panels and radiators to its pressurized modules. These modules support diverse functions, including scientific research, crew habitation, storage, spacecraft control, and airlock operations. The ISS has eight docking and berthing ports for visiting spacecraft. The station orbits the Earth at an average altitude of 400 kilometres (250 miles) and circles the Earth in roughly 93 minutes, completing 15.5 orbits per day.
The ISS programme combines two previously planned crewed Earth-orbiting stations: the United States' Space Station Freedom and the Soviet Union's Mir-2. The first ISS module was launched in 1998, with major components delivered by Proton and Soyuz rockets and the Space Shuttle. Long-term occupancy began on 2 November 2000, with the arrival of the Expedition 1 crew. Since then, the ISS has remained continuously inhabited for 24 years and 83 days, the longest continuous human presence in space. By March 2024, 279 individuals from 22 countries had visited the station.
Future plans for the ISS include the addition of at least one module, Axiom Space's Payload Power Thermal Module. The station is expected to remain operational until the end of 2030, after which it will be de-orbited using a dedicated NASA spacecraft.
Conception
This section is an excerpt from International Space Station programme § Conception.As the space race drew to a close in the early 1970s, the US and USSR began to contemplate a variety of potential collaborations in outer space. This culminated in the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first docking of spacecraft from two different spacefaring nations. The ASTP was considered a success, and further joint missions were also contemplated.
One such concept was International Skylab, which proposed launching the backup Skylab B space station for a mission that would see multiple visits by both Apollo and Soyuz crew vehicles. More ambitious was the Skylab-Salyut Space Laboratory, which proposed docking the Skylab B to a Soviet Salyut space station. Falling budgets and rising Cold War tensions in the late 1970s saw these concepts fall by the wayside, along with another plan to have the Space Shuttle dock with a Salyut space station.
In the early 1980s, NASA planned to launch a modular space station called Freedom as a counterpart to the Salyut and Mir space stations. In 1984 the ESA was invited to participate in Space Station Freedom, and the ESA approved the Columbus laboratory by 1987. The Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), or Kibō, was announced in 1985, as part of the Freedom space station in response to a NASA request in 1982.
In early 1985, science ministers from the European Space Agency (ESA) countries approved the Columbus programme, the most ambitious effort in space undertaken by that organization at the time. The plan spearheaded by Germany and Italy included a module which would be attached to Freedom, and with the capability to evolve into a full-fledged European orbital outpost before the end of the century.
Increasing costs threw these plans into doubt in the early 1990s. Congress was unwilling to provide enough money to build and operate Freedom, and demanded NASA increase international participation to defray the rising costs or they would cancel the entire project outright.
Simultaneously, the USSR was conducting planning for the Mir-2 space station, and had begun constructing modules for the new station by the mid-1980s. However the collapse of the Soviet Union required these plans to be greatly downscaled, and soon Mir-2 was in danger of never being launched at all. With both space station projects in jeopardy, American and Russian officials met and proposed they be combined.
In September 1993, American Vice-President Al Gore and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin announced plans for a new space station, which eventually became the International Space Station. They also agreed, in preparation for this new project, that the United States would be involved in the Mir programme, including American Shuttles docking, in the Shuttle–Mir programme.Purpose
The ISS was originally intended to be a laboratory, observatory, and factory while providing transportation, maintenance, and a low Earth orbit staging base for possible future missions to the Moon, Mars, and asteroids. However, not all of the uses envisioned in the initial memorandum of understanding between NASA and Roscosmos have been realised. In the 2010 United States National Space Policy, the ISS was given additional roles of serving commercial, diplomatic, and educational purposes.
Scientific research
Main article: Scientific research on the International Space Station
Comet Lovejoy photographed during Expedition 30
Michael Foale conducts an inspection of the Microgravity Science Glovebox during Expedition 8.
Fisheye view of several labs and the Space Shuttle
CubeSats are deployed by the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer.
The ISS provides a platform to conduct scientific research, with power, data, cooling, and crew available to support experiments. Small uncrewed spacecraft can also provide platforms for experiments, especially those involving zero gravity and exposure to space, but space stations offer a long-term environment where studies can be performed potentially for decades, combined with ready access by human researchers.
The ISS simplifies individual experiments by allowing groups of experiments to share the same launches and crew time. Research is conducted in a wide variety of fields, including astrobiology, astronomy, physical sciences, materials science, space weather, meteorology, and human research including space medicine and the life sciences. Scientists on Earth have timely access to the data and can suggest experimental modifications to the crew. If follow-on experiments are necessary, the routinely scheduled launches of resupply craft allows new hardware to be launched with relative ease. Crews fly expeditions of several months' duration, providing approximately 160 man-hours per week of labour with a crew of six. However, a considerable amount of crew time is taken up by station maintenance.
Perhaps the most notable ISS experiment is the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), which is intended to detect dark matter and answer other fundamental questions about our universe. According to NASA, the AMS is as important as the Hubble Space Telescope. Currently docked on station, it could not have been easily accommodated on a free flying satellite platform because of its power and bandwidth needs. On 3 April 2013, scientists reported that hints of dark matter may have been detected by the AMS. According to the scientists, "The first results from the space-borne Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer confirm an unexplained excess of high-energy positrons in Earth-bound cosmic rays".
The space environment is hostile to life. Unprotected presence in space is characterised by an intense radiation field (consisting primarily of protons and other subatomic charged particles from the solar wind, in addition to cosmic rays), high vacuum, extreme temperatures, and microgravity. Some simple forms of life called extremophiles, as well as small invertebrates called tardigrades can survive in this environment in an extremely dry state through desiccation.
Medical research improves knowledge about the effects of long-term space exposure on the human body, including muscle atrophy, bone loss, and fluid shift. These data will be used to determine whether high duration human spaceflight and space colonisation are feasible. In 2006, data on bone loss and muscular atrophy suggested that there would be a significant risk of fractures and movement problems if astronauts landed on a planet after a lengthy interplanetary cruise, such as the six-month interval required to travel to Mars.
Medical studies are conducted aboard the ISS on behalf of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI). Prominent among these is the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity study in which astronauts perform ultrasound scans under the guidance of remote experts. The study considers the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions in space. Usually, there is no physician on board the ISS and diagnosis of medical conditions is a challenge. It is anticipated that remotely guided ultrasound scans will have application on Earth in emergency and rural care situations where access to a trained physician is difficult.
In August 2020, scientists reported that bacteria from Earth, particularly Deinococcus radiodurans bacteria, which is highly resistant to environmental hazards, were found to survive for three years in outer space, based on studies conducted on the International Space Station. These findings supported the notion of panspermia, the hypothesis that life exists throughout the Universe, distributed in various ways, including space dust, meteoroids, asteroids, comets, planetoids or contaminated spacecraft.
Remote sensing of the Earth, astronomy, and deep space research on the ISS have significantly increased during the 2010s after the completion of the US Orbital Segment in 2011. Throughout the more than 20 years of the ISS program, researchers aboard the ISS and on the ground have examined aerosols, ozone, lightning, and oxides in Earth's atmosphere, as well as the Sun, cosmic rays, cosmic dust, antimatter, and dark matter in the universe. Examples of Earth-viewing remote sensing experiments that have flown on the ISS are the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3, ISS-RapidScat, ECOSTRESS, the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation, and the Cloud Aerosol Transport System. ISS-based astronomy telescopes and experiments include SOLAR, the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, the Calorimetric Electron Telescope, the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI), and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.
Freefall
Gravity at the altitude of the ISS is approximately 90% as strong as at Earth's surface, but objects in orbit are in a continuous state of freefall, resulting in an apparent state of weightlessness. This perceived weightlessness is disturbed by five effects:
- Drag from the residual atmosphere.
- Vibration from the movements of mechanical systems and the crew.
- Actuation of the on-board attitude control moment gyroscopes.
- Thruster firings for attitude or orbital changes.
- Gravity-gradient effects, also known as tidal effects. Items at different locations within the ISS would, if not attached to the station, follow slightly different orbits. Being mechanically connected, these items experience small forces that keep the station moving as a rigid body.
Researchers are investigating the effect of the station's near-weightless environment on the evolution, development, growth and internal processes of plants and animals. In response to some of the data, NASA wants to investigate microgravity's effects on the growth of three-dimensional, human-like tissues and the unusual protein crystals that can be formed in space.
Investigating the physics of fluids in microgravity will provide better models of the behaviour of fluids. Because fluids can be almost completely combined in microgravity, physicists investigate fluids that do not mix well on Earth. Examining reactions that are slowed by low gravity and low temperatures will improve our understanding of superconductivity.
The study of materials science is an important ISS research activity, with the objective of reaping economic benefits through the improvement of techniques used on Earth. Other areas of interest include the effect of low gravity on combustion, through the study of the efficiency of burning and control of emissions and pollutants. These findings may improve knowledge about energy production and lead to economic and environmental benefits.
Exploration
The ISS provides a location in the relative safety of low Earth orbit to test spacecraft systems that will be required for long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars. This provides experience in operations, maintenance, and repair and replacement activities on-orbit. This will help develop essential skills in operating spacecraft farther from Earth, reduce mission risks, and advance the capabilities of interplanetary spacecraft. Referring to the MARS-500 experiment, a crew isolation experiment conducted on Earth, ESA states, "Whereas the ISS is essential for answering questions concerning the possible impact of weightlessness, radiation and other space-specific factors, aspects such as the effect of long-term isolation and confinement can be more appropriately addressed via ground-based simulations". Sergey Krasnov, the head of human space flight programmes for Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, in 2011 suggested a "shorter version" of MARS-500 may be carried out on the ISS.
In 2009, noting the value of the partnership framework itself, Sergey Krasnov wrote, "When compared with partners acting separately, partners developing complementary abilities and resources could give us much more assurance of the success and safety of space exploration. The ISS is helping further advance near-Earth space exploration and realisation of prospective programmes of research and exploration of the Solar system, including the Moon and Mars." A crewed mission to Mars may be a multinational effort involving space agencies and countries outside the current ISS partnership. In 2010, ESA Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain stated his agency was ready to propose to the other four partners that China, India, and South Korea be invited to join the ISS partnership. NASA chief Charles Bolden stated in February 2011, "Any mission to Mars is likely to be a global effort." Currently, US federal legislation prevents NASA co-operation with China on space projects without approval by the FBI and Congress.
Education and cultural outreach
The ISS crew provides opportunities for students on Earth by running student-developed experiments, making educational demonstrations, allowing for student participation in classroom versions of ISS experiments, and directly engaging students using radio, and email. ESA offers a wide range of free teaching materials that can be downloaded for use in classrooms. In one lesson, students can navigate a 3D model of the interior and exterior of the ISS, and face spontaneous challenges to solve in real time.
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) aims to inspire children to "pursue craftsmanship" and to heighten their "awareness of the importance of life and their responsibilities in society". Through a series of education guides, students develop a deeper understanding of the past and near-term future of crewed space flight, as well as that of Earth and life. In the JAXA "Seeds in Space" experiments, the mutation effects of spaceflight on plant seeds aboard the ISS are explored by growing sunflower seeds that have flown on the ISS for about nine months. In the first phase of Kibō utilisation from 2008 to mid-2010, researchers from more than a dozen Japanese universities conducted experiments in diverse fields.
Cultural activities are another major objective of the ISS programme. Tetsuo Tanaka, the director of JAXA's Space Environment and Utilization Center, has said: "There is something about space that touches even people who are not interested in science."
Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS) is a volunteer programme that encourages students worldwide to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, through amateur radio communications opportunities with the ISS crew. ARISS is an international working group, consisting of delegations from nine countries including several in Europe, as well as Japan, Russia, Canada, and the United States. In areas where radio equipment cannot be used, speakerphones connect students to ground stations which then connect the calls to the space station.
First Orbit is a 2011 feature-length documentary film about Vostok 1, the first crewed space flight around the Earth. By matching the orbit of the ISS to that of Vostok 1 as closely as possible, in terms of ground path and time of day, documentary filmmaker Christopher Riley and ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli were able to film the view that Yuri Gagarin saw on his pioneering orbital space flight. This new footage was cut together with the original Vostok 1 mission audio recordings sourced from the Russian State Archive. Nespoli is credited as the director of photography for this documentary film, as he recorded the majority of the footage himself during Expedition 26/27. The film was streamed in a global YouTube premiere in 2011 under a free licence through the website firstorbit.org.
In May 2013, commander Chris Hadfield shot a music video of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" on board the station, which was released on YouTube. It was the first music video filmed in space.
In November 2017, while participating in Expedition 52/53 on the ISS, Paolo Nespoli made two recordings of his spoken voice (one in English and the other in his native Italian), for use on Misplaced Pages articles. These were the first content made in space specifically for Misplaced Pages.
In November 2021, a virtual reality exhibit called The Infinite featuring life aboard the ISS was announced.
Construction
Manufacturing
Main article: Manufacture of the International Space Station
The International Space Station is a product of global collaboration, with its components manufactured across the world.
The modules of the Russian Orbital Segment, including Zarya and Zvezda, were produced at the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center in Moscow. Zvezda was initially manufactured in 1985 as a component for the Mir-2 space station, which was never launched.
Much of the US Orbital Segment, including the Destiny and Unity modules, the Integrated Truss Structure, and solar arrays, were built at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. These components underwent final assembly and processing for launch at the Operations and Checkout Building and the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The US Orbital Segment also hosts the Columbus module contributed by the European Space Agency and built in Germany, the Kibō module contributed by Japan and built at the Tsukuba Space Center and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, along with the Canadarm2 and Dextre, a joint Canadian-U.S. endeavor. All of these components were shipped to the SSPF for launch processing.
Assembly
Main articles: Assembly of the International Space Station and List of ISS spacewalks
The assembly of the International Space Station, a major endeavour in space architecture, began in November 1998.
Modules in the Russian segment launched and docked autonomously, with the exception of Rassvet. Other modules and components were delivered by the Space Shuttle, which then had to be installed by astronauts either remotely using robotic arms or during spacewalks, more formally known as extra-vehicular activities (EVAs). By 5 June 2011 astronauts had made over 159 EVAs to add components to the station, totaling more than 1,000 hours in space.
The foundation for the ISS was laid with the launch of the Russian-built Zarya module atop a Proton rocket on 20 November 1998. Zarya provided propulsion, attitude control, communications, and electrical power. Two weeks later on 4 December 1998, the American-made Unity was ferried aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-88 and joined with Zarya. Unity provided the connection between the Russian and US segments of the station and would provide ports to connect future modules and visiting spacecraft.
While the connection of two modules built on different continents, by nations that were once bitter rivals was a significant milestone, these two initial modules lacked life support systems and the ISS remained unmanned for the next two years. At the time, the Russian station Mir was still inhabited.
The turning point arrived in July 2000 with the launch of the Zvezda module. Equipped with living quarters and life-support systems, Zvezda enabled continuous human presence aboard the station. The first crew, Expedition 1, arrived that November aboard Soyuz TM-31.
The ISS grew steadily over the following years, with modules delivered by both Russian rockets and the Space Shuttle.
Expedition 1 arrived midway between the Space Shuttle flights of missions STS-92 and STS-97. These two flights each added segments of the station's Integrated Truss Structure, which provided the station with Ku band communications, additional attitude control needed for the additional mass of the USOS, and additional solar arrays. Over the next two years, the station continued to expand. A Soyuz-U rocket delivered the Pirs docking compartment. The Space Shuttles Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour delivered the American Destiny laboratory and Quest airlock, in addition to the station's main robot arm, the Canadarm2, and several more segments of the Integrated Truss Structure.
Tragedy struck in 2003 with the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia, which grounded the rest of the Shuttle fleet, halting construction of the ISS.
Assembly resumed in 2006 with the arrival of STS-115 with Atlantis, which delivered the station's second set of solar arrays. Several more truss segments and a third set of arrays were delivered on STS-116, STS-117, and STS-118. As a result of the major expansion of the station's power-generating capabilities, more modules could be accommodated, and the US Harmony module and Columbus European laboratory were added. These were soon followed by the first two components of the Japanese Kibō laboratory. In March 2009, STS-119 completed the Integrated Truss Structure with the installation of the fourth and final set of solar arrays. The final section of Kibō was delivered in July 2009 on STS-127, followed by the Russian Poisk module. The US Tranquility module was delivered in February 2010 during STS-130, alongside the Cupola, followed by the penultimate Russian module, Rassvet, in May 2010. Rassvet was delivered by Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-132 in exchange for the Russian Proton delivery of the US-funded Zarya module in 1998. The last pressurised module of the USOS, Leonardo, was brought to the station in February 2011 on the final flight of Discovery, STS-133.
Russia's new primary research module Nauka docked in July 2021, along with the European Robotic Arm which can relocate itself to different parts of the Russian modules of the station. Russia's latest addition, the Prichal module, docked in November 2021.
As of November 2021, the station consists of 18 pressurised modules (including airlocks) and the Integrated Truss Structure.
Structure
The ISS functions as a modular space station, enabling the addition or removal of modules from its structure for increased adaptability.
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Blueprint of ISS (as of 2018)
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Rendering of ISS (as of 2023)
Below is a diagram of major station components. The Unity node joins directly to the Destiny laboratory; for clarity, they are shown apart. Similar cases are also seen in other parts of the structure.
Key to box background colors:
- Pressurised component, accessible by the crew without using spacesuits
- Docking/berthing port, pressurized when a visiting spacecraft is present
- Airlock, to move people or material between pressurized and unpressurized environment
- Unpressurised station superstructure
- Unpressurised component
- Temporarily defunct or non-commissioned component
- Former, no longer installed component
- Future, not yet installed component
Pressurised modules
Zarya
Main article: Zarya (ISS module)
Zarya (Russian: Заря, lit. 'Sunrise'), also known as the Functional Cargo Block (Russian: Функционально-грузовой блок), was the inaugural component of the ISS. Launched in 1998, it initially served as the ISS's power source, storage, propulsion, and guidance system. As the station has grown, Zarya's role has transitioned primarily to storage, both internally and in its external fuel tanks.
A descendant of the TKS spacecraft used in the Salyut programme, Zarya was built in Russia but is owned by the United States. Its name symbolizes the beginning of a new era of international space cooperation.
Unity
Main article: Unity (ISS module)
Unity, also known as Node 1, is the inaugural U.S.-built component of the ISS. Serving as the connection between the Russian and U.S. segments, this cylindrical module features six Common Berthing Mechanism locations (forward, aft, port, starboard, zenith, and nadir) for attaching additional modules. Measuring 4.57 metres (15.0 ft) in diameter and 5.47 metres (17.9 ft) in length, Unity was constructed of steel by Boeing for NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. It was the first of three connecting nodes – Unity, Harmony, and Tranquility – that forms the structural backbone of the U.S. segment of the ISS.
Zvezda
Main article: Zvezda (ISS module).jpg)
Zvezda (Russian: Звезда, lit. 'star') launched in July 2000, is the core of the Russian Orbital Segment of the ISS. Initially providing essential living quarters and life support systems, it enabled the first continuous human presence aboard the station. While additional modules have expanded the ISS's capabilities, Zvezda remains the command and control center for the Russian segment and it is where crews gather during emergencies.
A descendant of the Salyut programme's DOS spacecraft, Zvezda was built by RKK Energia and launched atop a Proton rocket.
Destiny
Main article: Destiny (ISS module)
The Destiny laboratory is the primary research facility for U.S. experiments on the ISS. NASA's first permanent orbital research station since Skylab, the module was built by Boeing and launched aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis during STS-98. Attached to Unity over a period of five days in February 2001, Destiny has been a hub for scientific research ever since.
Within Destiny, astronauts conduct experiments in fields such as medicine, engineering, biotechnology, physics, materials science, and Earth science. Researchers worldwide benefit from these studies. The module also houses life support systems, including the Oxygen Generating System.
Quest Joint Airlock
Main article: Quest Joint Airlock
The Quest Joint Airlock enables extravehicular activities (EVAs) using either the U.S. Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) or the Russian Orlan space suit.
Before its installation, conducting EVAs from the ISS was challenging due to a variety of system and design differences. Only the Orlan suit could be used from the Transfer Chamber on the Zvezda module (which was not a purpose-built airlock) and the EMU could only be used from the airlock on a visiting Space Shuttle, which could not accommodate the Orlan.
Launched aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis during STS-104 in July 2001 and attached to the Unity module, Quest is a 6.1-metre-long (20 ft), 4.0-metre-wide (13 ft) structure built by Boeing. It houses the crew airlock for astronaut egress, an equipment airlock for suit storage, and has facilities to accommodate astronauts during their overnight pre-breathe procedures to prevent decompression sickness.
The crew airlock, derived from the Space Shuttle, features essential equipment like lighting, handrails, and an Umbilical Interface Assembly (UIA) that provides life support and communication systems for up to two spacesuits simultaneously. These can be either two EMUs, two Orlan suits, or one of each design.
Poisk
Main article: Poisk (ISS module)Poisk (Russian: По́иск, lit. 'Search'), also known as the Mini-Research Module 2 (Russian: Малый исследовательский модуль 2), serves as both a secondary airlock on the Russian segment of the ISS and supports docking for Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, facilitates propellant transfers from the latter. Launched on 10 November 2009 attached to a modified Progress spacecraft, called Progress M-MIM2.
Poisk provides facilities to maintain Orlan spacesuits and is equipped with two inward-opening hatches, a design change from Mir, which encountered a dangerous situation caused by an outward-opening hatch that opened too quickly because of a small amount of air pressure remaining in the airlock. Since the departure of Pirs in 2021, it's become the sole airlock on the Russian segment.
Harmony
Main article: Harmony (ISS module)
Harmony, or Node 2, is the central connecting hub of the US segment of the ISS, linking the U.S., European, and Japanese laboratory modules. It's also been called the "utility hub" of the ISS as it provides essential power, data, and life support systems. The module also houses sleeping quarters for four crew members.
Launched on 23 October 2007 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-120, Harmony was initially attached to the Unity before being relocated to its permanent position at the front of the Destiny laboratory on 14 November 2007. This expansion added significant living space to the ISS, marking a key milestone in the construction of the U.S. segment.
Tranquility
Main article: Tranquility (ISS module)
Tranquility, also known as Node 3, is a module of the ISS. It contains environmental control systems, life support systems, a toilet, exercise equipment, and an observation cupola.
The European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency had Tranquility manufactured by Thales Alenia Space. A ceremony on 20 November 2009 transferred ownership of the module to NASA. On 8 February 2010, NASA launched the module on the Space Shuttle's STS-130 mission.
Columbus
Main article: Columbus (ISS module)
Columbus is a science laboratory that is part of the ISS and is the largest single contribution to the station made by the European Space Agency.
Like the Harmony and Tranquility modules, the Columbus laboratory was constructed in Turin, Italy by Thales Alenia Space. The functional equipment and software of the lab was designed by EADS in Bremen, Germany. It was also integrated in Bremen before being flown to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in an Airbus Beluga jet. It was launched aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis on 7 February 2008, on flight STS-122. It is designed for ten years of operation. The module is controlled by the Columbus Control Centre, located at the German Space Operations Center, part of the German Aerospace Center in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich, Germany.
The European Space Agency has spent €1.4 billion (about US$1.6 billion) on building Columbus, including the experiments it carries and the ground control infrastructure necessary to operate them.
Kibō
Main article: Kibō (ISS module)
Kibō (Japanese: きぼう, lit. 'hope'), also known as the Japanese Experiment Module, is Japan's research facility on the ISS. It is the largest single module on the ISS, consisting of a pressurized lab, an exposed facility for conducting experiments in the space environment, two storage compartments, and a robotic arm. Attached to the Harmony module, Kibō was assembled in space over three Space Shuttle missions: STS-123, STS-124 and STS-127.
Cupola
Main article: Cupola (ISS module)
The Cupola is an ESA-built observatory module of the ISS. Its name derives from the Italian word cupola, which means "dome". Its seven windows are used to conduct experiments, dockings and observations of Earth. It was launched aboard Space Shuttle mission STS-130 on 8 February 2010 and attached to the Tranquility (Node 3) module. With the Cupola attached, ISS assembly reached 85 per cent completion. The Cupola's central window has a diameter of 80 cm (31 in).
Rassvet
Main article: Rassvet (ISS module)
Rassvet (Russian: Рассвет, lit. 'first light'), also known as the Mini-Research Module 1 (Russian: Малый исследовательский модуль 1) and formerly known as the Docking Cargo Module is primarily used for cargo storage and as a docking port for visiting spacecraft on the Russian segment of the ISS. Rassvet replaced the cancelled Docking and Storage Module and used a design largely based on the Mir Docking Module built in 1995.
Rassvet was delivered in on 14 May 2010 Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-132 in exchange for the Russian Proton delivery of the US-funded Zarya module in 1998. Rassvet was attached to Zarya shortly thereafter.
Leonardo
Main article: Leonardo (ISS module)The Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) is a module of the International Space Station. It was flown into space aboard the Space Shuttle on STS-133 on 24 February 2011 and installed on 1 March. Leonardo is primarily used for storage of spares, supplies and waste on the ISS, which was until then stored in many different places within the space station. It is also the personal hygiene area for the astronauts who live in the US Orbital Segment. The Leonardo PMM was a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) before 2011, but was modified into its current configuration. It was formerly one of two MPLM used for bringing cargo to and from the ISS with the Space Shuttle. The module was named for Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci.
Bigelow Expandable Activity Module
The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is an experimental expandable space station module developed by Bigelow Aerospace, under contract to NASA, for testing as a temporary module on the International Space Station (ISS) from 2016 to at least 2020. It arrived at the ISS on 10 April 2016, was berthed to the station on 16 April at Tranquility Node 3, and was expanded and pressurized on 28 May 2016. In December 2021, Bigelow Aerospace conveyed ownership of the module to NASA, as a result of Bigelow's cessation of activity.
International Docking Adapters
The International Docking Adapter (IDA) is a spacecraft docking system adapter developed to convert APAS-95 to the NASA Docking System (NDS). An IDA is placed on each of the ISS's two open Pressurized Mating Adapters (PMAs), both of which are connected to the Harmony module.
Two International Docking Adapters are currently installed aboard the Station. Originally, IDA-1 was planned to be installed on PMA-2, located at Harmony's forward port, and IDA-2 would be installed on PMA-3 at Harmony's zenith. After IDA 1 was destroyed in a launch incident, IDA-2 was installed on PMA-2 on 19 August 2016, while IDA-3 was later installed on PMA-3 on 21 August 2019.
Bishop Airlock Module
Main article: Nanoracks Bishop Airlock
The NanoRacks Bishop Airlock Module is a commercially funded airlock module launched to the ISS on SpaceX CRS-21 on 6 December 2020. The module was built by NanoRacks, Thales Alenia Space, and Boeing. It will be used to deploy CubeSats, small satellites, and other external payloads for NASA, CASIS, and other commercial and governmental customers.
Nauka
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Nauka (Russian: Наука, lit. 'Science'), also known as the Multipurpose Laboratory Module, Upgrade (Russian: Многоцелевой лабораторный модуль, усоверше́нствованный), is a Roscosmos-funded component of the ISS that was launched on 21 July 2021, 14:58 UTC. In the original ISS plans, Nauka was to use the location of the Docking and Stowage Module (DSM), but the DSM was later replaced by the Rassvet module and moved to Zarya's nadir port. Nauka was successfully docked to Zvezda's nadir port on 29 July 2021, 13:29 UTC, replacing the Pirs module.
It had a temporary docking adapter on its nadir port for crewed and uncrewed missions until Prichal arrival, where just before its arrival it was removed by a departing Progress spacecraft.
Prichal
Main article: Prichal (ISS module)Prichal (Russian: Причал, lit. 'pier') is a 4-tonne (8,800 lb) spherical module that serves as a docking hub for the Russian segment of the ISS. Launched in November 2021, Prichal provides additional docking ports for Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, as well as potential future modules. Prichal features six docking ports: forward, aft, port, starboard, zenith, and nadir. One of these ports, equipped with an active hybrid docking system, enabled it to dock with the Nauka module. The remaining five ports are passive hybrids, allowing for docking of Soyuz, Progress, and heavier modules, as well as future spacecraft with modified docking systems. As of 2024, the forward, aft, port and starboard docking ports remain covered. Prichal was initially intended to be an element of the now canceled Orbital Piloted Assembly and Experiment Complex.
Unpressurised elements
ISS Truss Components breakdown showing Trusses and all ORUs in situ
Construction of the Integrated Truss Structure over New Zealand
The ISS has a large number of external components that do not require pressurisation. The largest of these is the Integrated Truss Structure (ITS), to which the station's main solar arrays and thermal radiators are mounted. The ITS consists of ten separate segments forming a structure 108.5 metres (356 ft) long.
The station was intended to have several smaller external components, such as six robotic arms, three External Stowage Platforms (ESPs) and four ExPRESS Logistics Carriers (ELCs). While these platforms allow experiments (including MISSE, the STP-H3 and the Robotic Refueling Mission) to be deployed and conducted in the vacuum of space by providing electricity and processing experimental data locally, their primary function is to store spare Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs). ORUs are parts that can be replaced when they fail or pass their design life, including pumps, storage tanks, antennas, and battery units. Such units are replaced either by astronauts during EVA or by robotic arms. Several shuttle missions were dedicated to the delivery of ORUs, including STS-129, STS-133 and STS-134. As of January 2011, only one other mode of transportation of ORUs had been used – the Japanese cargo vessel HTV-2 – which delivered an FHRC and CTC-2 via its Exposed Pallet (EP).
There are also smaller exposure facilities mounted directly to laboratory modules; the Kibō Exposed Facility serves as an external "porch" for the Kibō complex, and a facility on the European Columbus laboratory provides power and data connections for experiments such as the European Technology Exposure Facility and the Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space. A remote sensing instrument, SAGE III-ISS, was delivered to the station in February 2017 aboard CRS-10, and the NICER experiment was delivered aboard CRS-11 in June 2017. The largest scientific payload externally mounted to the ISS is the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), a particle physics experiment launched on STS-134 in May 2011, and mounted externally on the ITS. The AMS measures cosmic rays to look for evidence of dark matter and antimatter.
The commercial Bartolomeo External Payload Hosting Platform, manufactured by Airbus, was launched on 6 March 2020 aboard CRS-20 and attached to the European Columbus module. It will provide an additional 12 external payload slots, supplementing the eight on the ExPRESS Logistics Carriers, ten on Kibō, and four on Columbus. The system is designed to be robotically serviced and will require no astronaut intervention. It is named after Christopher Columbus's younger brother.
MLM outfittings
MLM outfittings on Rassvet.jpg)
A wide-angle view of the new module (behind Rassvet) attached to the ROS as seen from the cupola
In May 2010, equipment for Nauka was launched on STS-132 (as part of an agreement with NASA) and delivered by Space Shuttle Atlantis. Weighing 1.4 metric tons, the equipment was attached to the outside of Rassvet (MRM-1). It included a spare elbow joint for the European Robotic Arm (ERA) (which was launched with Nauka) and an ERA-portable workpost used during EVAs, as well as RTOd add-on heat radiator and internal hardware alongside the pressurized experiment airlock.
The RTOd radiator adds additional cooling capability to Nauka, which enables the module to host more scientific experiments.
The ERA was used to remove the RTOd radiator from Rassvet and transferred over to Nauka during VKD-56 spacewalk. Later it was activated and fully deployed on VKD-58 spacewalk. This process took several months. A portable work platform was also transferred over in August 2023 during VKD-60 spacewalk, which can attach to the end of the ERA to allow cosmonauts to "ride" on the end of the arm during spacewalks. However, even after several months of outfitting EVAs and RTOd heat radiator installation, six months later, the RTOd radiator malfunctioned before active use of Nauka (the purpose of RTOd installation is to radiate heat from Nauka experiments). The malfunction, a leak, rendered the RTOd radiator unusable for Nauka. This is the third ISS radiator leak after Soyuz MS-22 and Progress MS-21 radiator leaks. If a spare RTOd is not available, Nauka experiments will have to rely on Nauka's main launch radiator and the module could never be used to its full capacity.
Another MLM outfitting is a 4 segment external payload interface called means of attachment of large payloads (Sredstva Krepleniya Krupnogabaritnykh Obyektov, SKKO). Delivered in two parts to Nauka by Progress MS-18 (LCCS part) and Progress MS-21 (SCCCS part) as part of the module activation outfitting process. It was taken outside and installed on the ERA aft facing base point on Nauka during the VKD-55 spacewalk.
Robotic arms and cargo cranes
Commander Volkov stands on Pirs with his back to the Soyuz whilst operating the manualStrela crane (which is holding photographer Oleg Kononenko).
Dextre, like many of the station's experiments and robotic arms, can be operated from Earth, allowing tasks to be performed while the crew sleeps.
The Integrated Truss Structure (ITS) serves as a base for the station's primary remote manipulator system, the Mobile Servicing System (MSS), which is composed of three main components:
- Canadarm2, the largest robotic arm on the ISS, has a mass of 1,800 kilograms (4,000 lb) and is used to: dock and manipulate spacecraft and modules on the USOS; hold crew members and equipment in place during EVAs; and move Dextre to perform tasks.
- Dextre is a 1,560 kg (3,440 lb) robotic manipulator that has two arms and a rotating torso, with power tools, lights, and video for replacing orbital replacement units (ORUs) and performing other tasks requiring fine control.
- The Mobile Base System (MBS) is a platform that rides on rails along the length of the station's main truss, which serves as a mobile base for Canadarm2 and Dextre, allowing the robotic arms to reach all parts of the USOS.
A grapple fixture was added to Zarya on STS-134 to enable Canadarm2 to inchworm itself onto the ROS. Also installed during STS-134 was the 15 m (50 ft) Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS), which had been used to inspect heat shield tiles on Space Shuttle missions and which can be used on the station to increase the reach of the MSS. Staff on Earth or the ISS can operate the MSS components using remote control, performing work outside the station without the need for space walks.
Japan's Remote Manipulator System, which services the Kibō Exposed Facility, was launched on STS-124 and is attached to the Kibō Pressurised Module. The arm is similar to the Space Shuttle arm as it is permanently attached at one end and has a latching end effector for standard grapple fixtures at the other.
The European Robotic Arm, which will service the ROS, was launched alongside the Nauka module. The ROS does not require spacecraft or modules to be manipulated, as all spacecraft and modules dock automatically and may be discarded the same way. Crew use the two Strela (Russian: Стрела́, lit. 'Arrow') cargo cranes during EVAs for moving crew and equipment around the ROS. Each Strela crane has a mass of 45 kg (99 lb).
Former module
The Pirs module attached to the ISS
ISS-65 Pirs docking compartment separates from the International Space Station.
Pirs
Main article: Pirs (ISS module)Pirs (Russian: Пирс, lit. 'Pier') was launched on 14 September 2001, as ISS Assembly Mission 4R, on a Russian Soyuz-U rocket, using a modified Progress spacecraft, Progress M-SO1, as an upper stage. Pirs was undocked by Progress MS-16 on 26 July 2021, 10:56 UTC, and deorbited on the same day at 14:51 UTC to make room for Nauka module to be attached to the space station. Prior to its departure, Pirs served as the primary Russian airlock on the station, being used to store and refurbish the Russian Orlan spacesuits.
Planned components
Axiom segment
Main article: Axiom Station
In January 2020, NASA awarded Axiom Space a contract to build a commercial module for the ISS. The contract is under the NextSTEP2 program. NASA negotiated with Axiom on a firm fixed-price contract basis to build and deliver the module, which will attach to the forward port of the space station's Harmony (Node 2) module. Although NASA only commissioned one module, Axiom planned to build an entire segment consisting of five modules, including a node module, an orbital research and manufacturing facility, a crew habitat, and a "large-windowed Earth observatory". The Axiom segment was expected to greatly increase the capabilities and value of the space station, allowing for larger crews and private spaceflight by other organisations. Axiom planned to convert the segment into a stand-alone space station once the ISS is decommissioned, with the intention that this would act as a successor to the ISS. Canadarm2 is planned to continue its operations on Axiom Station after the retirement of ISS in 2030. In December 2024, Axiom Space revised their station assembly plans to require only one module to dock with the ISS before assembling Axiom Station in an independent orbit.
As of December 2024, Axiom Space expects to launch one module, the Payload Power Thermal Module (PPTM), to the ISS no earlier than 2027. PPTM is expected to remain at the ISS until the launch of Axiom's Habitat One (Hab-1) module about one year later, after which it will detach from the ISS to join with Hab-1.
US Deorbit Vehicle
The US Deorbit Vehicle (USDV) is a NASA-provided spacecraft intended to perform a controlled de-orbit and demise of the station after the end of its operational life in 2030. In June 2024, NASA awarded SpaceX a contract to build the Deorbit Vehicle. NASA plans to de-orbit ISS as soon as they have the "minimum capability" in orbit: "the USDV and at least one commercial station."
Cancelled components
The cancelled Habitation module under construction at Michoud in 1997.webp)
Rendering of the Nautilus-X Centrifuge Demonstrator docked to the ISS (side)
Several modules developed or planned for the station were cancelled over the course of the ISS programme. Reasons include budgetary constraints, the modules becoming unnecessary, and station redesigns after the 2003 Columbia disaster. The US Centrifuge Accommodations Module would have hosted science experiments in varying levels of artificial gravity. The US Habitation Module would have served as the station's living quarters. Instead, the living quarters are now spread throughout the station. The US Interim Control Module and ISS Propulsion Module would have replaced the functions of Zvezda in case of a launch failure. Two Russian Research Modules were planned for scientific research. They would have docked to a Russian Universal Docking Module. The Russian Science Power Platform would have supplied power to the Russian Orbital Segment independent of the ITS solar arrays.
Science Power Modules 1 and 2 (Repurposed Components)
Science Power Module 1 (SPM-1, also known as NEM-1) and Science Power Module 2 (SPM-2, also known as NEM-2) are modules that were originally planned to arrive at the ISS no earlier than 2024, and dock to the Prichal module, which is docked to the Nauka module. In April 2021, Roscosmos announced that NEM-1 would be repurposed to function as the core module of the proposed Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS), launching no earlier than 2027 and docking to the free-flying Nauka module. NEM-2 may be converted into another core "base" module, which would be launched in 2028.
Xbase
Main article: B330Designed by Bigelow Aerospace. In August 2016, Bigelow negotiated an agreement with NASA to develop a full-size ground prototype Deep Space Habitation based on the B330 under the second phase of Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships. The module was called the Expandable Bigelow Advanced Station Enhancement (XBASE), as Bigelow hoped to test the module by attaching it to the International Space Station. However, in March 2020, Bigelow laid off all 88 of its employees, and as of February 2024 the company remains dormant and is considered defunct, making it appear unlikely that the XBASE module will ever be launched.
Nautilus-X Centrifuge Demonstration
Main article: Nautilus-XA proposal was put forward in 2011 for a first in-space demonstration of a sufficiently scaled centrifuge for artificial partial-g gravity effects. It was designed to become a sleep module for the ISS crew. The project was cancelled in favour of other projects due to budget constraints.
Onboard systems
Life support
Main articles: ISS ECLSS and Chemical oxygen generatorThe critical systems are the atmosphere control system, the water supply system, the food supply facilities, the sanitation and hygiene equipment, and fire detection and suppression equipment. The Russian Orbital Segment's life support systems are contained in the Zvezda service module. Some of these systems are supplemented by equipment in the USOS. The Nauka laboratory has a complete set of life support systems.
Atmospheric control systems
The atmosphere on board the ISS is similar to that of Earth. Normal air pressure on the ISS is 101.3 kPa (14.69 psi); the same as at sea level on Earth. An Earth-like atmosphere offers benefits for crew comfort, and is much safer than a pure oxygen atmosphere, because of the increased risk of a fire such as that responsible for the deaths of the Apollo 1 crew. Earth-like atmospheric conditions have been maintained on all Russian and Soviet spacecraft.
The Elektron system aboard Zvezda and a similar system in Destiny generate oxygen aboard the station. The crew has a backup option in the form of bottled oxygen and Solid Fuel Oxygen Generation (SFOG) canisters, a chemical oxygen generator system. Carbon dioxide is removed from the air by the Vozdukh system in Zvezda. Other by-products of human metabolism, such as methane from the intestines and ammonia from sweat, are removed by activated charcoal filters.
Part of the ROS atmosphere control system is the oxygen supply. Triple-redundancy is provided by the Elektron unit, solid fuel generators, and stored oxygen. The primary supply of oxygen is the Elektron unit which produces O2 and H2 by electrolysis of water and vents H2 overboard. The 1 kW (1.3 hp) system uses approximately one litre of water per crew member per day. This water is either brought from Earth or recycled from other systems. Mir was the first spacecraft to use recycled water for oxygen production. The secondary oxygen supply is provided by burning oxygen-producing Vika cartridges (see also ISS ECLSS). Each 'candle' takes 5–20 minutes to decompose at 450–500 °C (842–932 °F), producing 600 litres (130 imp gal; 160 US gal) of O2. This unit is manually operated.
The US Orbital Segment (USOS) has redundant supplies of oxygen, from a pressurised storage tank on the Quest airlock module delivered in 2001, supplemented ten years later by ESA-built Advanced Closed-Loop System (ACLS) in the Tranquility module (Node 3), which produces O2 by electrolysis. Hydrogen produced is combined with carbon dioxide from the cabin atmosphere and converted to water and methane.
Power and thermal control
Main articles: Electrical system of the International Space Station and External Active Thermal Control System
Russian solar arrays, backlit by sunset
One of the eight truss mounted pairs of USOS solar arrays
ISS new roll out solar array as seen from a zoom camera on the P6 Truss
Double-sided solar arrays provide electrical power to the ISS. These bifacial cells collect direct sunlight on one side and light reflected off from the Earth on the other, and are more efficient and operate at a lower temperature than single-sided cells commonly used on Earth.
The Russian segment of the station, like most spacecraft, uses 28 V low voltage DC from two rotating solar arrays mounted on Zvezda. The USOS uses 130–180 V DC from the USOS PV array. Power is stabilised and distributed at 160 V DC and converted to the user-required 124 V DC. The higher distribution voltage allows smaller, lighter conductors, at the expense of crew safety. The two station segments share power with converters.
The USOS solar arrays are arranged as four wing pairs, for a total production of 75 to 90 kilowatts. These arrays normally track the Sun to maximise power generation. Each array is about 375 m (4,036 sq ft) in area and 58 m (190 ft) long. In the complete configuration, the solar arrays track the Sun by rotating the alpha gimbal once per orbit; the beta gimbal follows slower changes in the angle of the Sun to the orbital plane. The Night Glider mode aligns the solar arrays parallel to the ground at night to reduce the significant aerodynamic drag at the station's relatively low orbital altitude.
The station originally used rechargeable nickel–hydrogen batteries (NiH2) for continuous power during the 45 minutes of every 90-minute orbit that it is eclipsed by the Earth. The batteries are recharged on the day side of the orbit. They had a 6.5-year lifetime (over 37,000 charge/discharge cycles) and were regularly replaced over the anticipated 20-year life of the station. Starting in 2016, the nickel–hydrogen batteries were replaced by lithium-ion batteries, which are expected to last until the end of the ISS program.
The station's large solar panels generate a high potential voltage difference between the station and the ionosphere. This could cause arcing through insulating surfaces and sputtering of conductive surfaces as ions are accelerated by the spacecraft plasma sheath. To mitigate this, plasma contactor units create current paths between the station and the ambient space plasma.
The station's systems and experiments consume a large amount of electrical power, almost all of which is converted to heat. To keep the internal temperature within workable limits, a passive thermal control system (PTCS) is made of external surface materials, insulation such as MLI, and heat pipes. If the PTCS cannot keep up with the heat load, an External Active Thermal Control System (EATCS) maintains the temperature. The EATCS consists of an internal, non-toxic, water coolant loop used to cool and dehumidify the atmosphere, which transfers collected heat into an external liquid ammonia loop. From the heat exchangers, ammonia is pumped into external radiators that emit heat as infrared radiation, then the ammonia is cycled back to the station. The EATCS provides cooling for all the US pressurised modules, including Kibō and Columbus, as well as the main power distribution electronics of the S0, S1 and P1 trusses. It can reject up to 70 kW. This is much more than the 14 kW of the Early External Active Thermal Control System (EEATCS) via the Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS), which was launched on STS-105 and installed onto the P6 Truss.
Communications and computers
Main articles: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite and Luch (satellite) See also: ThinkPad § Use in spaceThe ISS relies on various radio communication systems to provide telemetry and scientific data links between the station and mission control centres. Radio links are also used during rendezvous and docking procedures and for audio and video communication between crew members, flight controllers and family members. As a result, the ISS is equipped with internal and external communication systems used for different purposes.
The Russian Orbital Segment primarily uses the Lira antenna mounted on Zvezda for direct ground communication. It also had the capability to utilize the Luch data relay satellite system, which was in a state of disrepair when the station was built, but was restored to operational status in 2011 and 2012 with the launch of Luch-5A and Luch-5B. Additionally, the Voskhod-M system provides internal telephone communications and VHF radio links to ground control.
The US Orbital Segment (USOS) makes use of two separate radio links: S band (audio, telemetry, commanding – located on the P1/S1 truss) and Ku band (audio, video and data – located on the Z1 truss) systems. These transmissions are routed via the United States Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) in geostationary orbit, allowing for almost continuous real-time communications with Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center (MCC-H) in Houston, Texas. Data channels for the Canadarm2, European Columbus laboratory and Japanese Kibō modules were originally also routed via the S band and Ku band systems, with the European Data Relay System and a similar Japanese system intended to eventually complement the TDRSS in this role.
UHF radio is used by astronauts and cosmonauts conducting EVAs and other spacecraft that dock to or undock from the station. Automated spacecraft are fitted with their own communications equipment; the ATV used a laser attached to the spacecraft and the Proximity Communications Equipment attached to Zvezda to accurately dock with the station.
An array of laptops in the US lab
Laptop computers surround the Canadarm2 console.
An error message displays a problem with a hard drive on a laptop aboard the ISS.
The US Orbital Segment of the ISS is equipped with approximately 100 commercial off-the-shelf laptops running Windows or Linux. These devices are modified to use the station's 28V DC power system and with additional ventilation since heat generated by the devices can stagnate in the weightless environment. NASA prefers to keep a high commonality between laptops and spare parts are kept on the station so astronauts can repair laptops when needed.
The laptops are divided into two groups: the Portable Computer System (PCS) and Station Support Computers (SSC).
PCS laptops run Linux and are used for connecting to the station's primary Command & Control computer (C&C MDM), which runs on Debian Linux, a switch made from Windows in 2013 for reliability and flexibility. The primary computer supervises the critical systems that keep the station in orbit and supporting life. Since the primary computer has no display or keyboards, astronauts use a PCS laptop to connect as remote terminals via a USB to 1553 adapter. The primary computer experienced failures in 2001, 2007, and 2017. The 2017 failure required a spacewalk to replace external components.
SSC laptops are used for everything else on the station, including reviewing procedures, managing scientific experiments, communicating over e-mail or video chat, and for entertainment during downtime. SSC laptops connect to the station's wireless LAN via Wi-Fi, which connects to the ground via the Ku band. While originally this provided speeds of 10 Mbit/s download and 3 Mbit/s upload from the station, NASA upgraded the system in 2019 and increased the speeds to 600 Mbit/s. ISS crew members have access to the internet.
Operations
Expeditions
See also: List of International Space Station expeditions
Zarya and Unity were entered for the first time on 10 December 1998.
Soyuz TM-31 being prepared to bring the first resident crew to the station in October 2000
Each permanent crew is given an expedition number. Expeditions run up to six months, from launch until undocking, an 'increment' covers the same time period, but includes cargo spacecraft and all activities. Expeditions 1 to 6 consisted of three-person crews. After the destruction of NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia, Expeditions 7 to 12 were reduced to two-person "caretaker" crews who could maintain the station, because a larger crew could not be fully resupplied by the small Russian Progress cargo spacecraft. After the Shuttle fleet returned to flight, three person crews also returned to the ISS beginning with Expedition 13. As the Shuttle flights expanded the station, crew sizes also expanded, eventually reaching six around 2010. With the arrival of crew on larger US commercial spacecraft beginning in 2020, crew size has been increased to seven, the number for which ISS was originally designed.
Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos holds the record for the longest time spent in space and at the ISS, accumulating nearly 1,111 days in space over the course of five long-duration missions on the ISS (Expedition 17, 30/31, 44/45, 57/58/59 and 69/70/71). He also served as commander three times (Expedition 31, 58/59 and 70/71).
Peggy Whitson of NASA and Axiom Space has spent the most time in space of any American, accumulating over 675 days in space during her time on Expeditions 5, 16, and 50/51/52 and Axiom Mission 2.
Private flights
See also: Space tourismTravellers who pay for their own passage into space are termed spaceflight participants by Roscosmos and NASA, and are sometimes referred to as "space tourists", a term they generally dislike. As of June 2023, thirteen space tourists have visited the ISS; nine were transported to the ISS on Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and four were transported on American SpaceX Dragon 2 spacecraft. For one-tourist missions, when professional crews change over in numbers not divisible by the three seats in a Soyuz, and a short-stay crewmember is not sent, the spare seat is sold by MirCorp through Space Adventures. Space tourism was halted in 2011 when the Space Shuttle was retired and the station's crew size was reduced to six, as the partners relied on Russian transport seats for access to the station. Soyuz flight schedules increased after 2013, allowing five Soyuz flights (15 seats) with only two expeditions (12 seats) required. The remaining seats were to be sold for around US$40 million each to members of the public who could pass a medical exam. ESA and NASA criticised private spaceflight at the beginning of the ISS, and NASA initially resisted training Dennis Tito, the first person to pay for his own passage to the ISS.
Anousheh Ansari became the first self-funded woman to fly to the ISS as well as the first Iranian in space. Officials reported that her education and experience made her much more than a tourist, and her performance in training had been "excellent." She did Russian and European studies involving medicine and microbiology during her 10-day stay. The 2009 documentary Space Tourists follows her journey to the station, where she fulfilled "an age-old dream of man: to leave our planet as a 'normal person' and travel into outer space."
In 2008, spaceflight participant Richard Garriott placed a geocache aboard the ISS during his flight. This is currently the only non-terrestrial geocache in existence. At the same time, the Immortality Drive, an electronic record of eight digitised human DNA sequences, was placed aboard the ISS.
After a 12-year hiatus, the first two wholly space tourism-dedicated private spaceflights to the ISS were undertaken. Soyuz MS-20 launched in December 2021, carrying visiting Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and two Japanese space tourists under the aegis of the private company Space Adventures; in April 2022, the company Axiom Space chartered a SpaceX Dragon 2 spacecraft and sent its own employee astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and three space tourists to the ISS for Axiom Mission 1, followed in May 2023 by one more tourist, John Shoffner, alongside employee astronaut Peggy Whitson and two Saudi astronauts for the Axiom Mission 2.
Fleet operations
Various crewed and uncrewed spacecraft have supported the station's activities. Flights to the ISS include 37 Space Shuttle, 90 Progress, 71 Soyuz, 5 ATV, 9 HTV, 2 Boeing Starliner, 45 SpaceX Dragon and 20 Cygnus missions.
There are currently eight docking ports for visiting spacecraft, with four additional ports installed but not yet put into service:
- Harmony forward (with PMA 2 & IDA 2)
- Harmony zenith (with PMA 3 & IDA 3)
- Harmony nadir (CBM port)
- Unity nadir (CBM port)
- Prichal aft
- Prichal forward
- Prichal nadir
- Prichal port
- Prichal starboard
- Poisk zenith
- Rassvet nadir
- Zvezda aft
Forward ports are at the front of the station according to its normal direction of travel and orientation (attitude). Aft is at the rear of the station. Nadir is Earth facing, zenith faced away from Earth. Port is to the left if pointing one's feet towards the Earth and looking in the direction of travel and starboard is to the right.
Cargo spacecraft that will perform an orbital re-boost of the station will typically dock at an aft, forward or nadir-facing port.
Crewed
Main article: List of human spaceflights to the International Space Station
As of 24 October 2024, 281 people representing 23 countries had visited the space station, many of them multiple times. The United States has sent 167 people, Russia has 61, Japan has sent 11, Canada has sent nine, Italy has sent six, France and Germany have each sent four, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates have each sent two, and there has been one person from Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Israel, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Uncrewed
Main article: Uncrewed spaceflights to the International Space StationUncrewed spaceflights are made primarily to deliver cargo, however several Russian modules have also docked to the outpost following uncrewed launches. Resupply missions typically use the Russian Progress spacecraft, former European ATVs, Japanese Kounotori vehicles, and the American Dragon and Cygnus spacecraft.
Currently docked/berthed
All dates are UTC. Departure dates are the earliest possible (NET) and may change.
| Mission | Type | Spacecraft | Arrival | Departure | Port | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRS NG-21 | 
|
Uncrewed | Cygnus S.S. Francis R. "Dick" Scobee | 6 August 2024 | January 2025 | Unity nadir |
| Progress MS-28 | 
|
Uncrewed | Progress MS No. 458 | 17 August 2024 | February 2025 | Zvezda aft |
| Soyuz MS-26 |
|
Crewed | Soyuz MS No. 757 Burlak | 11 September 2024 | 20 April 2025 | Rassvet nadir |
| Crew-9 |
|
Crewed | Crew Dragon Freedom | 29 September 2024 | April 2025 | Harmony zenith |
| Progress MS-29 |
|
Uncrewed | Progress MS No. 459 | 23 November 2024 | May 2025 | Poisk zenith |
Scheduled missions
All dates are UTC. Launch dates are the earliest possible (NET) and may change.
Docking and berthing of spacecraft
See also: Docking and berthing of spacecraft
The Russian spacecraft and can autonomously rendezvous and dock with the station without human intervention. Once within approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi), the spacecraft begins receiving radio signals from the Kurs docking navigation system on the station. As the spacecraft nears the station, laser-based optical equipment precisely aligns the craft with the docking port and controls the final approach. While the crew on the ISS and spacecraft monitor the procedure, their role is primarily supervisory, with intervention limited to issuing abort commands in emergencies. Although initial development costs were substantial, the system's reliability and standardized components have yielded significant cost reductions for subsequent missions.
The American SpaceX Dragon 2 cargo and crewed spacecraft can autonomously rendezvous and dock with the station without human intervention. However, on crewed Dragon missions, the astronauts have the capability to intervene and fly the vehicle manually.
Other automated cargo spacecraft typically use a semi-automated process when arriving and departing from the station. These spacecraft are instructed to approach and park near the station. Once the crew on board the station is ready, the spacecraft is commanded to come close to the station, so that it can be grappled by an astronaut using the Mobile Servicing System robotic arm. The final mating of the spacecraft to the station is achieved using the robotic arm (a process known as berthing). Spacecraft using this semi-automated process include the American Cygnus and the Japanese HTV-X. The now-retired American SpaceX Dragon 1, European ATV and Japanese HTV also used this process.
Launch and docking windows
Prior to a spacecraft's docking to the ISS, navigation and attitude control (GNC) is handed over to the ground control of the spacecraft's country of origin. GNC is set to allow the station to drift in space, rather than fire its thrusters or turn using gyroscopes. The solar panels of the station are turned edge-on to the incoming spacecraft, so residue from its thrusters does not damage the cells. Before its retirement, Shuttle launches were often given priority over Soyuz, with occasional priority given to Soyuz arrivals carrying crew and time-critical cargoes, such as biological experiment materials.
Repairs
Main article: Maintenance of the International Space Station
Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs) are spare parts that can be readily replaced when a unit either passes its design life or fails. Examples of ORUs are pumps, storage tanks, controller boxes, antennas, and battery units. Some units can be replaced using robotic arms. Most are stored outside the station, either on small pallets called ExPRESS Logistics Carriers (ELCs) or share larger platforms called External Stowage Platforms (ESPs) which also hold science experiments. Both kinds of pallets provide electricity for many parts that could be damaged by the cold of space and require heating. The larger logistics carriers also have local area network (LAN) connections for telemetry to connect experiments. A heavy emphasis on stocking the USOS with ORU's occurred around 2011, before the end of the NASA shuttle programme, as its commercial replacements, Cygnus and Dragon, carry one tenth to one quarter the payload.
Unexpected problems and failures have impacted the station's assembly time-line and work schedules leading to periods of reduced capabilities and, in some cases, could have forced abandonment of the station for safety reasons. Serious problems include an air leak from the USOS in 2004, the venting of fumes from an Elektron oxygen generator in 2006, and the failure of the computers in the ROS in 2007 during STS-117 that left the station without thruster, Elektron, Vozdukh and other environmental control system operations. In the latter case, the root cause was found to be condensation inside electrical connectors leading to a short circuit.
During STS-120 in 2007 and following the relocation of the P6 truss and solar arrays, it was noted during unfurling that the solar array had torn and was not deploying properly. An EVA was carried out by Scott Parazynski, assisted by Douglas Wheelock. Extra precautions were taken to reduce the risk of electric shock, as the repairs were carried out with the solar array exposed to sunlight. The issues with the array were followed in the same year by problems with the starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ), which rotates the arrays on the starboard side of the station. Excessive vibration and high-current spikes in the array drive motor were noted, resulting in a decision to substantially curtail motion of the starboard SARJ until the cause was understood. Inspections during EVAs on STS-120 and STS-123 showed extensive contamination from metallic shavings and debris in the large drive gear and confirmed damage to the large metallic bearing surfaces, so the joint was locked to prevent further damage. Repairs to the joints were carried out during STS-126 with lubrication and the replacement of 11 out of 12 trundle bearings on the joint.
In September 2008, damage to the S1 radiator was first noticed in Soyuz imagery. The problem was initially not thought to be serious. The imagery showed that the surface of one sub-panel had peeled back from the underlying central structure, possibly because of micro-meteoroid or debris impact. On 15 May 2009, the damaged radiator panel's ammonia tubing was mechanically shut off from the rest of the cooling system by the computer-controlled closure of a valve. The same valve was then used to vent the ammonia from the damaged panel, eliminating the possibility of an ammonia leak. It is also known that a Service Module thruster cover struck the S1 radiator after being jettisoned during an EVA in 2008, but its effect, if any, has not been determined.
In the early hours of 1 August 2010, a failure in cooling Loop A (starboard side), one of two external cooling loops, left the station with only half of its normal cooling capacity and zero redundancy in some systems. The problem appeared to be in the ammonia pump module that circulates the ammonia cooling fluid. Several subsystems, including two of the four CMGs, were shut down.
Planned operations on the ISS were interrupted through a series of EVAs to address the cooling system issue. A first EVA on 7 August 2010, to replace the failed pump module, was not fully completed because of an ammonia leak in one of four quick-disconnects. A second EVA on 11 August removed the failed pump module. A third EVA was required to restore Loop A to normal functionality.
The USOS's cooling system is largely built by the US company Boeing, which is also the manufacturer of the failed pump.
The four Main Bus Switching Units (MBSUs, located in the S0 truss), control the routing of power from the four solar array wings to the rest of the ISS. Each MBSU has two power channels that feed 160V DC from the arrays to two DC-to-DC power converters (DDCUs) that supply the 124V power used in the station. In late 2011, MBSU-1 ceased responding to commands or sending data confirming its health. While still routing power correctly, it was scheduled to be swapped out at the next available EVA. A spare MBSU was already on board, but a 30 August 2012 EVA failed to be completed when a bolt being tightened to finish installation of the spare unit jammed before the electrical connection was secured. The loss of MBSU-1 limited the station to 75% of its normal power capacity, requiring minor limitations in normal operations until the problem could be addressed.
On 5 September 2012, in a second six-hour EVA, astronauts Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide successfully replaced MBSU-1 and restored the ISS to 100% power.
On 24 December 2013, astronauts installed a new ammonia pump for the station's cooling system. The faulty cooling system had failed earlier in the month, halting many of the station's science experiments. Astronauts had to brave a "mini blizzard" of ammonia while installing the new pump. It was only the second Christmas Eve spacewalk in NASA history.
Mission control centres
Main article: International Space Station programme § Mission control centresThe components of the ISS are operated and monitored by their respective space agencies at mission control centres across the globe, primarily the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center in Houston and the RKA Mission Control Center (TsUP) in Moscow, with support from Tsukuba Space Center in Japan, Payload Operations and Integration Center in Huntsville, Alabama, U.S., Columbus Control Center in Munich, Germany and Mobile Servicing System Control at the Canadian Space Agency's headquarters in Saint-Hubert, Quebec.
Life aboard
Living quarters
The living and working space aboard the International Space Station (ISS) is larger than a six-bedroom house, equipped with seven private sleeping quarters, three bathrooms, two dining rooms, a gym, and a panoramic 360-degree-view bay window.
The station provides dedicated crew quarters for long-term crew members. Two "sleep stations" are located in the Zvezda module, one in Nauka, and four in Harmony. These soundproof, person-sized booths offer privacy, ventilation, and basic amenities such as a sleeping bag, a reading lamp, a desktop, a shelf, and storage for personal items. The quarters in Zvezda include a small window but have less ventilation and soundproofing.
Visiting crew members use tethered sleeping bags attached to available wall space. While it is possible to sleep floating freely, this is generally avoided to prevent collisions with sensitive equipment. Proper ventilation is critical, as astronauts risk oxygen deprivation if exhaled carbon dioxide accumulates in a bubble around their heads.
The station’s lighting system is adjustable, allowing for dimming, switching off, and colour temperature changes to support crew activities and rest.
Crew activities
The ISS operates on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). A typical day aboard the ISS begins at 06:00 with wake-up, post-sleep routines, and a morning inspection of the station. After breakfast, the crew holds a daily planning conference with Mission Control, starting work around 08:10. Morning tasks include scheduled exercise, scientific experiments, maintenance, or operational duties. Following a one-hour lunch break at 13:05, the crew resumes their afternoon schedule of work and exercise. Pre-sleep activities, including dinner and a crew conference, begin at 19:30, with the scheduled sleep period starting at 21:30.
The crew works approximately 10 hours on weekdays and 5 hours on Saturdays, with the remaining time allocated for relaxation or catching up on tasks. Free time often involves enjoying personal hobbies, communicating with family, or gazing out at Earth through the station’s windows.
When the Space Shuttle was operating, the ISS crew aligned with the shuttle crew's Mission Elapsed Time, a flexible schedule based on the shuttle's launch.
To simulate night conditions, the station’s windows are covered during designated sleep periods, as the ISS experiences 16 sunrises and sunsets daily due to its orbital speed.
Reflection and material culture
Reflection of individual and crew characteristics are found particularly in the decoration of the station and expressions in general, such as religion. The latter has produced a certain material economy between the station and Russia in particular.
The micro-society of the station, as well as wider society, and possibly the emergence of distinct station cultures, is being studied by analyzing many aspects, from art to dust accumulation, as well as archaeologically how material of the ISS has been discarded.
Food and personal hygiene
See also: Space food
The space toilet in the Zvezda module in the Russian segment
The main toilet in the US Segment inside the Tranquility module* Both toilets are a Russian design.
On the USOS, most of the food aboard is vacuum sealed in plastic bags; cans are rare because they are heavy and expensive to transport. Preserved food is not highly regarded by the crew and taste is reduced in microgravity, so efforts are taken to make the food more palatable, including using more spices than in regular cooking. The crew looks forward to the arrival of any spacecraft from Earth as they bring fresh fruit and vegetables. Care is taken that foods do not create crumbs, and liquid condiments are preferred over solid to avoid contaminating station equipment. Each crew member has individual food packages and cooks them in the galley, which has two food warmers, a refrigerator (added in November 2008), and a water dispenser that provides heated and unheated water. Drinks are provided as dehydrated powder that is mixed with water before consumption. Drinks and soups are sipped from plastic bags with straws, while solid food is eaten with a knife and fork attached to a tray with magnets to prevent them from floating away. Any food that floats away, including crumbs, must be collected to prevent it from clogging the station's air filters and other equipment.
Showers on space stations were introduced in the early 1970s on Skylab and Salyut 3. By Salyut 6, in the early 1980s, the crew complained of the complexity of showering in space, which was a monthly activity. The ISS does not feature a shower; instead, crewmembers wash using a water jet and wet wipes, with soap dispensed from a toothpaste tube-like container. Crews are also provided with rinseless shampoo and edible toothpaste to save water.
There are two space toilets on the ISS, both of Russian design, located in Zvezda and Tranquility. These Waste and Hygiene Compartments use a fan-driven suction system similar to the Space Shuttle Waste Collection System. Astronauts first fasten themselves to the toilet seat, which is equipped with spring-loaded restraining bars to ensure a good seal. A lever operates a powerful fan and a suction hole slides open: the air stream carries the waste away. Solid waste is collected in individual bags which are stored in an aluminium container. Full containers are transferred to Progress spacecraft for disposal. Liquid waste is evacuated by a hose connected to the front of the toilet, with anatomically correct "urine funnel adapters" attached to the tube so that men and women can use the same toilet. The diverted urine is collected and transferred to the Water Recovery System, where it is recycled into drinking water. In 2021, the arrival of the Nauka module also brought a third toilet to the ISS.
Crew health and safety
Main article: Effect of spaceflight on the human bodyOverall
On 12 April 2019, NASA reported medical results from the Astronaut Twin Study. Astronaut Scott Kelly spent a year in space on the ISS, while his identical twin spent the year on Earth. Several long-lasting changes were observed, including those related to alterations in DNA and cognition, when one twin was compared with the other.
In November 2019, researchers reported that astronauts experienced serious blood flow and clot problems while on board the ISS, based on a six-month study of 11 healthy astronauts. The results may influence long-term spaceflight, including a mission to the planet Mars, according to the researchers.
Radiation
See also: Coronal mass ejectionThe ISS is partially protected from the space environment by Earth's magnetic field. From an average distance of about 70,000 km (43,000 mi) from the Earth's surface, depending on Solar activity, the magnetosphere begins to deflect solar wind around Earth and the space station. Solar flares are still a hazard to the crew, who may receive only a few minutes warning. In 2005, during the initial "proton storm" of an X-3 class solar flare, the crew of Expedition 10 took shelter in a more heavily shielded part of the ROS designed for this purpose.
Subatomic charged particles, primarily protons from cosmic rays and solar wind, are normally absorbed by Earth's atmosphere. When they interact in sufficient quantity, their effect is visible to the naked eye in a phenomenon called an aurora. Outside Earth's atmosphere, ISS crews are exposed to approximately one millisievert each day (about a year's worth of natural exposure on Earth), resulting in a higher risk of cancer. Radiation can penetrate living tissue and damage the DNA and chromosomes of lymphocytes; being central to the immune system, any damage to these cells could contribute to the lower immunity experienced by astronauts. Radiation has also been linked to a higher incidence of cataracts in astronauts. Protective shielding and medications may lower the risks to an acceptable level.
Radiation levels on the ISS are between 12 and 28.8 milli rads per day, about five times greater than those experienced by airline passengers and crew, as Earth's electromagnetic field provides almost the same level of protection against solar and other types of radiation in low Earth orbit as in the stratosphere. For example, on a 12-hour flight, an airline passenger would experience 0.1 millisieverts of radiation, or a rate of 0.2 millisieverts per day; this is one fifth the rate experienced by an astronaut in LEO. Additionally, airline passengers experience this level of radiation for a few hours of flight, while the ISS crew are exposed for their whole stay on board the station.
Stress
There is considerable evidence that psychosocial stressors are among the most important impediments to optimal crew morale and performance. Cosmonaut Valery Ryumin wrote in his journal during a particularly difficult period on board the Salyut 6 space station: "All the conditions necessary for murder are met if you shut two men in a cabin measuring 18 feet by 20 and leave them together for two months."
NASA's interest in psychological stress caused by space travel, initially studied when their crewed missions began, was rekindled when astronauts joined cosmonauts on the Russian space station Mir. Common sources of stress in early US missions included maintaining high performance under public scrutiny and isolation from peers and family. The latter is still often a cause of stress on the ISS, such as when the mother of NASA astronaut Daniel Tani died in a car accident, and when Michael Fincke was forced to miss the birth of his second child.
A study of the longest spaceflight concluded that the first three weeks are a critical period where attention is adversely affected because of the demand to adjust to the extreme change of environment. ISS crew flights typically last about five to six months.
The ISS working environment includes further stress caused by living and working in cramped conditions with people from very different cultures who speak a different language. First-generation space stations had crews who spoke a single language; second- and third-generation stations have crew from many cultures who speak many languages. Astronauts must speak English and Russian, and knowing additional languages is even better.
Due to the lack of gravity, confusion often occurs. Even though there is no up and down in space, some crew members feel like they are oriented upside down. They may also have difficulty measuring distances. This can cause problems like getting lost inside the space station, pulling switches in the wrong direction or misjudging the speed of an approaching vehicle during docking.
Medical
The physiological effects of long-term weightlessness include muscle atrophy, deterioration of the skeleton (osteopenia), fluid redistribution, a slowing of the cardiovascular system, decreased production of red blood cells, balance disorders, and a weakening of the immune system. Lesser symptoms include loss of body mass, and puffiness of the face.
Sleep is regularly disturbed on the ISS because of mission demands, such as incoming or departing spacecraft. Sound levels in the station are unavoidably high. The atmosphere is unable to thermosiphon naturally, so fans are required at all times to process the air which would stagnate in the freefall (zero-G) environment.
To prevent some of the adverse effects on the body, the station is equipped with: two TVIS treadmills (including the COLBERT); the ARED (Advanced Resistive Exercise Device), which enables various weightlifting exercises that add muscle without raising (or compensating for) the astronauts' reduced bone density; and a stationary bicycle. Each astronaut spends at least two hours per day exercising on the equipment. Astronauts use bungee cords to strap themselves to the treadmill.
Microbiological environmental hazards
See also: Microbiological environmental hazards on the Mir space stationHazardous molds that can foul air and water filters may develop aboard space stations. They can produce acids that degrade metal, glass, and rubber. They can also be harmful to the crew's health. Microbiological hazards have led to a development of the LOCAD-PTS (a portable test system) which identifies common bacteria and molds faster than standard methods of culturing, which may require a sample to be sent back to Earth. Researchers in 2018 reported, after detecting the presence of five Enterobacter bugandensis bacterial strains on the ISS (none of which are pathogenic to humans), that microorganisms on the ISS should be carefully monitored to continue assuring a medically healthy environment for astronauts.
Contamination on space stations can be prevented by reduced humidity, and by using paint that contains mold-killing chemicals, as well as the use of antiseptic solutions. All materials used in the ISS are tested for resistance against fungi. Since 2016, a series of ESA-sponsored experiments have been conducted to test the anti-bacterial properties of various materials, with the goal of developing "smart surfaces" that mitigate bacterial growth in multiple ways, using the best method for a particular circumstance. Dubbed "Microbial Aerosol Tethering on Innovative Surfaces" (MATISS), the programme involves deployment of small plaques containing an array of glass squares covered with different test coatings. They remain on the station for six months before being returned to earth for analysis. The most recent and final experiment of the series was launched on 5 June 2023 aboard the SpaceX CRS-28 cargo mission to ISS, comprising four plaques. Whereas previous experiments in the series were limited to analysis by light microsocopy, this experiment uses quartz glass made of pure silica, which will allow spectrographic analysis. Two of the plaques were returned after eight months and the remaining two after 16 months.
In April 2019, NASA reported that a comprehensive study had been conducted into the microorganisms and fungi present on the ISS. The experiment was performed over a period of 14 months on three different flight missions, and involved taking samples from 8 predefined locations inside the station, then returning them to earth for analysis. In prior experiments, analysis was limited to culture-based methods, thus overlooking microbes which cannot be grown in culture. The present study used molecular-based methods in addition to culturing, resulting in a more complete catalog. The results may be useful in improving the health and safety conditions for astronauts, as well as better understanding other closed-in environments on Earth such as clean rooms used by the pharmaceutical and medical industries.
Noise
Space flight is not inherently quiet, with noise levels exceeding acoustic standards as far back as the Apollo missions. For this reason, NASA and the International Space Station international partners have developed noise control and hearing loss prevention goals as part of the health program for crew members. Specifically, these goals have been the primary focus of the ISS Multilateral Medical Operations Panel (MMOP) Acoustics Subgroup since the first days of ISS assembly and operations. The effort includes contributions from acoustical engineers, audiologists, industrial hygienists, and physicians who comprise the subgroup's membership from NASA, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
When compared to terrestrial environments, the noise levels incurred by astronauts and cosmonauts on the ISS may seem insignificant and typically occur at levels that would not be of major concern to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration – rarely reaching 85 dBA. But crew members are exposed to these levels 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with current missions averaging six months in duration. These levels of noise also impose risks to crew health and performance in the form of sleep interference and communication, as well as reduced alarm audibility.
Over the 19 plus year history of the ISS, significant efforts have been put forth to limit and reduce noise levels on the ISS. During design and pre-flight activities, members of the Acoustic Subgroup have written acoustic limits and verification requirements, consulted to design and choose the quietest available payloads, and then conducted acoustic verification tests prior to launch. During spaceflights, the Acoustics Subgroup has assessed each ISS module's in flight sound levels, produced by a large number of vehicle and science experiment noise sources, to assure compliance with strict acoustic standards. The acoustic environment on ISS changed when additional modules were added during its construction, and as additional spacecraft arrive at the ISS. The Acoustics Subgroup has responded to this dynamic operations schedule by successfully designing and employing acoustic covers, absorptive materials, noise barriers, and vibration isolators to reduce noise levels. Moreover, when pumps, fans, and ventilation systems age and show increased noise levels, this Acoustics Subgroup has guided ISS managers to replace the older, noisier instruments with quiet fan and pump technologies, significantly reducing ambient noise levels.
NASA has adopted most-conservative damage risk criteria (based on recommendations from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the World Health Organization), in order to protect all crew members. The MMOP Acoustics Subgroup has adjusted its approach to managing noise risks in this unique environment by applying, or modifying, terrestrial approaches for hearing loss prevention to set these conservative limits. One innovative approach has been NASA's Noise Exposure Estimation Tool (NEET), in which noise exposures are calculated in a task-based approach to determine the need for hearing protection devices (HPDs). Guidance for use of HPDs, either mandatory use or recommended, is then documented in the Noise Hazard Inventory, and posted for crew reference during their missions. The Acoustics Subgroup also tracks spacecraft noise exceedances, applies engineering controls, and recommends hearing protective devices to reduce crew noise exposures. Finally, hearing thresholds are monitored on-orbit, during missions.
There have been no persistent mission-related hearing threshold shifts among US Orbital Segment crewmembers (JAXA, CSA, ESA, NASA) during what is approaching 20 years of ISS mission operations, or nearly 175,000 work hours. In 2020, the MMOP Acoustics Subgroup received the Safe-In-Sound Award for Innovation for their combined efforts to mitigate any health effects of noise.
Fire and toxic gases
An onboard fire or a toxic gas leak are other potential hazards. Ammonia is used in the external radiators of the station and could potentially leak into the pressurised modules.
Orbit, environment, debris and visibility
Altitude and orbital inclination
Graph showing the changing altitude of the ISS from November 1998 until November 2018
Animation of ISS orbit from 14 September 2018 to 14 November 2018. Earth is not shown.
The ISS is currently maintained in a nearly circular orbit with a minimum mean altitude of 370 km (230 mi) and a maximum of 460 km (290 mi), in the centre of the thermosphere, at an inclination of 51.6 degrees to Earth's equator with an eccentricity of 0.007. This orbit was selected because it is the lowest inclination that can be directly reached by Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 46° N latitude without overflying China or dropping spent rocket stages in inhabited areas. It travels at an average speed of 28,000 kilometres per hour (17,000 mph), and completes 15.5 orbits per day (93 minutes per orbit). The station's altitude was allowed to fall around the time of each NASA shuttle flight to permit heavier loads to be transferred to the station. After the retirement of the shuttle, the nominal orbit of the space station was raised in altitude (from about 350 km to about 400 km). Other, more frequent supply spacecraft do not require this adjustment as they are substantially higher performance vehicles.
Atmospheric drag reduces the altitude by about 2 km a month on average. Orbital boosting can be performed by the station's two main engines on the Zvezda service module, or Russian or European spacecraft docked to Zvezda's aft port. The Automated Transfer Vehicle is constructed with the possibility of adding a second docking port to its aft end, allowing other craft to dock and boost the station. It takes approximately two orbits (three hours) for the boost to a higher altitude to be completed. Maintaining ISS altitude uses about 7.5 tonnes of chemical fuel per annum at an annual cost of about $210 million.
The Russian Orbital Segment contains the Data Management System, which handles Guidance, Navigation and Control (ROS GNC) for the entire station. Initially, Zarya, the first module of the station, controlled the station until a short time after the Russian service module Zvezda docked and was transferred control. Zvezda contains the ESA built DMS-R Data Management System. Using two fault-tolerant computers (FTC), Zvezda computes the station's position and orbital trajectory using redundant Earth horizon sensors, Solar horizon sensors as well as Sun and star trackers. The FTCs each contain three identical processing units working in parallel and provide advanced fault-masking by majority voting.
Orientation
Zvezda uses gyroscopes (reaction wheels) and thrusters to turn itself. Gyroscopes do not require propellant; instead they use electricity to 'store' momentum in flywheels by turning in the opposite direction to the station's movement. The USOS has its own computer-controlled gyroscopes to handle its extra mass. When gyroscopes 'saturate', thrusters are used to cancel out the stored momentum. In February 2005, during Expedition 10, an incorrect command was sent to the station's computer, using about 14 kilograms of propellant before the fault was noticed and fixed. When attitude control computers in the ROS and USOS fail to communicate properly, this can result in a rare 'force fight' where the ROS GNC computer must ignore the USOS counterpart, which itself has no thrusters.
Docked spacecraft can also be used to maintain station attitude, such as for troubleshooting or during the installation of the S3/S4 truss, which provides electrical power and data interfaces for the station's electronics.
Orbital debris threats
Main article: Space debrisThe low altitudes at which the ISS orbits are also home to a variety of space debris, including spent rocket stages, defunct satellites, explosion fragments (including materials from anti-satellite weapon tests), paint flakes, slag from solid rocket motors, and coolant released by US-A nuclear-powered satellites. These objects, in addition to natural micrometeoroids, are a significant threat. Objects large enough to destroy the station can be tracked, and therefore are not as dangerous as smaller debris. Objects too small to be detected by optical and radar instruments, from approximately 1 cm down to microscopic size, number in the trillions. Despite their small size, some of these objects are a threat because of their kinetic energy and direction in relation to the station. Spacewalking crew in spacesuits are also at risk of suit damage and consequent exposure to vacuum.
Ballistic panels, also called micrometeorite shielding, are incorporated into the station to protect pressurised sections and critical systems. The type and thickness of these panels depend on their predicted exposure to damage. The station's shields and structure have different designs on the ROS and the USOS. On the USOS, Whipple Shields are used. The US segment modules consist of an inner layer made from 1.5–5.0 cm-thick (0.59–1.97 in) aluminium, a 10 cm-thick (3.9 in) intermediate layers of Kevlar and Nextel (a ceramic fabric), and an outer layer of stainless steel, which causes objects to shatter into a cloud before hitting the hull, thereby spreading the energy of impact. On the ROS, a carbon fibre reinforced polymer honeycomb screen is spaced from the hull, an aluminium honeycomb screen is spaced from that, with a screen-vacuum thermal insulation covering, and glass cloth over the top.
Space debris is tracked remotely from the ground, and the station crew can be notified. If necessary, thrusters on the Russian Orbital Segment can alter the station's orbital altitude, avoiding the debris. These Debris Avoidance Manoeuvres (DAMs) are not uncommon, taking place if computational models show the debris will approach within a certain threat distance. Ten DAMs had been performed by the end of 2009. Usually, an increase in orbital velocity of the order of 1 m/s is used to raise the orbit by one or two kilometres. If necessary, the altitude can also be lowered, although such a manoeuvre wastes propellant. If a threat from orbital debris is identified too late for a DAM to be safely conducted, the station crew close all the hatches aboard the station and retreat into their spacecraft in order to be able to evacuate in the event the station was seriously damaged by the debris. Partial station evacuations have occurred on 13 March 2009, 28 June 2011, 24 March 2012, 16 June 2015, November 2021, and 27 June 2024.
The November 2021 evacuation was caused by a Russian anti-satellite weapon test. NASA administrator Bill Nelson said it was unthinkable that Russia would endanger the lives of everyone on ISS, including their own cosmonauts.
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A 7-gram object (shown in centre) shot at 7 km/s (23,000 ft/s), the orbital velocity of the ISS, made this 15 cm (5.9 in) crater in a solid block of aluminium.
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Radar-trackable objects, including debris, with distinct ring of geostationary satellites
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Example of risk management: A NASA model showing areas at high risk from impact for the International Space Station
Visibility from Earth
Further information: Satellite watching and Satellite flareThe ISS is visible in the sky to the naked eye as a visibly moving, bright white dot, when crossing the sky and being illuminated by the Sun, during twilight, the hours after sunset and before sunrise, when the station remains sunlit, outside of Earth's shadow, but the ground and sky are dark. It crosses the skies at latitudes between the polar regions. Depending on the path it takes across the sky, the time it takes the station to move across the horizon or from one to the other may be short or up to 10 minutes, while likely being only visible part of that time because of it moving into or out of Earth's shadow. It then returns around every 90 minutes, with the time of the day that it crosses the sky shifting over the course of some weeks, and therefore before returning to twilight and visible illumination.
Because of the size of its reflective surface area, the ISS is the brightest artificial object in the sky (excluding other satellite flares), with an approximate maximum magnitude of −4 when in sunlight and overhead (similar to Venus), and a maximum angular size of 63 arcseconds.
Tools are provided by a number of websites such as Heavens-Above (see Live viewing below) as well as smartphone applications that use orbital data and the observer's longitude and latitude to indicate when the ISS will be visible (weather permitting), where the station will appear to rise, the altitude above the horizon it will reach and the duration of the pass before the station disappears either by setting below the horizon or entering into Earth's shadow.
In November 2012 NASA launched its "Spot the Station" service, which sends people text and email alerts when the station is due to fly above their town. The station is visible from 95% of the inhabited land on Earth, but is not visible from extreme northern or southern latitudes.
Under specific conditions, the ISS can be observed at night on five consecutive orbits. Those conditions are 1) a mid-latitude observer location, 2) near the time of the solstice with 3) the ISS passing in the direction of the pole from the observer near midnight local time. The three photos show the first, middle and last of the five passes on 5–6 June 2014.
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Skytrack long duration exposure of the ISS
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The ISS on its first pass of the night passing nearly overhead shortly after sunset in June 2014
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The ISS passing north on its third pass of the night near local midnight in June 2014
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The ISS passing west on its fifth pass of the night before sunrise in June 2014
Astrophotography
Using a telescope-mounted camera to photograph the station is a popular hobby for astronomers, while using a mounted camera to photograph the Earth and stars is a popular hobby for crew. The use of a telescope or binoculars allows viewing of the ISS during daylight hours.
Transits of the ISS in front of the Sun, particularly during an eclipse (and so the Earth, Sun, Moon, and ISS are all positioned approximately in a single line) are of particular interest for amateur astronomers.
International co-operation
Main articles: Politics of the International Space Station and International Space Station programme
Involving five space programs and fifteen countries, the International Space Station is the most politically and legally complex space exploration programme in history. The 1998 Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement sets forth the primary framework for international cooperation among the parties. A series of subsequent agreements govern other aspects of the station, ranging from jurisdictional issues to a code of conduct among visiting astronauts.
Brazil was also invited to participate in the programme, the only developing country to receive such an invitation. Under the agreement framework, Brazil was to provide six pieces of hardware, and in exchange, would receive ISS utilization rights. However, Brazil was unable to deliver any of the elements due to a lack of funding and political priority within the country. Brazil officially dropped out of the ISS programme in 2007.
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, continued cooperation between Russia and other countries on the International Space Station has been put into question. Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin insinuated that Russian withdrawal could cause the International Space Station to de-orbit due to lack of reboost capabilities, writing in a series of tweets, "If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from an unguided de-orbit to impact on the territory of the US or Europe? There's also the chance of impact of the 500-ton construction in India or China. Do you want to threaten them with such a prospect? The ISS doesn't fly over Russia, so all the risk is yours. Are you ready for it?" (This latter claim is untrue: the ISS flies over all parts of the Earth between 51.6 degrees latitude north and south, approximately the latitude of Saratov.) Rogozin later tweeted that normal relations between ISS partners could only be restored once sanctions have been lifted, and indicated that Roscosmos would submit proposals to the Russian government on ending cooperation. NASA stated that, if necessary, US corporation Northrop Grumman has offered a reboost capability that would keep the ISS in orbit.
On 26 July 2022, Yury Borisov, Rogozin's successor as head of Roscosmos, submitted to Russian President Putin plans for withdrawal from the programme after 2024. However, Robyn Gatens, the NASA official in charge of the space station, responded that NASA had not received any formal notices from Roscosmos concerning withdrawal plans.
Participating countries
End of mission
Originally the ISS was planned to be a 15-year mission. Therefore, an end of mission had been worked on, but was several times postponed due to the success and support for the operation of the station. As a result, the oldest modules of the ISS have been in orbit for more than 20 years, with their reliability having decreased. It has been proposed to use funds elsewhere instead, for example for a return to the Moon. According to the Outer Space Treaty, the parties are legally responsible for all spacecraft or modules they launch. An unmaintained station would pose an orbital and re-entry hazard.
Russia has stated that it plans to pull out of the ISS program after 2025. However, Russian modules will provide orbital station-keeping until 2028.
The US planned in 2009 to deorbit the ISS in 2016. But on 30 September 2015, Boeing's contract with NASA as prime contractor for the ISS was extended to 30 September 2020. Part of Boeing's services under the contract related to extending the station's primary structural hardware past 2020 to the end of 2028. In July 2018, the Space Frontier Act of 2018 was intended to extend operations of the ISS to 2030. This bill was unanimously approved in the Senate, but failed to pass in the U.S. House. In September 2018, the Leading Human Spaceflight Act was introduced with the intent to extend operations of the ISS to 2030, and was confirmed in December 2018. Congress later passed similar provisions in its CHIPS and Science Act, signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden on 9 August 2022.
If until 2031 Commercial LEO Destinations providers are not sufficient to accommodate NASA's projects, NASA is suggesting to extend ISS operations beyond 2031.
NASA's disposal plans
NASA considered originally several possible disposal options: natural orbital decay with random reentry (as with Skylab), boosting the station to a higher altitude (which would delay reentry), and a controlled de-orbit targeting a remote ocean area.
NASA determined that random reentry carried an unacceptable risk of producing hazardous space debris that could hit people or property and re-boosting the station would be costly and could also create hazards.
Prior to 2010, plans had contemplated using a slightly modified Progress spacecraft to de-orbit the ISS. However, NASA concluded Progress would not be adequate for the job, and decided on a spacecraft specifically designed for the job.
class=notpageimage| Destination of the deorbiting ISS: the spacecraft cemetery (roughly centered on "Point Nemo", the oceanic pole of inaccessibility) in the Pacific Ocean
In January 2022, NASA announced a planned date of January 2031 to de-orbit the ISS using the "U.S. Deorbit Vehicle" and direct any remnants into a remote area of the South Pacific Ocean that has come to be known as the spacecraft cemetery. NASA plans to launch the deorbit vehicle in 2030, docking at the Harmony forward port. The deorbit vehicle will remain attached, dormant, for about a year as the station's orbit naturally decays to 220 km (140 mi). The spacecraft would then conduct one or more orientation burns to lower the perigee to 150 km (93 mi), followed by a final deorbiting burn.
NASA began planning for the deorbit vehicle after becoming wary of Russia pulling out of the ISS abruptly, leaving the other partners with few good options for a controlled reentry. In June 2024, NASA selected SpaceX to develop the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, a contract potentially worth $843 million. The vehicle will consist of an existing Cargo Dragon spacecraft which will be paired with a significantly lengthened trunk module which will be equipped with 46 Draco thrusters (instead of the normal 16) and will carry 30,000 kg (66,000 lb) of propellant, nearly six times the normal load. NASA is still working to secure all the necessary funding to build, launch and operate the deorbit vehicle.
Post mission proposals and plans
The follow-up to NASA's program/strategy is the Commercial LEO Destinations Program, meant to allow private industry to build and maintain their own stations, and NASA procuring access as a customer, starting in 2028. Similarly, the ESA has been seeking new private space stations to provide orbital services, as well as retrieve materials, from the ISS. Axiom Station is planned to begin as a single module temporarily hosted at the ISS in 2027. Additionally, there have been suggestions in the commercial space industry that the ISS could be converted to commercial operations after it is retired by government entities, including turning it into a space hotel.
Russia previously has planned to use its orbital segment for the construction of its OPSEK station after the ISS is decommissioned. The modules under consideration for removal from the current ISS included the Multipurpose Laboratory Module (Nauka; MLM), launched in July 2021, and the other new Russian modules that are proposed to be attached to Nauka. These newly launched modules would still be well within their useful lives in 2024. At the end of 2011, the Exploration Gateway Platform concept also proposed using leftover USOS hardware and Zvezda 2 as a refuelling depot and service station located at one of the Earth–Moon Lagrange points. However, the entire USOS was not designed for disassembly and will be discarded.
Western space industry has suggested in 2022 using the ISS as a platform to develop orbital salvage capacities, by companies such as CisLunar Industries working on using space debris as fuel, instead of plunging it into the ocean.
NASA has stated that by July 2024 it has not seen any viable proposals for reuse of the ISS or parts of it.
Cost
The ISS has been described as the most expensive single item ever constructed. As of 2010, the total cost was US$150 billion. This includes NASA's budget of $58.7 billion ($89.73 billion in 2021 dollars) for the station from 1985 to 2015, Russia's $12 billion, Europe's $5 billion, Japan's $5 billion, Canada's $2 billion, and the cost of 36 shuttle flights to build the station, estimated at $1.4 billion each, or $50.4 billion in total. Assuming 20,000 man-days of use from 2000 to 2015 by two- to six-person crews, each man-day would cost $7.5 million, less than half the inflation-adjusted $19.6 million ($5.5 million before inflation) per man-day of Skylab.
In culture
The ISS has become an international symbol of human capabilities, particularly human cooperation and science, defining a cooperative international approach and period, instead of a looming commercialized and militarized interplanetary world.
In film
Beside numerous documentaries such as the IMAX documentaries Space Station 3D from 2002, or A Beautiful Planet from 2016, and films like Apogee of Fear (2012) and Yolki 5 (2016) the ISS is the subject of feature films such as The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Love (2011), together with the Chinese station Tiangong 1 in Gravity (2013), Life (2017), and I.S.S. (2023).
In 2022, the movie The Challenge (Doctor's House Call) was filmed aboard the ISS, and was notable for being the first feature film in which both professional actors and director worked together in space.
See also
Astronomy portal
Aviation portal
Earth sciences portal
Spaceflight portal
Stars portal
Outer space portal
- A Beautiful Planet (2016) – IMAX documentary film showing scenes of Earth, as well as astronaut life aboard the ISS
- Center for the Advancement of Science in Space – operates the US National Laboratory on the ISS
- List of accidents and incidents involving the International Space Station
- List of commanders of the International Space Station
- List of human spaceflights to the International Space Station
- List of International Space Station expeditions
- List of International Space Station spacewalks
- List of space stations
- List of spacecraft deployed from the International Space Station
- Politics of outer space
- Science diplomacy
- Space Station 3D (2002) – Canadian documentary
- Tiangong space station – another permanently crewed station operating in Low Earth orbit
Notes
- Pirs was connected to the nadir port of Zvezda now occupied by Nauka.
- partially retracted
- "Zarya" has several meanings: "daybreak" or "dawn" (in the morning) or "afterglow", "evening glow" or "sunset" (in the evening), but NASA and Roscosmos translate it as "sunrise."
- Privately funded travellers who have objected to the term include Dennis Tito, the first such traveller, Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu, Gregory Olsen and Richard Garriott. Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk said the term does not seem appropriate, referring to his crewmate, Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil. Anousheh Ansari denied being a tourist and took offence at the term.
- ESA director Jörg Feustel-Büechl said in 2001 that Russia had no right to send 'amateurs' to the ISS. A 'stand-off' occurred at the Johnson Space Center between Commander Talgat Musabayev and NASA manager Robert Cabana who refused to train Dennis Tito, a member of Musabayev's crew along with Yuri Baturin. Musabayev argued that Tito had trained 700 hours in the last year and was as qualified as any NASA astronaut, and refused to allow his crew to be trained on the USOS without Tito. Cabana would not allow training to begin, and the commander returned with his crew to their hotel.
- Including the modified DC-1, M-MIM2 and M-UM module transports
- Includes both crewed and uncrewed missions
- ^ The Prichal aft, forward, port and starboard ports still have their protective covers in place and have yet to be used since the module originally docked at the station.
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Attributions
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
This article incorporates public domain material from Building ISS. National Archives and Records Administration.
Further reading
- Reference Guide to the International Space Station (PDF) (Utilization ed.). NASA. September 2015. NP-2015-05-022-JSC. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
- Reference Guide to the International Space Station (PDF) (Assembly Complete ed.). NASA. 2010. ISBN 978-0-16-086517-6. NP-2010-09-682-HQ. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
- O'Sullivan, John. European Missions to the International Space Station: 2013 to 2019 (Springer Nature, 2020).
- Ruttley, Tara M.; Robinson, Julie A.; Gerstenmaier, William H. (2017). "The International Space Station: Collaboration, Utilization, and Commercialization". Social Science Quarterly. 98 (4): 1160–1174. doi:10.1111/ssqu.12469. ISSN 0038-4941.
External links
- Official website
- ISS Location Archived 14 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine
Agency ISS websites
Canadian Space Agency Archived 4 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine- [REDACTED] European Space Agency Archived 13 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine
Centre national d'études spatiales (National Centre for Space Studies) Archived 28 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine
German Aerospace Center. Archived 7 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine.
Italian Space Agency Archived 9 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine- S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia. Archived 27 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
- Russian Federal Space Agency. Archived 27 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration Archived 7 September 2005 at the Wayback Machine
Research
- NASA: Daily ISS Reports Archived 3 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine
- NASA: Station Science Archived 16 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine
- ESA: Columbus
- RSC Energia: Science Research on ISS Russian Segment. Archived 11 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
Live viewing
See also: List of satellite pass predictors- Live ISS webcam Archived 19 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine by NASA at uStream.tv
- Live HD ISS webcams Archived 29 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine by NASA HDEV at uStream.tv
- Sighting opportunities Archived 25 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine at NASA.gov
- Complete Orbital Position Archived 12 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine at KarhuKoti.com
- Real-time position Archived 27 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine at Heavens-above.com
- Real-time tracking and position Archived 17 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine at uphere.space
Multimedia
- Johnson Space Center image gallery Archived 16 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine at Flickr
- ISS tour with Sunita Williams Archived 14 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine by NASA (on YouTube)
- Journey to the ISS Archived 18 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine by ESA (on YouTube)
- The Future of Hope, Kibō module documentary Archived 18 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine by JAXA (on YouTube)
- Seán Doran's compiled videos of orbital photography from the ISS:
- Orbit – Remastered Archived 17 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine
- Orbit: Uncut Archived 18 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine
- The Four Seasons Archived 21 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine
- Nocturne – Earth at Night Archived 19 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine
- Earthbound Archived 18 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine
- The Pearl Archived 10 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine (see Flickr album Archived 15 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine for more)
- Amateur Radio ISS Contact with Harrogate Ladies College in 2002 Archived 17 October 2023 at the Wayback Machine
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- International Space Station
- Satellites in low Earth orbit
- Populated places established in 1998
- Spacecraft launched in 1998
- International science experiments
- Science diplomacy
- Canada–United States relations
- Japan–United States relations
- Russia–United States relations
- Crewed spacecraft
- Space stations
- NASA space stations
- Space program of Russia
- European Space Agency programmes
- Space program of Japan
- Space program of Canada
- Joint ventures