A Brief History
On November 20, 1998, a huge step in the history of space exploration took place when the Zarya segment of the International Space Station (ISS) was launched, the first part of the largest man-made object to orbit the Earth. Still in use, the ISS can actually be seen by the naked eye from Earth.
Digging Deeper
Zarya (sunrise in Russian), was designed by the Russians for use with their Mir space station. Called a Functional Cargo Block, this segment of the ISS was originally used to provide electricity, storage, propulsion and guidance during the early stages of construction of the ISS. Now it is used mostly for storage. Designed for only 6 to 8 months of orbit on its own, Zarya was forced by delays in the ISS project to fly autonomously for 2 years until the next segments of the space station were launched.
Zarya was paid for and owned by the United States as part of the American contribution to the ISS, but was built in Russia and launched from Kazakhstan. Weighing in at 21 tons, Zarya is 41 feet long and 13.5 feet wide. Zarya was chosen over the US built Lockheed Bus 1 because of price, $220 million compared to $450 million.
The ISS is the longest running manned space station ever, continuously manned since November 2, 2000, over 15 years. (The previous record was held by the Soviet space station Mir at almost 10 years,) The massive dimensions of the ISS are a length of 239 feet, a width of 356 feet, and a height of 66 feet. The ISS weighs just under a million pounds, and is expected to be in service until at least 2024. Russian and American talks of a replacement program are taking place out of the public eye at this time.
The ISS provides a platform for conducting a wide range of space related experiments and research, as well as monitoring weather patterns on the Earth and observing outer space. The ISS or follow on space stations may serve as a way station for further forays into deep space, perhaps as a staging base for trips to the Moon or Mars. The ISS also provides a means to integrate persons from other countries into the realm of space travel (cultural outreach) as well as inviting students from around the world to submit experiments that may be performed on the station.
By 2015, the ISS consisted of 14 pressurized modules, with the ability to discard and replace modules as needed. Several new modules have been planned, with modules scheduled for 2016 and 2017, delays having prevented earlier integration of the new modules. Several other modules that were planned have been cancelled for a variety of reasons, such as the retirement of the US Space Shuttle program. Many other un-pressurized modules containing various machinery and equipment also are attached to the ISS, both for sustaining the station and performing experiments. An orbit of the Earth takes only 92 minutes, and the ISS has done this almost 100,000 times.
The complexity of life support and energy production on the ISS precludes discussion here, but besides numerous written sources for background information, interested people can consult NASA’s live web cam (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-iss-stream) from the ISS or read NASA’s daily ISS reports (https://blogs.nasa.gov/space station/). These are just a few of the many resources available to keep track of the ISS.
Question for students (and subscribers): Has it been worth the approximately $100 billion to keep 6 people in space the last 15 years? Give us your thoughts on the relative value of the space program and what the goals of such a program should or should not be in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Baker, David. International Space Station: 1998-2011 (all stages) (Owners’ Workshop Manual). Haynes Publishing, 2012.
The featured image in this article, a photograph of a portion of the International Space Station photographed by a space walking astronaut during the STS-128 mission’s second session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction and maintenance continue on the station from http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/html/iss020e038038.html, was catalogued by one of the centers of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Photo ID: ISS020-E-038038. This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that “NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted“. The blackness of space and Earth’s horizon provide the backdrop for the scene.
You can also watch a video version of this article on YouTube:
