US Orbital Segment
Launch date December 4, 1998 | | |
Launch vehicle | Space Shuttle, SpaceX Dragon |
---|
The US Orbital Segment (USOS) is the name given to the components of the
The segment is monitored and controlled from various mission control centers around the world including
Modules
The US Orbital Segment consists of 10 pressurized modules. Of these, seven are habitable, and three are connecting nodes with large ports. The ports are used to connect the modules together or provide berths and docks for spacecraft.
Nodes
Each of the nodes has ports called Common Berthing Mechanisms (CBM). All three nodes have 4 ports around their exterior, and 1 port on each end, 6 ports in total. In addition to the 18 ports on the nodes there are additional ports on the modules, most of these are used for mating modules together, while unused CBM ports can berth one of the re-supply spacecraft MPLM, HTV, Dragon Cargo or Cygnus. There are two PMA adapters that change CBM ports to docking ports, the type used by Soyuz, Progress, Automated Transfer Vehicle, and the former Space Shuttle.
Unity
The first component of the USOS pressurized segment is the Unity. On the aft end of Unity is the Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA) 1. The PMA-1 connects Unity with the Russian segment. Unity is also connected to the Quest airlock on the starboard side, Tranquility on the port side, and the Z1 truss on the zenith. The Destiny lab connects to the forward end, leading to the rest of the USOS. Unity is also used by the crews on board the ISS to eat meals and share some downtime together. The Unity node was delivered to the station by STS-88 on December 6, 1998.[2]
Harmony
The
Tranquility
The Tranquility node houses the USOS life support systems.[4] Tranquility also hosts the seven windowed Cupola module and the Leonardo module on its forward port. The forward facing port of Tranquility is blocked by the station's truss structure, while the aft facing port is free for use. While the nadir port is used by the Cupola, the zenith port is used by some exercise equipment inside the node. The starboard port is connected to node 1, and the port side is occupied by the PMA 3, previously a backup for the Shuttle docking, which will receive International Docking Adapter-3 during CRS-18, to allow connection with the Crew Dragon and Boeing Starliner. The Tranquility module was delivered by STS-130 in February 2010, together with the Cupola.[5]
Laboratories
Destiny
The
Columbus
Kibo
The
Other modules
Quest
The Quest Joint Airlock is used to host spacewalks from the USOS segment of the ISS. It consists of two main parts: the equipment lock and the crew lock. The equipment lock is where the Extravehicular Mobility Units are stored and preparations for spacewalks are carried out. The crew lock is depressurized during spacewalks. The Quest airlock was delivered and installed by the STS-104 crew in July 2001.[14]
Leonardo
The Leonardo module, also known as the
Cupola
The Cupola is a seven-windowed module attached to the Tranquillity module. It is used for Earth observation and houses some gym equipment. All of the seven windows have covers that are closed when the windows aren't used, to protect the station from space debris impact. The Cupola was delivered together with the Tranquility node by STS-130 in February 2010.[5]
Bigelow Expandable Activity Module
Pressurized Mating Adapter
The
External elements
Integrated Truss Structure
The
External Stowage Platform
The
ExPRESS logistics carrier
The
Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer 2
The
Mobile Servicing System
The components of the MSS were supplied by the
Canadarm2
The main component of the mobile servicing system is the
Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator
The
Mobile Base System
The
Enhanced ISS Boom Assembly
The Enhanced ISS Boom Assembly is used to extend the reach of Canadarm2 and provides detailed inspection capability. There are lasers and cameras at the end of the boom able to record at a resolution of a few millimeters. The boom is also fitted with handrails, so that it can assist spacewalkers during EVAs as was done on STS-120 to repair the solar arrays.
Proposed modules
There are various proposed modules to extend the US Orbital Segment.
Habitation Extension Modules
The Habitation Extension Modules (HEM) refer to proposed British-built modules designed to connect to Tranquility module of the International Space Station. They were conceived by a consortium of engineers and scientists led by Mark Hempsell, aeronautical engineer at the University of Bristol. The proposal has no formal support of the British government, as of January 2008[update]. If funded, the modules were intended to be launched sometime in 2011.[40]
Node 4
Node 4, also known as the Docking Hub System (DHS), was a proposed module that would have been built using the Node Structural Test Article (STA) and docked to the forward port of the Harmony module. The Structural Test Article was built to facilitate testing of ISS hardware and was intended to become Node 1. However, during construction, structural design flaws were discovered. The under-construction Node 2 was renamed Node 1 and the STA (ex-Node 1) was put into storage at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).[41]
In 2011 NASA was considering a 40-month design and development effort for Node 4 that would result in its launch in late 2013.[42] Since the Space Shuttle program was retired, had a decision to build and launch Node 4 been taken, it would have been launched by an Atlas V or Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle.[42]
Centrifuge demonstration
In order to assess and characterize influences and effects of the centrifuge relative to human reactions, mechanical dynamic responses and influences, the demonstration of Nautilus-X centrifuge would be tested on the ISS.
If produced, this centrifuge would have been the first in-space demonstration of sufficient scale for artificial partial-G effects.[43] The demonstrator would be sent using a single Delta IV Heavy or Atlas V launch vehicle. The full cost of such a demonstrator would be between US$83 million and US$143 million.
XBASE
In August 2016, Bigelow Aerospace negotiated an agreement with NASA to develop a full-sized ground prototype Deep Space Habitation based on the B330 under the second phase of Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships. The module is called the Expandable Bigelow Advanced Station Enhancement (XBASE), as Bigelow hopes to test the module by attaching it to the International Space Station.[44][45]
Axiom Space
On January 27, 2020, NASA announced that it had given permission to Axiom Space to launch up to three modules to attach to the International Space Station. The first module could be launched as soon as 2024; the first module is currently proposed to be docked to the forward port of the Harmony module, though that would require relocation of PMA-2 and IDA-2. Axiom Space plans to attach up to two additional modules to its first core module, and send private astronauts to inhabit the modules.[46] Upon retirement of the ISS, the Axiom module will be joined by additional elements, including a power and thermal module with an airlock, that together will function as the Axiom Commercial Space Station.[47]
Operation
Operational control of the US Orbital Segment of the ISS is accomplished by NASA and the ESA, the agency that manages the civilian portion of the US government space program.
In the early years of the ISS operation beginning in 2000,[48] a lot of the work in the US Orbital Segment was performed by NASA astronauts—although some NASA-trained astronauts were employees of non-US government space agencies—and all cargo and crew transport to the space station was handled by NASA-owned spacecraft, specifically, by the Space Shuttle. Beginning in the late 2000s, NASA began to contract for commercial services to transport cargo to the space station[49] with services beginning in 2012.[50] By 2020, operational commercial flights were handling ISS USOS crew transport as well.[51]
In 2010, NASA began to open up a limited amount of its space and astronaut time on the US Orbital Segment to commercial use. In 2005, the US Congress authorized that one of the several U.S. National Laboratories should exist on board the ISS, and commercial research could be done there. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) was set up to operate the lab. In September 2009, Nanoracks signed the first contract with NASA to utilize the on-orbit lab space, and had their first laboratory on the Space Station in April 2010.[52] Other companies followed,[citation needed] however the commercial space and commercial experiments on the ISS have always been limited, with most orbital segment space and experiments reserved for direct use by NASA, the ESA and JAXA.
Prices to be paid by commercial companies utilizing the ISS National Lab on USOS were heavily subsidized from 2010 until early 2021. Beginning in March 2021, the subsidy was removed, and prices raised by NASA to approximate "full reimbursement for the value of NASA resources."[53]
NASA published a "Commercial and Marketing Pricing Policy" beginning in 2019.[54] The historical prices and ~2021 prices on offer for services in the USOS are:[55][needs update]
NASA-provided Service | 2010−2019 price | 2019−2020 price | 2021−present price | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
Transport cargo to ISS (US$/kg) |
US$3,000 | US$20,000 | [53] | |
Transport cargo from ISS to Earth (US$/kg) |
US$6,000 | US$40,000 | [53] | |
Crew member time (US$/hour) |
US$17,500 | US$130,000 | [53] | |
Private astronaut crew supplies (US$/day) |
N/A | N/A | US$22,500 | [53] |
Private astronaut life support (US$/day) |
N/A | N/A | US$11,250 | [53] |
Stowage (US$ per CTBE per day)
|
US$105[54] | |||
Power (US$/kWh) |
US$42[54] | |||
Data downlink (US$/GB) |
US$50[54] | |||
Trash disposal (US$/kg) |
US$3,000[54] | US$20,000[55] |
See also
- NASA X-38, canceled crew return vehicle
- NASA HL-20/Dream Chaserproposed crew return vehicle
- Russian Orbital Segment
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