The International Space Station orbiting Earth. Credit: NASA
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Talk about a truly ‘world-wide’ web! As the astronauts aboard the International Space Station orbit Earth at 28,000 kph (17,500 mph) they now have the ultimate wireless connection and direct, live access to the internet. The station received a special software upgrade this week, called Crew Support LAN, which gives astronauts the ability to browse and use the Web. Previously, emails, news, and Twitter messages were sent to and from the ISS in uplink and downlink packages, so for example, Twitter (which NASA has embraced wholeheartedly) messages from the astronauts were downlinked to mission control in Houston, and someone there posted them on the astronauts’ Twitter accounts. Now, it’s live. Expedition 22 Flight Engineer T.J. Creamer made first use of the new system today when he posted the first unassisted update to his Twitter account, @Astro_TJ, from the space station:
“Hello Twitterverse! We r now LIVE tweeting from the International Space Station — the 1st live tweet from Space! đ More soon, send your ?s”
Astronauts will be subject to the same computer use guidelines as government employees on Earth. In addition to this new capability, the crew will continue to have official e-mail, Internet Protocol telephone and limited videoconferencing capabilities.
This personal Web access takes advantage of existing communication links to and from the station and gives astronauts the ability to browse and use the Web. The system will provide astronauts with direct private communications to enhance their quality of life during long-duration missions by helping to ease the isolation associated with life in a closed environment.
During periods when the station is actively communicating with the ground using high-speed Ku-band communications, the crew will have remote access to the Internet via a ground computer. The crew will view the desktop of the ground computer using an onboard laptop and interact remotely with their keyboard touchpad.
To follow Twitter updates from all the astronauts, there is one centralized Twitter account for all: NASA_Astronauts
Here are some space station pictures. We’ve already done photo galleries of the International Space Station, but let’s take a look at some different stations as well:
This is a picture of the Mir Space Station, launched by Russia. This photograph was taken by the crew of STS-89 on the space shuttle Endeavour.
Here is a recent image of the International Space Station captured by the crew of STS-129. It shows how much of the construction has now been completed.
This is a picture of Skylab, the United States’ first space station. It was in orbit from 1973 to 1979, and was visited by 3 crews of astronauts.
And maybe some day we’ll live in a futuristic space station like this. It’s called a Stanford Torus, and rotates to provide the people living inside an artificial gravity.
This is an artist’s impression of a future space hotel developed by Bigelow Aerospace. The various modules are inflated and connected together. Test versions of the modules have already been sent into orbit.
We’ve written many articles about the International Space Station for Universe Today. Here’s an article about how you can track the International Space Station, and here’s an article about a how a radio operator was able to communicate with the station.
In May of last year, we followed the story of former astronaut Scott Parazynski, as he climbed Mt. Everest to collect a piece of the mountain and test out equipment for NASA. During the climb, Parazynski carried a Moon rock that was brought to the Earth by the Apollo 11 mission. Though the journey of this rock has been rather long, it is about to come to an end.
The rock, along with a piece of Mt. Everest that Parazynski collected, will travel to the International Space Station during the next Space Shuttle mission. It and the Mt. Everest rock will be displayed in the Tranquility (*cough* Colbert *cough*) module, which is part of the payload of STS-130.
Endeavour is currently scheduled to launch on February 7th, 2010 and will carry the Tranquility module, which will provide more life-support systems for the ISS, as well as a seven-windowed cupola that will be used as an observation and control room for control of the robotic arm outside the station.
Interestingly enough, the rock originated in the Sea of Tranquility on the Moon, and will be returning to be displayed inside the Tranquility module itself.
The Moon rock and piece of Mt Everest will be presented by Parazynski to STS-130 commander George Zamka this Wednesday, January 6th. You can watch the presentation on NASA TV at 3:30pm CST.
Astronaut Sandra Magnus, Expedition 18 flight engineer, prepares to eat a Christmas meal at the galley in the Zvezda Service Module of the ISS. Photo Credit: NASA
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Last year at this time, astronaut Sandy Magnus was living on board the International Space Station. When the holidays were approaching in 2008, Magnus decided it was time to spice things up a bit in the culinary department in space. âWhen you think about it, food is an important part of our lives,â Magnus said. âFamily gatherings, celebrations and holidays all center around food, and when you invite people over it seems everyone always ends up in the kitchen. The same holds true on the space station, but you have to be able to prepare and eat food in microgravity without making a big mess!â
And now that sheâs back on terra firma, have her cooking techniques changed because of her experiences in space? âI certainly appreciate gravity a lot more because your food actually wants to stay in the bowl, which is a good thing!â Magnus said.
âSandy is our astronaut who has done the most experimenting with cooking in space,â said Vickie Kloeris, who heads NASA’s food lab at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. âShe has definitely given us some ideas about advancing food preparation on the space station.â
Magnus told Universe Today there were two different levels of cooking she did in space. âOne was special cooking for the holidays which took hours. My favorite was what I called âItalian Night,â where I took some rice, chicken, black olives, sundried tomatoes, cheese, garlic, onions and pesto and put that together. On an everyday basis it was easy to combine foods that were already prepared by Vickie and her group. My favorite everyday meal was taking black beans, tomatoes and artichokes and putting it on a tortilla with picante sauce. That was very tasty.â Astronaut Sandra Magnus, Expedition 18 flight engineer, prepares to eat a meal at the galley in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station.
The astronaut food on the ISSâwhile leaps ahead of the food âtubesâ that early astronauts endured â still has to meet many different requirements. It has to last for long periods of time without refrigeration, have the appropriate nutritional value, it has to be appealing and tasty, and it has to be packaged to be able to be used with the food warmers and rehydration system on the ISS and space shuttle.
âThere is probably on the order of 300 different foods and beverages up there when you look at all the food from the US, Russia, Europe and Japan,â said Kloeris. âWe stow the food pantry style, and so the crew members are able to pull different items and they are not restricted to a certain food on a certain day.â
Astonauts often say their tastes change in space, and Magnus agreed. âYes, it did a little bit. I noticed on my first mission that the tomatoes and eggplant that I loved on the ground, when I got on orbit it didnât taste quite the same to me. Iâm not sure exactly why â I think your sense of smell gets disrupted which of course affects your sense of taste.â
When Magnus was on the ISS, the crew size was just three. Since then the crew size has expanded to six. And when a shuttle crew visits, there can be as many as 13 astronauts to feed. How does that change how food is prepared?
âFortunately, with the increase in crew size we have an extra food warmer or two,â Magnus said, âwhich is really the big issue for planning a meal because it takes about 20 minutes to heat some of the food. And so with six people you have to start perhaps a little earlier and you are using all three food warmers on board so six people can eat together.â Astronaut Sandy Magnus with her ISS crewmates Mike Fincke (center) and Yury Lonchakov in the Harmony node of the International Space Station.
âWhen the shuttle is there we typically have family dinners, if you will, in the evenings a couple of times. The shuttle astronauts will prepare all their food in the shuttle, bag it up and bring it over and weâll all have one big family dinner in the service module or Node 1, which ever table we decide to use.â
One of Magnusâ favorite holiday foods while on the ISS was one that many on Earth would probably agree with: frosted Christmas cookies. âWe are able to bring up some personal foods, as long as they donât need refrigeration,â Magnus said, âand I brought up some cookies and there was some icing already on board. The entire crew really enjoyed having frosted cookies for the holidays.â
The Expedition 22 crew poses for a group snapshot while visiting the Soyuz launch vehicle assembly facility in front of the rocket's third stage. Crew members are, from the left, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, Soyuz commander; NASA astronaut T.J. Creamer, flight engineer; and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi, flight engineer. Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov
An international crew of three astronauts and cosmonauts blasted off Sunday (Dec 20) at 4:52 PM EST in a Russian capsule from the bone chilling Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The crew aboard the Soyuz TMA-17 capsule comprises Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, NASAâs T.J. Creamer, and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
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Following a two day pursuit they will rendezvous and link up with the ISS at the Zarya module’s nadir port on Tuesday at 5:58 p.m. EST about 220 miles over South America. Then they will officially join the Expedition 22 core crew of two, ISS Commander Jeff Williams (NASA) and flight engineer Max Suraev (Russia) thereby enlarging the orbiting outposts population to five, just one person shy of the full staffing of six.
Hatches between the ISS and Soyuz will be opened about 90 minutes after the Tuesday docking, which will be carried live on NASA TV. Kotov, Creamer and Noguchi are bringing along holiday goodies just in time to celebrate the arrival of Christmas and begin their 6 month stint in space.
The pre-dawn launch occurred precisely on time at 3:52 a.m. Monday local Kazakh time and was timed to coincide with the moment Earth’s rotation carried the launch pad into the plane of the space station’s orbit. The roaring stream of flames lit up the night sky for earth bound observers for miles around.
With Soyuz Commander Kotov occupying the center seat, the capsule separated from the third stage after the thunderous 9 minute climb to space. âEveryone feels great, no problemsâ, Kotov reported as the capsule was safely injected into an initial earth orbit. A live internal video feed showed the crew for most of the ride to orbit, working efficiently and in a relaxed manner. Engines will be fired three more times to raise the orbit and maneuver the capsule to match the stations orbit. On Tuesday the engines will be fired for a final time to align the Soyuz for docking.
The Expedition 22 crew of five have a busy agenda ahead filled with spacewalks, shuttle arrivals, relocating equipment, attachment of new modules and ambitious science experiments Expedition 22 Soyuz Rollout. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
This was the first December lift off for a Soyuz since 1990 and took place in the frigid cold as the earthling observers shivered outside. The crew had been training in Baikonur for the last week and a half to complete final launch preparations.
The launch pad is the very same one used to support the historic launch of Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in 1961 on mankindâs first manned space flight. The Soyuz crew capsule has been in use by Russia since 1967.
Creamer is making his first space flight and is a distinguished Army aviator. This is Kotovâs 2nd flight to the ISS where he has already performed two spacewalks. Likewise itâs the 2nd flight for Noguchi, but his first on board a Soyuz. He was previously a member of the Shuttle Return to Flight crew in 2005. Three dozen Japanese journalists were on hand to document the mission, the first by a Japanese aboard a Soyuz.
Before todayâs lift-off, Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA Administrator for NASA Associate Administrator for Space Operations previewed the âyear in spaceâ to come. âItâs an amazing time in spaceflight. We are bringing the station crew back up to five and learning how to operate with a larger crew size. For the systems to work right that requires a lot of preparationâ.
âThis will be an amazing year upcoming as I stand here in Kazakhstan with the Soyuz behind me. We have a shuttle almost ready to fly from KSC and this Soyuz set to fly. 2010 will be a busy year. Weâll have as many as 6 Progress, 4 Soyuz and 5 Shuttle flights to the ISS. The shuttle will start the year by bringing up the Tranquility and Cupola modulesâ (read our previous article for more info).
âWe have built a phenomenal research station in space which could only have been assembled by the shuttle. But now itâs time to move beyond the shuttle. After the shuttle retires we will transition to smaller rockets like the Soyuz and the Dragonâ.
Ralf Vandebergh’s detail of an image he took on March 21, 2009 showing astronauts working outside the ISS. Credit: Ralf Vandebergh
Remember when it was a big deal when amateur astronomers starting imaging the International Space Station as seen from Earth, showing individual modules and other parts of the space station? One of the most proficient astrophotographers in that department has now just upped the game: Ralf Vandebergh has captured images of astronauts working outside the ISS during an EVA. Vandebergh, who lives in The Netherlands, used his 10-inch Newtonian backyard telescope to capture an image of STS-119 astronauts Joe Acaba and Steve Swanson working outside the ISS to install equipment on one of the trusses during the second EVA of the mission on March 21, 2009. Vandebergh told me he has been trying to image astronauts working outside the ISS since 2007, but hasn’t been successful until now. “In all opportunities I had until now, the astronauts were not on a visible part of the station,” he said “or they were in shadow or the pass or the seeing was simply not favourable.”
Below, enjoy the video Vandebergh created about his extreme zoom-in handiwork, and his explanation of how he was able to take the images.
“It was great luck they were working on the Earth-facing side of the port 3 truss on this spacewalk,” Vandebergh said. “Why? This truss is a reasonable open structure, which means it appears a little bit transparent as seen from the Earth with the black space as a background. This makes this particular truss (and the Starboard 3 truss on the other side) look considerably darker then the other trusses in the vicinity.
When a high reflective white suited spacewalker works in front of this truss, there is a very good
chance you receive light from it on your CCD. By following very precisely the live station camera’s–
and helmet cam recordings on NASA TV, I knew exactly were to expect them on the image.”
Butterflies on the ISS. Credit: BioEdOnline. Click to see more.
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Four âbutterflynautsâ have emerged on the International Space Station. They are part of a suitcase sized educational experiment that was rocketed to space on Nov. 16 on space shuttle Atlantis as part of the STS-129 mission. Students of all ages and the public are invited to follow the tiny crewâs development from larvae to adult butterflies in the microgravity of space.
In over 100 classrooms across the U.S., students have set up habitats and are replicating the space experiment. Their objective is to compare the growth and behavior of ground-based butterfly larvae and adult butterflies with those living in the microgravity environment of space. New pictures and videos and Powerpoint slides are available almost daily.
A free Butterflies in Space teacherâs guide can be downloaded from BioEd Online at the Butterflies in Space website here. The project is sponsored by National Space Biomedical Research Institute.
Initial results show that there appears to be no difference in the development rates of these butterflies in a microgravity environment as compared to Earth’s gravity, which is a fairly significant finding. While microgravity environment has obvious impacts on human health and physiology, relatively little is known about how microgravity whould effect human growth and development. While there are major differences between humans and butterflies, basic cellular divisions in follow similar processes. Therefore, the success of the butterfly experiment in space indicates that a human embryo could potentially survive and develop normally in space even in the absence of gravity.
Following todayâs departure of the three man crew of Expedition 21 aboard the Soyuz TMA 15 capsule, staffing on the International Space Station (ISS) is now temporarily reduced to a skeleton crew of just 2 men for the first time since July 2006. The ISS had hosted a complete 6 person and truly international crew complement for the first time ever since its inception, starting in May of this year.
Soyuz Commander Roman Romanenko (Russia), European Space Agency Flight Engineer Frank De Winne (Belgium) and Canadian Space Agency Flight Engineer Bob Thirsk floated into their three segment Soyuz return capsule on Monday evening, Nov 30. After powering up systems and a farewell ceremony the hatches were closed at 7:43 PM EST. They disengaged hooks and latches and then physically undocked from the Zarya module at 10:56 PM over Mongolia after spending 188 days in space. De Winne was the first European commander of the ISS. All prior commanders have been either Russian or American. Romanenko is a second generation cosmonaut. His father Yuri, flew his first mission in 1980. Thirsk is the first long duration Canadian astronaut. Soyuz TMA 15 landing track. Credit: NASA TV
Retro rockets were fired for 4 min 19 sec at 1:26 AM Tuesday morning to initiate the de-orbit braking maneuver for the fiery plunge of atmospheric reentry. 19 minutes later the three Soyuz segments pyrotechnically separated at an altitude of 87 miles. The Soyuz barreled backwards as it hit the earthâs atmosphere at 400,000 ft above Africa and the crew experienced maximum G forces. The three parachuted to a safe touchdown strapped inside their Soyuz descent module onto the snowy steppes of Kazakhstan at 2:15 AM Tuesday Dec 1 (1:15 PM Kazakhstan local time) thereby concluding a mission that began with a May 27 blast off. Russian search and recovery forces drove to the ice cold landing zone at Arkalyk to greet and assist the trio in opening the hatch, exiting the craft, readapting to earthâs gravity and returning to Star City. This was the first December landing of a Soyuz since 1990.
Poor icy weather and low clouds grounded the normal recovery force of 8 helicopters. The capsule landed right on target and in an upright configuration. Recovery forces sped quickly into place. Romanenko was first to depart out the top hatch of the capsule, followed by Thirsk and De Winne. They were carefully extracted by the ground based recovery team and immediately assisted into stretchers while smiling broadly and waving to the crowd. Then they were swiftly slid into all terrain vehicles larger than their capsule for the initial leg of the ride back to Russia. Flight surgeons confirmed the health of the crew who are eager to re-unite with family and friends and earthly comforts.
The Expedition 22 core crew of NASA Commander Jeff Williams and Russian Flight Engineer Max Suraev remain as the sole two occupants for about three weeks until the Dec 23 arrival of the next international crew comprising Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, NASAâs T.J. Creamer, and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency who head to the station Dec. 20 on the Soyuz TMA-17 craft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Williams and Suraev arrived by Soyuz capsule TMA -16 in October.
US astronaut Nicolle Stott rounded out the six person ISS crew until her departure just days ago on Nov 25 aboard shuttle Atlantis (link) left just five people on board. She spent 91 days aloft conducting science experiments and has the distinction of being the last ISS resident to hitch a ride up and down on a shuttle. Future crew rotations are planned via Russian Soyuz rockets since the shuttle will be retired by late 2010 and NASAâs Ares / Orion launch system wonât debut until 2015 or later.
During 7 days of joint operations in late November, the ISS boasted an ethnically diverse population of 12 humans from the combined crews of STS 129 Atlantis and the resident ISS members from two docked Soyuz capsules, just shy of the record 13 occupants. With all the comings and goings of assorted manned and robotic spaceships lately itâs been an exceptionally busy time that required careful planning and traffic coordination among the worldâs space agencies.
The 800,000 pound station is now 86% complete and thus far larger and more complex compared to the last instance of a two person contingent. Since the 2005 Return to Flight of the shuttle following the Columbia accident, several habitable modules (Harmony, Columbus, Kibo, Poisk), truss segments, radiators, stowage platforms and giant solar arrays have been attached. All this has vastly expanded the astronauts and cosmonauts daily responsibilities of both maintaining station systems and carrying out a much expanded scientific research program.
Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s chief of space operations, said the ISS partners have carefully looked at the operational challenges of this three week interlude to make sure âthere is not a lot of activity going on then, other than some software uploads. We moved all the major activities that were occurring to other periods when there will be more crew. We are prepared and ready to cut back a little on operations but still be able to do a little bit of science research with just two crew members on orbit.â
Atlantis delivered two large pallets loaded with 15 tons of critical spare parts that will help extend the working lifetime of the ISS and serve as a hedge against on orbit equipment failures ahead of the fast approaching deadline when the space shuttle is no longer available to loft such bulky gear.
Only 5 flights remain until the shuttle era ends late in 2010. The Orion capsule will not debut for at least five years and perhaps longer, dependent on funding decisions in Washington, DC. The station will then be completely dependent for supplies and equipment on Russian, European and Japanese cargo vehicles. Test flights of US commercial ISS transport vessels begin next year.
Not until another three person Soyuz blasts off next April 2010, will the station return to a full team of six. But science research will be full speed ahead.
If I didn’t know better, I’d swear some of the images from the STS-129 shuttle mission to the International Space Station were CGI renderings taken from a science fiction novel. Take the above image, for example of astronaut Mike Foreman working on the exterior of the ISS during the second space walk of the mission. It looks almost surreal. But these are genuine images of real people working on an authentic, almost-completed space station. This images, and the other images below, leave me in awe of what we are accomplishing in space. Enjoy this gallery of amazing images from the fifth and last shuttle flight of 2009.
Robert Satcher on the Canadarm2 during the first space walk of STS-129. Credit: NASA
Here’s another awe-inspiring image. Anchored to a Canadarm2 mobile foot restraint, astronaut Robert Satcher Jr. works during the first space walk of the mission. Satcher and Mike Foreman (out of frame)installed antennas, cables, and other items to prepare for the Tranquility node that will be brought up to the station next year.
Starship Enterprise? No, just the space shuttle and space station. Credit: NASA
There was some chatter on Twitter that this image brought to mind visions of the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek. But this is a closeup of Atlantis’ docking ring backdropped by the ISS as the shuttle crew approached for docking with the station. Docking occurred at 10:51 a.m. (CST) on Nov. 18, 2009.
Another great shot: Sunrise in space. This scene shows from the Russian section of the ISS, as photographed by one of the STS-129 crew members.
Satcher works on the Z1 truss. Credit: NASA
I always love these images which demonstrate how HUGE the ISS is. Here, Robert Satcher works on the Z1 truss section during the first EVA of the mission.
ISS and docked spacecraft. Credit: NASA
Taking on the appearance of a busy spaceport, the Russian segment of the ISS has a docked Soyuz spacecraft (center) and a Progress resupply vehicle that is docked to the Pirs Docking Compartment.
Mike Foreman looks at his spacewalking partner Randy Bresnik. Credit: NASA
Every shuttle mission picture gallery isn’t complete without a picture of an astronaut with another astronaut visible in the helmet visor reflection. Here, Mike Foreman’s helmet reveals his crewmate, Randy Bresnik, capturing the image with an electronic still camera. The two were in the midst of the second scheduled space walk for the Atlantis crewmembers.
Upside down, or not? Credit: NASA
Who is upside down? Charlie Hobaugh (left), STS-129 commander and Robert Satcher , or the astronaut who took the picture? The two are pictured near a window in the Destiny laboratory.
Mealtime on the ISS. Credit: NASA
Eight of the 12 crew members of the joint ISS/shuttle crews pose for a photo at the galley in the Unity node. Pictured from the left are NASA astronauts Leland Melvin, Robert Satcher Jr., Charlie Hobaugh, Nicole Stott, cosmonauts Roman Romanenko, Maxim Suraev, and astronauts Jeff Williams, and Frank De Winne, commander of Expedition 21 from the ESA.
Launch of Atlantis on Nov. 16, 2009. Credit: NASA
A gorgeous shot of Atlantis’ launch on Nov. 16. Below is another launch picture, with the members of the NASA Tweetup watching by the famous countdown clock. Atlantis' launch with Twitterers. Photo credit:Jim Grossmann
The European Space Agency (ESA) formally transferred ownership of the Tranquility habitable manned module over to NASA at a commemorative handoff ceremony inside the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) at the Kennedy Space Center on Friday, November 20. Tranquility is the last element of a barter agreement between ESA and NASA for station hardware. Included on the module is the “Cupola,” which will provide astronauts with a panoramic view from the largest window flown in space.
ESA contributed the module known as Node 3 in exchange for NASA’s delivery of ESA’s Columbus laboratory to the station in 2008. Thales Alenia Space in Turin (Torino), Italy, built the module in partnership with ESA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and delivered it to KSC in May 2009 aboard an Airbus âBelugaâ.
Official documents formalizing the ownership exchange were signed by Bernardo Patti, the space station manager for ESA and Michael Suffredini, the space station manager for NASA. A crowd of managers and technicians from NASA, ESA, Thales and Boeing involved in building and processing the node for flight witnessed the event. Media like myself were in attendance to document the transfer formalities. Bernardo Patti (left), the ESA space station manager for ESA and Michael Suffredini (right), the NASA space station manager sign Tranquility module ownership transfer documents inside the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) on 20 November 2009. Credit: Ken Kremer
âWe are very proud to accept this moduleâ, said Suffredini. âIn some ways itâs a bittersweet moment because it represents a tailing off of assembly and using the SSPF. But Tranquility was built to start human life beyond Earth as we put things together on-orbit. More than just the work, history will look back at the legacy of the partnership that was built here.
Patti responded saying, âYes itâs sad that the room is getting empty, but we are very happy that Tranquility is going to the ISS which is a platform for an exploration program that we are privileged to have a future withâ.
Attached to the end cone of Tranquility is the Cupola advanced observation module and robotics work station. Both segments are set to launch aboard the next shuttle flight, STS 130, presently scheduled for a 4 February 2010 blast off.
One of the major tasks of spacewalking astronauts aboard the current STS 129 flight of shuttle Atlantis is equipment work to prepare the way for the attachment of Tranquility and the Cupola to the port side hatch of the Unity Node on the ISS by the STS 130 crew of shuttle Endeavour. The astronauts have removed and repositioned external brackets, handrails, micrometeoroid shields, computer and electrical connections.
Tranquility is a complex pressurized interconnecting node that will provide increased living and scientific workspace for the resident ISS crews and house âmany of the stations critical life support systemsâ, Suffredini said to me in an interview following the ceremony. Tranquility will be home to the racks for the advanced Environmental Control and Life Support Systems. This includes the equipment for revitalizing the station atmosphere and removing contaminants, generating oxygen and providing breathable air, carbon dioxide removal, recycling waste water into potable drinking water, the crew toilet and the Colbert Treadmill for crew exercise. Suffredini added, âThe check out and activation period for Tranquility will occur during the shuttle mission. The racks are already aboard the ISS and just need to be moved and installed. Many of them are aboard the Destiny module. Their relocation will free up research spaceâ.
The Cupola will function as a panoramic control tower through which operations outside the station can be observed and guided with command and control workstations inside. The circular top window is 80 cm in diameter, making it the largest window flown in space.
Side view of the Tranquility and Cupola modules which will be delivered to the ISS on the STS130 mission by shuttle Endeavour. The two modules combined weigh over 13.5 tons. Tranquility has six docking ports and is 7 meters (21 ft) in length and 4.5 meters (14.7 ft) in diameter with a pressurized volume of 75 cubic meters (2650 cubic ft). Credit: Ken Kremer
The unique 7 windowed Cupola module will afford astronauts a heretofore unparalleled 360 degree viewing spectrum of the Earth, the station and the cosmos, said KSC Director Bob Cabana. It will be used for earth observation and space science. Cabana commanded the space shuttle mission which delivered the first US space station component to space, the Unity node and docked it to the Russian Zarya control module to commence ISS assembly in 1998.
âTranquilityâ is named in honor the Sea of Tranquility, the lunar landing site for Apollo 11 which was NASAâs first flight to land man on the moon in July 1969.
Lead image caption: Michael Suffredini, the ISS manager for NASA accepts ownership of the Node 3 Tranquility module from ESA at hand off ceremony inside the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) at the Kennedy Space Center on 20 November 2009. Cupola observation module is attached at forward hatch in center and covered with thermal protection blankets. Note robotic arm grapple fixture at lower right. Credit: Ken Kremer
