Space stations - Just the facts

Space Stations - Just the facts (A article written in 2007)

A space station is an artificial structure designed for humans to live in outer space. So far only low earth orbit (LEO) stations are implemented, also known as orbital stations. A space station is distinguished from other manned spacecraft by its lack of major propulsion or landing facilities — instead, other vehicles are used as transport to & from the station. Space stations are designed for medium-term living in orbit, for periods of weeks, months, or even years.

Space stations are used to study the effects of long-term space flight on the human body as well as to provide platforms for greater number & length of scientific studies than available on other space vehicles. Since the ill-fated flight of Soyuz 11 to Salyut 1, all manned spaceflight duration records have been set aboard space stations. The duration record of 437.7 days was set by Valeriy Polyakov aboard Mir from 1994 to 1995. As of 2006, three astronauts have completed single missions of over a year, all aboard Mir.

The space station Mir (dates refer to periods when stations were inhabited by crews)

These have been the Soviet Space Stations, only 1 space station was able to last very long, but it was the first space station, a incredible achievement.

Salyut stations (USSR, 1971-1986)
Salyut 1 (1971, 1 crew & 1 failed docking)
Salyut 2/Almaz (1973, failed shortly after launch)
Salyut 3/Almaz (1974, 1 crew & 1 failed docking)
Salyut 4 (1975-1976, 2 crews)
Salyut 5/Almaz (1976-1977, 2 crews & 1 failed docking)
Salyut 6 (1977-1981, 16 crews (5 long duration, 11 short duration) & 1 failed docking)
Salyut 7 (1982-1986, 10 crews (6 long duration, 4 short duration) & 1 failed docking)
Skylab (USA, 1973-1974, 3 crews)
Mir (USSR/Russia, 1986-1999, 28 long duration crews)

Mir ( which can mean both world & peace in Russian) was a Soviet (and later Russian) orbital station. It was humanity's first consistently inhabited long-term research station in space. Mir currently holds the record for longest continuous human presence in space at eight days short of 10 years. Through a number of collaborations, it was made internationally accessible to cosmonauts & astronauts of many different countries. Mir was assembled in orbit by successively connecting several modules, each launched separately from February 19, 1986 to 1996. The station existed until March 23, 2001, at which point it was deliberately de-orbited, & broke apart during atmospheric re-entry.
International Space Station (USA, Russia, Japan, Europe, Canada, 2000-ongoing, 14 long duration crews to date)
Following the controlled deorbiting of Mir in 2001, the International Space Station is the only one of these currently in orbit; it has been continuously manned since October 30, 2000. As of 9 Sept 2006, it was 44.5 metres (146 ft) in length along the core between the Destiny & Zvezda modules or 52 metres (171 ft) long when a Progress is attached, & has a mass of 183.3 metric tons (202.1 short tons).

The International Space Station (ISS) is a research facility currently being assembled in orbit around the Earth. It is a joint project between five space agencies: the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA, United States), the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos, Russian Federation), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA, Japan), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA, Canada) & the European Space Agency (ESA, Europe).[2]

The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB, Brazil) participates through a separate contract with NASA. The Italian Space Agency similarly has separate contracts for various activities not done in the framework of ESA's ISS works (where Italy also fully participates).

The ISS is a continuation of what began as the U.S. Space Station Freedom, the funding for which was cut back severely. It represents a merger of Freedom with several other previously planned space stations: Russia's Mir 2, the planned European Columbus & the Japanese Experiment Module. Construction of the station is currently underway, with a projected completion date of 2010, but ISS is already larger than any previous space station.

The ISS has been continuously inhabited since the first resident crew entered the station on November 2, 2000, thereby providing a permanent human presence in space. The station is serviced primarily by Russian Soyuz & Progress spacecraft & by U.S. Space Shuttle orbiters. At present the station has a capacity for a crew of three. Early crewmembers all came from the Russian or U.S. space programs. German ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter joined the Expedition 13 crew in July 2006, becoming the first crewmember from another space agency. The station has however been visited by astronauts from 14 countries, & the Expedition 16 crew will include members from all five space agencies forming the ISS partnership. ISS was also the destination of the first four space tourists.

A second Skylab unit (Skylab B) was manufactured, as a backup article; due to the high costs of providing launch vehicles, & a desire by NASA to cease Saturn & Apollo operations in time to prepare for the Space Shuttle coming into service, it was never flown. The hull can now be seen in the National Air & Space Museum, in Washington DC, where it is a popular tourist attraction. A number of additional Salyuts were also produced, as backups or as flight articles which were later cancelled.

The International Space Station evolved from the U.S. Space Station Freedom program, which - despite being under development for ten years - was never launched; it incorporated elements of a Mir replacement station ("Mir 2") which was also never constructed. Other cancelled space station programs included the United States Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory project, cancelled in 1969 about a year before the first planned test flight; this was unusual in being an explicitly military project, as opposed to the Soviet Almaz program, which was heavily intertwined with - & concealed by - the contemporaneous Salyut program.

Currently, Bigelow Aerospace is commercially developing inflatable habitat modules, derived from the earlier Transhab concept, intended to be used for space station construction & for a space prize they are funding & operating, America's Space Prize. Genesis-1 is a ?-scale unmanned prototype sent up to test the feasibility of inflatable structures & other systems in space.

Broadly speaking, the space stations so far launched have been of two types; the earlier stations, Salyut & Skylab, have been "monolithic", intended to be constructed & launched in one piece, & then manned by a crew later. As such, they generally contained all their supplies & experimental equipment when launched, & were considered "expended", & then abandoned, when these were used up.

Starting with Salyut 6 & Salyut 7, a change was seen; these were built with two docking ports, which allowed a second crew to visit, bringing a new spacecraft (for technical reasons, a Soyuz capsule cannot spend more than a few months on orbit, even powered down, safely) with them. This allowed for a crew to man the station continually. The presence of a second port also allowed Progress supply vehicles to be docked to the station, meaning that fresh supplies could be brought to aid long-duration missions. This concept was expanded on Salyut 7, which "hard docked" with a TKS tug shortly before it was abandoned; this served as a proof-of-concept for the use of modular space stations. The later Salyuts may reasonably be seen as a transition between the two groups.

The second group, Mir & the ISS, have been modular; a core unit was launched, & additional modules, generally with a specific role, were later added to that. (On Mir they were usually launched independently, whereas on the ISS most are brought by the Shuttle). This method allows for greater flexibility in operation, as well as removing the need for a single immensely powerful launch vehicle. These stations are also designed from the outset to have their supplies provided by logistical support, which allows for a longer lifetime at the cost of requiring regular support launches.

These stations have various issues that limit their long-term habitability, such as very low recycling rates, high radiation levels & a lack of gravity. Some of these problems cause discomfort & long-term health effects. In the case of solar flares, most current habitats even have an acute danger of radiation poisoning. Some space habitats address these issues, & are intended for long-term occupation. Some designs might even accommodate large numbers of people, essentially "cities in space" where people would make their homes. No such design has yet been constructed, because even for a small station, the extra equipment is too expensive to place in orbit at current (2006) launch costs.

An Index with links to almost all our sites.

A Picture of Jupiter, & a Picture of Florida from Space A Top picture of Stars A Nebula s A Picture of Buzz Aldrin on the Moon

A site on space, & the records to do with this subject, even more than this site, to do with space

A list of Planets that could be colonised by humanity

A site saying the 10 most famous aliens ever

A Clock saying how many people have landed on each planet in our Solar System

Jokes to say to aliens that are offending you

A site on the El Nino Famines that killed 10s of millions of Indians, & Chinese & others in the 19th Century

The Highland Clearances & it's full terribleness

A site on the Belgian Congo, & how the king of that land killed 10s of millions of Congolese

Why the French Revolution was good

The facts on Olympus Mons