Harmony (ISS module)

Abstract: The International Space Station (ISS) is a great international, technological, and political achievement. It is the latest step in humankind's quest to explore and live in space. The research done on the ISS may advance our knowledge in various areas of science, enable us to improve life on this planet, and give us the experience and increased understanding that can eventually equip us to journey to other worlds. As a result of the Station s complexity, few understand its configuration, its design and component systems, or the complex operations required in its construction and operation. This book provides high-level insight into the ISS. The ISS is in orbit today, operating with a crew of three. Its assembly will continue through 2010. As the ISS grows, its capabilities will increase, thus requiring a larger crew. Currently, 16 countries are involved in this venture. This CD-ROM includes multimedia files and animations.

Abstract: The International Space Station (ISS) Program utilizes the Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) hardware to mate/berth or demate/deberth two pressurized elements on-orbit. Berthing and deberthing of two elements together on-orbit occurs many times throughout the Space Station Assembly Sequence to provide pressurized access between the module vestibules via hatches. The CBM system was developed by Boeing at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, under contract to NASA, and the CBM Control and Actuation Components were developed by Honeywell Engines & Systems in Torrance, California, under contract to Boeing.

Abstract: NASA's groundbreaking and controversial partnership in the Mir program is winding down. For more than two years, a stream of US astronauts has been sent aloft, one after the other, to join the crew aboard the Russian space station. Now the space partners and a dozen associated nations are collaborating on a yet more ambitious joint space project, the International Space Station (ISS), due later this year for the launch of its first element, a Russian-built cargo block. This paper explores just what the Shuttle-Mir union has taught participants in the ISS project about lengthy space operations, and at what cost.