[Space] ISS - International Space Station

[Frank1962]

Originariamente inviato da Rand

mazz quant'è grosso ....ed è tutta roba del Giappone, cioè un paese 4 volte più piccolo dell'europa!!

ps: ma la piccola parte sopra a che serve? ...è pressurizzata?

[Rand]

Originariamente inviato da Frank1962

ps: ma la piccola parte sopra a che serve? ...è pressurizzata?

E' il "Japanese Experiment Logistics Module, Pressurized Section". E' pressurizzato e serve per stoccare esperimenti, campioni e ricambi (da qui il "logistic" nel nome).

[Rand]

Ecco come appare la ISS dopo l'ultima aggiunta:

[+Benito+]

manca solo la cupola?

[Rand]

Originariamente inviato da +Benito+

manca solo la cupola?

Tralasciando i russi (che devono ancora lanciare il Multipurpose Laboratory Module, un airlock nuovo e un mini-modulo di docking per le Soyuz) "una volta" mancavano solo il Nodo 3, che adesso si chiama Tranquility, e Cupola.

Con le ultime aggiunte ci saranno anche:

- PLM (Permanent Logistic Module): ovvero un MPLM modificato per la permanenza costante in orbita e che verrà utilizzato come "magazzino".
- AMS (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer): il "famoso" esperimento di fisica delle particelle. Verrà montato sul truss della ISS.

[Octane]

Ammazza quanto sono piccoli i pannelli solari delle Soyuz (o progress, non vedo bene) rispetto a quelli mastodontici dell'ISS

[Frank1962]

Originariamente inviato da Rand

E' il "Japanese Experiment Logistics Module, Pressurized Section". E' pressurizzato e serve per stoccare esperimenti, campioni e ricambi (da qui il "logistic" nel nome).

chiaro ....a differenza di noi europei non hanno proprio lesinato su nulla questi giapponesi!

Però bella come sfida tecnologica ...sopratutto adesso che si stà concretizzando

[Rand]

ISS: Still in assembly, producing science research accomplishments

The International Space Station (ISS) is fighting back at claims made during the Augustine Commission review into Human Space Flight (HSF), where it was suggested scientists have seen only a small amount of science being produced on the orbital outpost. With a media relations push to counter such claims set to take place on Sunday – NASA produced a 262 page presentation to list the science that has already been conducted, despite the Station still undergoing assembly.

ISS Science:

The International Space Station is nearing the end of that assembly phase – itself a major engineering accomplishment – ahead of a full operational period of around 10 years, providing the Station’s lifetime is extended to 2020.

That extension is expected to be one of the key recommendations of the Augustine review, despite an element of scorn being noted during the public meetings by some scientists via at least one member of the review panel - negativity centered around claims that only a small amount of science has been carried out on the US’ National Laboratory.

While that would be understandable, with the main science-producing modules having to wait their turn in the shuttle manifest for installation and outfitting, the reality is 138 major experiments have been completed on Station – prior to the recent increase of the orbital outpost’s crew to a compliment of six.


“The International Space Station (ISS) celebrated 10 years of operations in November 2008. Today, it is more than a human outpost in low Earth orbit (LEO). It is also an international science laboratory hosting state-of-the-art scientific facilities that support fundamental and applied research across the range of physical and biological sciences,” opened the large presentation, focusing on the scientific element of the Station.

The presentation, entitled “International Space Station Science Research Accomplishments During the Assembly Years: An Analysis of Results from 2000-2008,” is dated June 2009, but has yet to be released. It is expected to be made public during – or shortly after – the Sunday media drive. (However, see link at the end of the article to download the presentation that was acquired by this site).

Citing assembly delays caused by the loss of Columbia during STS-107, the presentation admitted very little real science had been carried out on Station during the first half of this decade.

“While the ISS did not support permanent human crews during the first two years of operations (November 1998 to November 2000), it hosted a few early science experiments months before the first international crew took up residence. Since that time – and simultaneous with the complicated task of ISS construction and overcoming impacts from the tragic Columbia accident – science returns from the ISS have been growing at a steady pace.”

While the presentation is heavily angled towards making inroads into the argument the ISS has failed to produce the scientific results close to a level that had previously been expected, it also makes strong points on how much damage was caused by the loss of the shuttle supply line during the post-Columbia standdown.

“Prior to the Columbia accident, more than 6,600 kg (14,600 lbs) of research equipment and facilities had been brought to ISS. Between the accident and the return to flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery in Jul 2005, 75 kg (165 lbs) of research supplies had been brought up on Russian Progress and Soyuz vehicles.

“The crew of the ISS was also reduced from three to two, and the research program was drastically adjusted to accommodate these changes. Since return to flight in 2005, the research space has grown.”

Although the European ATV has made its debut run to the ISS, with the Japanese HTV soon to follow next month, along with the Commercial partners of Orbital and SpaceX due to begin supply flights in 2012, the loss of the shuttle in 2011 is indirectly referenced via the aforementioned notes on the negative upmass capability to the Station during the standdown of the fleet ahead of Return To Flight.

Should the Augustine Commission recommend the extension of the ISS to 2020, without the extension of the shuttle fleet past 2011, such a major loss in both upmass and downmass will ironically damage the amount of scientific payload that can be launched to the ISS and returned to Earth. The presentation fails to note this problem, and the potential fallout on how much science can be conducted over the next decade as a result.

Specifically, it has been thanks to the return to regular launch operations for the shuttle that a “steady pace” of increased science has resulted in over 100 major scientific accomplishments being achieved on the Station, a number that is set to increase in growth as the six person crew take advantage of the numerous – and international – science racks that are now installed in the various modules, most of which have been launched via shuttle.

“From Expedition 0 through 15, 138 experiments have been operated on the ISS, supporting research for hundreds of ground-based investigators from the U.S. and International Partners. Many experiments are carried forward over several ISS increments, allowing for additional experimental runs and data collection,” added the presentation.

“This report focuses on the experimental results collected to date, including scientific publications from studies that are based on operational data. Today, NASA’s priorities for research aboard the ISS center on understanding human health during long-duration missions, researching effective countermeasures for long-duration crewmembers, and researching and testing new technologies that can be used for future Exploration crews and spacecraft.

“Most research also supports new understandings, methods, or applications that are relevant to life on Earth, such as understanding effective protocols to protect against loss of bone density or better methods for producing stronger metal alloys. Experiment results have already been used in applications as diverse as the manufacture of solar cell and insulation materials for new spacecraft and the verification of complex numerical models for behavior of fluids in fuel tanks.”

As mentioned in the introduction, the science experiments being conducted on the numerous racks on Station are just part of the actual science being conducted. The presentation outlined all elements of science, from the racks, to external payloads such as MISSE – and its relevance to Earth-based applications, and even studies into the mental health of crew members during long duration flights.

While MISSE was singled out for a section on the ISS’ “success stories” – due to its potential use on restoring and protecting valuable art work – the studies into the psychological health of crew members provided one of the more fascinating elements of the presentation.

“Isolated in the microgravity and vacuum of near-Earth orbit, the ISS is a potentially risky place in which to work and live. Mission success and crew safety rely on the ability of station crews to communicate and get along with their fellow crewmembers, regardless of their age, gender, nationality, or personal beliefs and preferences. It is also critical that the station crew has good interactions with members of ground operations.

“The Interactions study recorded crew and crew-ground activities in an effort to fully understand group dynamics, individual psychological health, and factors that both hinder and help daily life on station. The study consisted primarily of a computerized questionnaire that was filled out weekly by crewmembers in space and by ground personnel at NASA Johnson Space Center, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, and the Russian Mission Control Center in Moscow.

“The questionnaire software included a series of questions from three standard mood and interpersonal group climate questionnaires as well as a critical incident log.”

“The Interactions experiment observed the day-to-day relations between the ISS crew and the ground support teams in Houston, Huntsville, Alabama, and Moscow, Russia. Data were collected over a period of 4 years during ISS Expeditions 2 through 9.”

The findings – which will prove to be priceless for when humans eventually travel out of LEO on long duration missions to a base on the moon, and missions to Mars – noted the mental health of crewmembers actually improved as their missions progressed.

“Not surprisingly, the investigation is also identifying differences in mood and group perceptions between Americans and Russians, as well as between crewmembers and Mission Control personnel. In a separate but related study that was conducted by this research team, ISS crewmembers show evidence of an improvement in mental health as they adjust to the environment (adaptation).

“The study indicates that crewmembers improve in mood and social climate over the course of their missions.”

The bulk of the presentation outlined – individually – all of the scientific accomplishments over the early lifetime of the ISS, most of which are clearly aimed at improving life back on Earth.

With the quantity of science set to continue to ramp up over the next few years, a decision not to throw away the capability of the Station in 2016 will gain yet more science from the US’ National Laboratory in space.

*Click here to download a copy of the presentation*

4chr

[Rand]

Additional Lab to be Added to ISS

Apparently the International Space Station is going to get bigger. According to an article on Flight Global, NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) are preparing to sign an agreement to add another laboratory to the ISS by using a modified multipurpose logistics module (Raffaello) during the final Space Shuttle mission. It will be attached in September 2010 during Endeavour's STS-133 mission. The idea had originally been rejected, but earlier this year ISS program manager Michael Suffredini said using an MPLM for an additional module was being reconsidered.

The Italian-designed and built – but NASA owned – logistics module will be able to bring up extra spare parts and science and equipment racks. The module has 16 equipment racks for its 9,400kg (20,600lb) of cargo that could be used for experiments.

The Italian Space Agency (ASI) will pay €22 million ($31.3 million) to upgrade the module, such as micrometeroid protection. In return the agency is guaranteed a seat on NASA's next crew transport system and six ISS mission opportunities for its Italian astronauts. These are three short-duration missions and three six-month expeditions.

Flight Global reported that "ASI says it can 'confirm that we are going to sign an agreement. One module will became a permanent element of the ISS. It will be an ASI activity with national funds co-ordinated with ESA as the main European partner of the ISS programme.'"

The crew for the final mission may have to be cut from seven to five in order to accommodate the added weight of the module.

4chr

[Rand]

Node 3 Location Issues

From: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 3:21 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: My Notes: Final Node 3 relocation charts

From this afternoon's meeting with Mr. Suffredini concerning the Node 3 relocation plan.

Node 3 is to remain on the N1p port, and no further work is to be given to the Node 3 temp storage on N1p and later re-location to N1n plan. The PLM will be located N1n, because this location requires the least MMOD shielding (reducing launch weight, and preparation costs).

The Cupola will remain in the planned location. When it looks like Orion may fly, the program will re-look at moving the Cupola at that time to provide a back-up docking port.

The desire to relocate Node 3 was to provide a back-up port for each visiting vehicle, and also to provide 2 additional available ports for future growth of ISS. Mr. Suffredini noted that Biggalow has approached NASA about docking a module to ISS, which he would like to try to accommodate. However, the cost and risk impacts to performing the Node 3 relocation in FY2010 drove the decision to not relocate Node 3.

It was noted my many in the room that if needed in the future, the team thought they could find a way to relocate the Node 3 at that time (given more time to work on the plan and to provided the needed hardware, training and procedures, etc.).

Non mi dispiacerebbe vedere un BA 330 come modulo della ISS. Il ritorno di Transhab in sostanza

With almost two dozen layers, TransHab’s foot-thick inflatable shell is a marvel of innovative design. The layers are fashioned to break up particles of space debris and tiny meteorites that may hit the shell with a speed seven times as fast as a bullet. The outer layers protect multiple inner bladders, made of a material that holds in the module’s air. The shell also provides insulation from temperatures in space that can range from plus 121 degrees Celsius (plus 250 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Sun to minus 128 degrees Celsius (minus 200 degrees Fahrenheit) in the shade.

The key to the debris protection is successive layers of Nextel, a material commonly used as insulation under the hoods of many cars, spaced between several-inches-thick layers of open cell foam, similar to foam used for chair cushions on Earth. The Nextel and foam layers cause a particle to shatter as it hits, losing more and more of its energy as it penetrates deeper.

Many layers into the shell is a layer of super-strong woven Kevlar that holds the module’s shape. The air is held inside by three bladders of Combitherm, a material commonly used in the food-packing industry. The innermost layer, forming the inside wall of the module, is Nomex cloth, a fireproof material that also protects the bladder from scuffs and scratches.

[Rand]

Handing Over Tranquility

The European Space Agency, or ESA, will transfer ownership of the Tranquility node to NASA on Thursday, Nov. 19. NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will host a commemorative ceremony at 3 p.m. EST.

Tranquility is a pressurized module that will provide room for many of the station's life support systems. Attached to the node is a cupola, a unique work station with windows on its six sides and top. The module will be delivered to the station during space shuttle Endeavour's STS-130 mission, targeted for launch Feb. 4, 2010.

Tranquility is the last element of a barter agreement for station hardware. ESA contributed the node in exchange for NASA's delivery of ESA's Columbus laboratory to the station. Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, built the module.

NASA, ESA, Thales and Boeing managers involved in building and processing the node for flight will be available for a question-and-answer session after the ceremony. Media representatives planning to attend must arrive at Kennedy's news center by 2 p.m. for transportation to the Space Station Processing Facility. Participants must be dressed in full-length pants, flat shoes that entirely cover the feet, and shirts with sleeves.

Reporters without permanent Kennedy credentials should submit a request online at: https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

Foreign journalists must apply for credentials by 4:30 p.m., Nov. 4, and U.S. reporters must apply by 4:30 p.m., Nov. 17. For more information on the space station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station

[Rand]

Saying Goodbye to HTV

Backdropped by Earth's horizon and the blackness of space, the International Space Station's Canadarm2 grapples the unpiloted Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) in preparation for its release from the station. European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, Expedition 21 commander; NASA astronaut Nicole Stott and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk, both flight engineers, used the station's robotic arm to grab the HTV cargo craft, filled with trash and unneeded items, and unberth it from the Harmony node's nadir port. The HTV was successfully unberthed at 10:18 a.m. (CDT) on Oct. 30, 2009, and released from the station's Canadarm2 at 12:32 p.m.

European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, Expedition 21 commander, works in the vestibule between the International Space Station's Harmony node and the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) in preparation for the release of the HTV scheduled for Oct. 30, 2009.

Backdropped by Earth's horizon and the blackness of space, the International Space Station's Canadarm2 unberths the unpiloted Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) in preparation for its release from the station. European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, Expedition 21 commander; NASA astronaut Nicole Stott and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk, both flight engineers, used the station's robotic arm to grab the HTV cargo craft, filled with trash and unneeded items, and unberth it from the Harmony node's nadir port. The HTV was successfully unberthed at 10:18 a.m. (CDT) on Oct. 30, 2009, and released from the station's Canadarm2 at 12:32 p.m.

Cliccando sulle immagini si arriva alla versione ad alta risoluzione

[Octane]

Sbaglio o la Soyuz che si vede in una delle foto ha i pannelli danneggiati?
(non che siano di importanza fondamentale ora)

[Xile]

Originariamente inviato da Octane

Sbaglio o la Soyuz che si vede in una delle foto ha i pannelli danneggiati?
(non che siano di importanza fondamentale ora)

Beh uddio, non dovrebbe essere una capsula di salvataggio?!

[Rand]

Originariamente inviato da Octane

Sbaglio o la Soyuz che si vede in una delle foto ha i pannelli danneggiati?
(non che siano di importanza fondamentale ora)

A vedere un altra immagine della stessa Soyuz mi sembra più una semitrasparenza "strana" dei pannelli che un qualche tipo di danneggiamento.

(Da cosa possa dipendere questa disomogeneità non lo so..)

[Octane]

Originariamente inviato da Xile

Beh uddio, non dovrebbe essere una capsula di salvataggio?!

Beh, a dire il vero e' IL mezzo con il quale torneranno a casa 3 dei 6 membri dell'equipaggio dell'ISS.

[Rand]

Space Junk May Force Crew from ISS

A hard to track piece of space junk may come within a half a kilometer of the International Space Station later today, and the NASA managers are considering asking the crew to board the docked Soyuz capsules as a precaution. The time of closest approach is at 10:48 p.m. EST, and the object was detected too late for the station to do an evasive maneuver. Depending on the outcome of additional tracking data analysis, the crew may be awakened later directed to go into the Soyuz vehicles around 10:30 pm or given option to sleep in Soyuz tonight. NASA says they don't believe the crew is at risk, but precautions are prudent in dealing with space debris.

The crew was told about the debris, which ground stations have not been able to be track consistently, said NASA spokesman Kyle Herring. Trajectory experts are continuing to verify information about the debris. "All this is a precaution, and we do not believe the crew is in any danger at this time or at the time of closest approach, but are making preparations in the unlikely event the approach would be closer than expected," Herring said.

We'll provide more information as it becomes available.

4chr

[Rand]

Wayne Hale ha un parere "critico" (per usare un eufemismo ) della cancellazione dell'X-38 (o meglio delle scelte politiche che l'hanno provocata):

Gathering Dust

By chance I was in Omaha this week when the news was announced that the X-38 was going on display in the Strategic Air & Space Museum there. What an interesting and out of the way place to display this remarkable device. My work schedule didn’t allow me the luxury of a visit to the museum, but then I’ve seen the X-38 up close before.

Disclaimer: I was a member of an independent review team for the X-38 development for a short period of time.

The X-38 was a tremendously ingenious device lead by a group of talented and unorthodox NASA employees. Their leader, John Muratore, one of the most gifted systems engineers I have ever known. These “pirates” who worked largely free of the typical government space bureaucracy in a skunk works type environment. Free to innovate, free to be highly flexible, co-located with the hardware, they were on the brink of a stunning technological achievement when politics intervened.

The X-38 was a lifting body spacecraft that was to serve as the International Space Station’s lifeboat. It was the prototype of the Crew Rescue Vehicle, the CRV. If it had been allowed to succeed, it would have been an alternative to the Russian Soyuz in that role. As a spacecraft it was the potentially evolvable beginning of new space taxis that would have been able to provide alternate ways to get humans to low earth orbit and back. Again, eliminating our sole reliance on the venerable Soyuz, but also providing a way to rotate crews without the Shuttle – which we so desperately needed after Columbia. And the X-38 would have preceded the proposed commercial human launch vehicles by almost a decade.

Unfortunately, new political leadership inside the beltway thought that NASA’s only problem was not being able to do our accounting in line with the arcane rules proposed by the OMB. The new political leadership – which by their own admission – knew nothing about the technical aspects of getting into space – needed a scapegoat, an example, something that they could “cut” to show that they were serious about keeping NASA financially in line.

So they picked the brightest star of the future of human spacecraft and killed it with extreme prejudice.

A few years later, in the Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report, Admiral Gehman stated that the failure to replace the Shuttle with something safer was “a failure of national leadership.” The cancellation of the X-38 is exhibit A of that failure.

So if you get to Nebraska (Nebraska?!?) go out to the museum and see the nearly flight ready X-38 vehicle there. Think about how the history of the last decade in space exploration might have been different if the mindset inside the DC beltway was focused on achievement instead of ignorantly punishing the most successful. Penny wise and pound foolish.

There are many morals that can be drawn from this history lesson. I leave it as an exercise for the reader to see if you can come to the most obvious conclusions, and how they are still in force today.

Nebraska is a really nice state, and Omaha is a really nice town. I appreciate them providing a venue for the X-38.

And if you look up John Muratore, you will find him teaching college students about systems engineering. We need more of that.

Shame on those people who “know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”

[Xile]

Purtroppo sono sempre i soldi i problema, se non fosse per la guerra in Afghanistan o Irak probabilmente le cose sarebbero diverse, oppure se ai tempi dell'incidente del columbia il progetto fosse stato ancora vivo adesso avremo meno problemi.

[Octane]

Una fine simile l'ha fatta anche l'X-33 (anche se c'erano alcuni problemi di masse da risolvere - superati, ironia della sorte, troppo tardi per salvare il progetto)

Sono sempre stato affascinato dai Lifting Bodies (anche lo Space Shuttle e' in parte un lifting body, con in piu' le ali a delta! ).
Non sarebbe male se ri-tirassero fuori dal cappello l'X-38!