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European Contribution To The International Space Station
The European contribution to the International Space Station comes from 10 members of the European Space Agency (ESA) and amounts to an 8% share in the programme. It consists of a number of modules (primarily the ''Columbus'' laboratory) in the US Orbital Segment, ATV supply ships, launchers, software and €8 billion. History In the 1980s, ESA devised plans for its own space station called ''Columbus'' Man-Tended Free Flyer which could be attached to NASA's Space Station ''Freedom''. America objected to ESA's using ''Columbus'' as a building block of a future European space station, and were concerned that they would facilitate the creation of a potential competitor if the crewed space outpost fulfilled its promise as supplier of commercially viable products, such as new materials and pharmaceuticals. Plans were scaled down as a result, and by 1988, Europe proposed to participate with three elements: Attached Pressurized Module, Man Tended Free-Flying platform, plus an un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Columbus (ISS Module)
''Columbus'' is a science laboratory that is part of the International Space Station (ISS) and is the largest single contribution to the ISS made by the European Space Agency (ESA). Like the '' Harmony'' and ''Tranquility'' modules, the ''Columbus'' laboratory was constructed in Turin, Italy by Thales Alenia Space. The functional equipment and software of the lab was designed by EADS in Bremen, Germany. It was also integrated in Bremen before being flown to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida in an Airbus Beluga. It was launched aboard on February 7, 2008, on flight STS-122. It is designed for ten years of operation. The module is controlled by the Columbus Control Centre, located at the German Space Operations Center, part of the German Aerospace Center in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich, Germany. The European Space Agency has spent €1.4 billion (about US$2 billion) on building ''Columbus'', including the experiments it carries and the ground control infrastructure n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freedom Space Station Concept - GPN-2003-00111
Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself their own laws", and with having rights and the civil liberties with which to exercise them without undue interference by the state. Frequently discussed kinds of political freedom include freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom of choice, and freedom of speech. In one definition, something is "free" if it can change easily and is not constrained in its present state. In philosophy and religion, freedom is sometimes associated with free will, without undue or unjust constraints on that will, such as enslavement. It is an idea closely tied with the concept of negative liberty. Charles Taylor resolves one of the issues that separate "positive" and "negative" theories of freedom, as these were initially distinguished in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airbus
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: ''Airbus Commercial Aircraft, Commercial Aircraft (Airbus S.A.S.)'', ''Airbus Defence and Space, Defence and Space'', and ''Airbus Helicopters, Helicopters'', the third being the largest in its industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries. As of 2019, Airbus is the world's largest airliner manufacturer. The company's main civil aeroplane business is conducted through the French company Airbus S.A.S., based in Blagnac, a suburb of Toulouse, with production and manufacturing facilities mostly in the European Union and the United Kingdom but also in China, the United States and Canada. Final assembly production is based in Toulouse, France; Hamburg, Germany; Seville, Spain; Tia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uncrewed Resupply Spacecraft
Cargo spacecraft are robotic spacecraft that are designed to carry cargo, possibly to support space stations' operation by transporting food, propellant and other supplies. This is different from a space probe, whose missions are to conduct scientific investigations. Automated cargo spacecraft have been used since 1978 and have serviced Salyut 6, Salyut 7, Mir, the International Space Station and Tiangong space station. Spacecraft Current spacecraft * the Russian Progress spacecraft—developed by Russian Federal Space Agency * the American Dragon 2 spacecraft—developed under contract from NASA by SpaceX, a private spaceflight company, the only reusable cargo spacecraft * the American Cygnus spacecraft—developed under contract from NASA by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, a private spaceflight company * the Chinese Tianzhou spacecraft—developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Defunct or retired projects *the Soviet optionally-crewed TKS spacec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ATV-4 "Albert Einstein" Approaching The ISS
The ''Albert Einstein'' ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle 004 (ATV-004), was a European uncrewed cargo resupply spacecraft, named after the German-born physicist Albert Einstein. It was built to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with propellant, water, air, and dry cargo, and also to reboost the station's altitude with its thrusters. It was the fourth and penultimate ATV to be built, following the ''Edoardo Amaldi'', which was launched in March 2012. ''Albert Einstein'''s components were constructed in Turin, Italy, and Bremen, Germany, and underwent final assembly and testing in Bremen in 2012. The spacecraft left Bremen for Kourou on 31 August 2012 to begin launch preparations. ''Albert Einstein'' was launched on an Ariane 5ES rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana at 21:52:11 UTC on 5 June 2013. The launch was conducted by Arianespace on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA). At the time of its launch, ''Albert Einstein'' was the hea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iss016e034176
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada). The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements. The station serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which scientific research is conducted in astrobiology, astronomy, meteorology, physics, and other fields. The ISS is suited for testing the spacecraft systems and equipment required for possible future long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars. The ISS programme evolved from the Space Station ''Freedom'', a 1984 American proposal to construct a permanently crewed Earth-orbiting station, and the contemporaneous Soviet/Russian '' Mir-2'' proposal from 1976 with similar aims. The ISS is the ninth space station to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canadarm-2
The Mobile Servicing System (MSS), is a robotic system on board the International Space Station (ISS). Launched to the ISS in 2001, it plays a key role in station assembly and maintenance; it moves equipment and supplies around the station, supports astronauts working in space, and services instruments and other payloads attached to the ISS and is used for external maintenance. Astronauts receive specialized training to enable them to perform these functions with the various systems of the MSS. The MSS is composed of three components: * the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), known as Canadarm2. * the Mobile Remote Servicer Base System (MBS). * the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM, also known as "Dextre" or "Canada hand"). The system can move along rails on the Integrated Truss Structure on top of the US provided Mobile Transporter cart which hosts the MRS Base System. The system's control software was written in the Ada 95 programming language. The M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nauka (ISS Module)
''Nauka'' ( rus, Наука, p=nɐˈukə, litt. ''Science''), also known as the Multipurpose Laboratory Module-Upgrade (MLM-U; Russian: Многоцелевой лабораторный модуль, усоверше́нствованный, or ''МЛМ-У'') or simply Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM), is a module of the International Space Station (ISS). The MLM-U is funded by Roscosmos. In the original ISS plans, ''Nauka'' was to use the location of the Docking and Storage Module (DSM). Later, the DSM was replaced by the '' Rassvet'' module and ''Nauka'' was moved from '' Zarya''s nadir port to ''Zvezda''s nadir port. The launch of ''Nauka'', initially planned for 2007, was repeatedly delayed. By May 2020, ''Nauka'' was reported to be planned for launch in the second quarter of 2021, after which the manufacturer's warranties of some of ''Nauka''s components, such as engines, would have expired. ''Nauka'' was finally launched on 21 July 2021, 14:58 UTC, along with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Robotic Arm
The European Robotic Arm (ERA) is a robotic arm that is attached the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) of the International Space Station. Launched to the ISS in July 2021; it is the first robotic arm that is able to work on the Russian Segment of the station. The arm supplements the two Russian '' Strela'' cargo cranes that were originally installed on the '' Pirs'' module, but were later moved to the docking compartment ''Poisk'' and '' Zarya'' module. The ERA was developed for the European Space Agency (ESA) by a number of European space companies. Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands (formerly Dutch Space) designed and assembled the arm and was the prime contractor; it worked along with subcontractors in 8 countries. In 2010, a spare elbow joint for the arm was launched preemptively, attached to ''Rassvet'' or Mini Research Module 1(MRM-1). The '' Nauka Module'' and Prichal module serves as home base for ERA; originally, the arm was going to be attached to the canceled Russ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canadarm
Canadarm or Canadarm1 (officially Shuttle Remote Manipulator System or SRMS, also SSRMS) is a series of robotic arms that were used on the Space Shuttle orbiters to deploy, manoeuvre, and capture payloads. After the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster, the Canadarm was always paired with the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS), which was used to inspect the exterior of the shuttle for damage to the thermal protection system. Development In 1969, Canada was invited by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to participate in the Space Shuttle program. At the time what that participation would entail had not yet been decided but a manipulator system was identified as an important component. Canadian company DSMA ATCON had developed a robot to load fuel into CANDU nuclear reactors; this robot attracted NASA's attention. In 1975, NASA and the Canadian National Research Council (NRC) signed a memorandum of understanding that Canada would develop and construc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cupola (ISS Module)
The ''Cupola'' is an ESA-built observatory module of the International Space Station (ISS). Its name derives from the Italian word ', which means " dome". Its seven windows are used to conduct experiments, dockings and observations of Earth. It was launched aboard Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'''s mission STS-130 on 8 February 2010, and attached to the ''Tranquility'' (Node 3) module. With the ''Cupola'' attached, ISS assembly reached 85 percent completion. The ''Cupola'' central window has a diameter of . Overview The ''Cupola'' provides an observation and work area for the ISS crew giving visibility to support the control of the space station remote manipulator system and general external viewing of Earth, celestial objects and visiting vehicles. The Cupola project was started by NASA and Boeing, but canceled due to budget cuts. A barter agreement between NASA and the ESA resulted in the ''Cupola''s development being resumed in 1998 by ESA. The ''Cupola'' is important ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
A Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) is a large pressurized container that was used on Space Shuttle missions to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Two MPLMs made a dozen trips in the Shuttle cargo bay and initially berthed to the ''Unity'' module and later the ''Harmony'' module on the ISS. From there, supplies were offloaded, and finished experiments and waste were reloaded. The MPLM was then reberthed in the Shuttle for return to Earth. Three modules were built by the Italian Space Agency (ASI): ''Leonardo'', ''Raffaello'', and ''Donatello''. The ''Leonardo'' module was modified in 2010 to turn it into the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) and was permanently attached to the ISS during the STS-133 mission in March 2011. In July 2011, the ''Raffaello'' module was the primary payload on the final Space Shuttle mission. It returned with the Shuttle and was stored at the Kennedy Space Center. The ''Donatello'' module never launched. MP ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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