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Goals and Objectives.
Goals of the
International Space Station (ISS) are to establish a permanent
habitable residence and laboratory for science and research, and
to maintain and support a human crew at this facility. Purposes
of the ISS are to expand our experience in living and working in
space, encourage and enable commercial development of space, and
provide the capability for humans to perform unique long duration
space-based research in cell and developmental biology, plant biology,
human physiology, fluid physics, combustion science, materials science
and fundamental physics. The ISS, part way in its construction,
is already providing a unique platform for making observations of
the Earth's surface and atmosphere, the sun, and other astronomical
objects. The experience and results obtained from using the ISS
will guide the future direction of human exploration of space, back
to the Moon and on to Mars and beyond.
The ISS is the largest and most complex international scientific
project in history. The completed station by about 2010 will have
a mass of about 1,040,000 lbs. (470 metric tons). It will measure
356 ft (109 m) across and 290 ft (88 m) long, with almost an acre
of solar panels to provide up to 110 kilowatts power to six state-of-the-art
laboratories. Led by the United States, the ISS draws upon the scientific
and technological resources of 16 nations: Canada, Japan, Russia,
11 nations of the European Space Agency (ESA), and Brazil.
Operations and Assembly.
One of the continuing partnership issues in 2004 was the debate
about the provision of assured crew return capability after the
Russian obligation to supply Soyuz lifeboats to the station expires
in April 2006. In NASA's space transportation planning, currently
under revision after the unveiling of a long-range space exploration
strategy by President Bush on January 14, which includes retirement
of the space shuttle by 2010, a U.S. crew rescue capability would
only be available by 2014. Efforts continue by the Partnership to
work out a solution for dealing with the gap. Of much greater significance
to the continuation of ISS assembly and operation proved to be Russia’s
shouldering the burden of providing crew rotation and consumables
resupply flights to the station after the loss of space shuttle
Columbia in 2003 brought shuttle operations to a standstill that
lasted until the end of the reporting year (and was expected to
continue into Summer 2005).
Following the recommendations of an independent advisory panel of
biological and physical research scientists called Remap (for "Research
Maximization and Prioritization"), NASA in 2002 had established
the formal position of a "Science Officer" for one crewmember
aboard the ISS, responsible for expanding scientific endeavors on
the station. After Flight Engineer (FE) Dr. Peggy Whitson of Expedition
5 became NASA’s first Science Officer (SO), Expedition 8 Commander
(CDR) Michael Foale, Expedition 9 FE Michael Fincke, and Expedition
10 CDR Leroy Chiao were the fourth, fifth and sixth Science Officers
in 2004.
After the initial major milestones for the ISS program since begin
of orbital assembly in 1998 (which included the first crewed logistics/supply
flight of a space shuttle in May/June 1999, the arrival of the first
long-duration station crew of U.S. Commander William Shepherd and
Russian Pilot/Flight Engineers Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev
in November 2000 and the installation of the first set of U.S. solar
array wings in December 2000), build-up and early operations of
the permanently crewed station had continued through 2001 in rapid
pace. During 2001, astronauts and cosmonauts added U.S.
Laboratory module Destiny, the Canada-supplied Space Station
Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) Canadarm2, the U.S. Airlock module
Quest and the Russian Docking
Compartment (DC-1)
Pirs. In April 2002, the first of several truss elements, S0
(S-Zero) was attached on top of Destiny, becoming the centerpiece
of the 109 m (356 ft) long truss for carrying the solar cell arrays
of the station. In June 2002, the Expedition 4 crew of Russian CDR
Yuri Onufrienko and U.S. FEs Carl Walz and Dan Bursch was "rotated"
with the new station crew of Expedition 5 (Russian CDR Valery Korzun,
U.S. FE/SO Peggy Whitson, Russian FE Sergey Treschev) and delivered
cargo including the Mobile Service System (to provide mobility for
the SSRMS) and the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
(MPLM) Leonardo
for cargo and equipment transport.
The second truss segment, S1, arrived in October 2002 and was attached
to S0 on the starboard side. Its counterpart on port, P1, followed
in November and was also successfully mounted. The same shuttle
mission brought the replacement crew of U.S. CDR Kenneth Bowersox,
Russian FE Nikolay Budarin and U.S. FE/SO Donald Pettit (Expedition
6), and returned the Expedition 5 crew to Earth.
Early in 2003, further progress in ISS assembly was brought to a
halt by the standdown of the space shuttles after the Columbia loss.
As an immediate consequence of the unavoidable reduction in resupply
mission to the station, which now could only be supported by Russian
uncrewed automated Progress cargo ships, station crew size was reduced
from three to a two-person “caretaker” crew per expedition (also
known as Increment), except for brief 10-day stays by visiting cosmonaut/researchers
arriving and departing on the third seat of Soyuz spacecraft. Operations
procedures had to be revised accordingly, and such vital areas as
onboard systems maintenance and spares provision had to be replanned
carefully to continue crewed occupancy and a viable science research
program on board despite the sudden constriction in logistics.
Three crews lived on the station during 2004 as ISS entered its
fifth year of operations as a staffed facility, Each two-person
crew, working with ground teams, did its part to keep the station
safely operating while accumulating knowledge ("lessons learned")
for future deep-space missions of the new Vision for Space Exploration.
Crews made unprecedented repairs to an oxygen generator, a crucial
piece of exercise equipment and a U.S. spacesuit. They also performed
an extravehicular activity (EVA, spacewalk to restore power to a
gyroscope.
After appropriate training for the temporary two-man situation in
the U.S. and Russia, Expedition 9 was launched to the ISS in April
with Russian CDR Gennady Padalka and U.S. FE Michael Fincke on a
Soyuz TMA spacecraft, while the two members of Expedition 8, Michael
Foale and Alexander Kaleri, plus visiting cosmonaut/researcher André
Kuipers (ESA/Netherlands) returned on the previous Soyuz that had
served as a contingency crew return vehicle (CRV) for almost the
duration of its certified lifetime of 200 days. The replacement
crew, Expedition 10, came six months later in a fresh Soyuz TMA,
consisting of U.S. CDR Leroy Chiao and Russian FE Salizhan Sharipov,
to continue station operations into 2005. All three U.S. crewmembers
had personal milestones in 2004: With a total endurance time of
374 days 11 hours 19 minutes accumulated in his six space flights,
Foale now has become the first U.S. astronaut to exceed one year
of “space time”, breaking Carl Walz’ record of 231 days (4 flights)
and moving to position #16 of the overall record list of international
space flyers. FE Fincke became the first U.S. astronaut to have
a child born while he was in orbit, and CDR Chiao is the first U.S.
citizen to vote from space in a presidential election.
By end-2004, 44 carriers had been launched to the ISS: 16 shuttles,
two heavy Protons (FGB/Zarya, SM/Zvezda), and 26 Soyuz rockets (16
uncrewed Progress cargo ships, the DC-1 docking module, and nine
crewed Soyuz spaceships).
Progress M1-11 (no.
260). Designated ISS-13P, the first of four uncrewed cargo ships
to the ISS in 2004 lifted off on a Soyuz-U rocket at the Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on January 29 (6:58am EDT). As all Progress
transports, it carried about 2 tons of resupply for the station,
including maneuver propellants, water, food, science payloads, equipment
and spares.
Soyuz TMA-4.
Soyuz TMA-4 (#214), ISS Mission 8S (April 19 - October 24),
was launched on time at 9:19am local time (11:19pm EDT on 4/18),
once again a flawless success of the Soyuz launcher. The third crew
rotation flight by a Soyuz because of the shuttle standdown, it
carried Expedition 9, the two-man station crew of Gennady Padalka
and Michael Fincke, plus visiting cosmonaut/researcher André Kuipers
from Netherlands who flew for the European Space Agency (ESA). TMA-4
docked to the ISS on 4/21 (1:01am EDT), replacing the previous CRV,
Soyuz TMA-3/7S, which, when it undocked on April 29, had reached
an in-space time of 194 days. In it, Expedition 8 crewmembers Foale
and Kaleri plus Kuipers landed in Kazakhstan in the morning of 4/30,
at 6:11am local (8:11pm EDT on 4/29). Recovery forces in helicopters,
including NASA personnel, reached the landing site soon after. Expedition
8 had spent 194 days 18 hours 35 minutes in space (192 days on board
the ISS).
Progress M-49 (No. 249).
ISS-14P was the next uncrewed cargo ship, launched in Baikonur on
a Soyuz-U on May 25 (8:34am EDT) and arriving at the station with
fresh supplies on May 27 (9:55am EDT).
Progress M-50 (No. 250).
ISS-15P, the third automated logistics transport in 2004, lifted
off on its Soyuz-U on August 11 (1:03am EDT), docking at the ISS
on August 14 (1:01am EDT).
Soyuz TMA-5. Soyuz
TMA-5 (#215), ISS mission 9S (October 13 - April 24, 2005) lifted
off on time at Baikonur at 11:06pm EDT (9:06am local on 10/14).
The fourth ISS crew rotation flight by a Soyuz, its crew comprised
Expedition 10, the fourth “caretaker” crew of Chiao and Sharipov,
plus visiting Russian cosmonaut/researcher Yuri Shargin. With its
perfect liftoff, the Soyuz-U launch vehicle racked up another success
in its history of - at that point - 436 flights (426 successes;
there was one more in 2004 for a total of 7 launches). On 10/16
at 12:16m EDT, TMA-3 docked smoothly to the ISS at the DC-1 docking
compartment’s nadir (downward)-pointing port, achieving successful
contact and capture. Hatch opening took place at 3:13am, followed
by crew transfer. Seven days later (10/23), the previous CRV, Soyuz
TMA-4/8S, undocked from the FGB nadir port at 5:05pm EDT, where
it had stayed for 186 days (187 days in space), and landed safely
in Kazakhstan at 8:36pm EDT (6:36am on 10/24 local) with Padalka,
Fincke and Shargin. Expedition 9’s total mission elapsed time (MET),
from launch to landing, was 187 days 21 hours 17 minutes in space
(186 days on board the station).