STS-133 ISS-26 Permanent Multipurpose Module

The ''Leonardo'' Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) is a module of the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...

. It was flown into space aboard the Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' on

STS-133 STS-133 ( ISS assembly flight ULF5) was the 133rd mission in NASA's Space Shuttle program; during the mission, Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' docked with the International Space Station. It was ''Discoverys 39th and final mission. The mission l ...

on 24 February 2011 and installed on 1 March. ''Leonardo'' is primarily used for storage of spares, supplies and waste on the ISS, which was until then stored in many different places within the space station. It is also the personal hygiene area for the astronauts who live in the

US Orbital Segment The US Orbital Segment (USOS) is the name given to the components of the International Space Station (ISS) constructed and operated by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA), Canadi ...

. The ''Leonardo'' PMM was a

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 init ...

(MPLM) before 2011, then was modified into its current configuration. It was formerly one of two MPLM used for bringing cargo to and from the ISS with the Space Shuttle. The module was named for Italian polymath

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on ...

. Like the other Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules, it was constructed by the

Italian Space Agency The Italian Space Agency ( it, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana; ASI) is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy. The agency cooperates with numerous national and international enti ...

, who chose to name it after

. Construction began in April 1996, and the module was delivered to NASA at the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 196 ...

in August 1998 by an

Airbus Beluga The Airbus A300-600ST (Super Transporter), or Beluga, is a version of the standard A300-600 wide-body airliner modified to carry aircraft parts and outsize cargo. It received the official name of ''Super Transporter'' early on; however, the nam ...

aircraft.

Previous proposals

A European proposal suggested equipping the ''Donatello'' MPLM with enhanced

micrometeoroid A micrometeoroid is a tiny meteoroid: a small particle of rock in space, usually weighing less than a gram. A micrometeorite is such a particle that survives passage through Earth's atmosphere and reaches Earth's surface. The term "micrometeor ...

orbital debris Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, or space garbage) are defunct human-made objects in space—principally in Earth orbit—which no longer serve a useful function. These include derelict space ...

protection and cooling systems, and leaving it attached to the ISS after the Space Shuttle fleet was retired. Costs for such MPLM modifications were estimated at $20M to $40M per unit. The MPLM would then be called a Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM), and it would house spare parts and supplies, allowing longer times between resupply missions. The proposal was rejected by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

because it would require changes to existing plans and would entail additional costs. Internal discussions continued and managers considered the possibility of

, which at that time was planned to be the last Shuttle flight, leaving its MPLM permanently attached. The

United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance (ULA), legally United Launch Alliance, LLC, is an American spacecraft launch service provider that manufactures and operates a number of rocket vehicles that are capable of launching spacecraft into orbits around Earth, a ...

also published a proposal for a system that could allow additional ISS modules to be launched on an EELV even after the retirement of the Shuttle. On August 5, 2009 it was announced that STS-133 would indeed leave one MPLM permanently attached to the station. In October 2009, it was confirmed that ''Leonardo'' would be the MPLM converted to a PMM. It was launched on February 24, 2011. The PMM was transferred to the station using the Shuttle robotic arm and mated to the

nadir The nadir (, ; ar, نظير, naẓīr, counterpart) is the direction pointing directly ''below'' a particular location; that is, it is one of two vertical directions at a specified location, orthogonal to a horizontal flat surface. The direc ...

(Earth) facing port of ''Unity''. On May 27, 2015, at 13:08 UTC, the PMM was relocated from the nadir port of the ''Unity'' module to the forward-facing port of the ''Tranquility'' module. This was done in order to allow ''Unity'''s nadir port to serve as a berthing port for resupply craft, which in turn frees up ''

Harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howeve ...

''s zenith port for future U.S.

Commercial Crew Development Development of the Commercial Crew Program began in the second round of the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, which was rescoped from a technology development program for human spaceflight to a competitive development program that woul ...

spacecraft. After the re-location of ''Leonardo'' from the ''Unity'' module to the ''Tranquility'' module (which is where the toilet is located) in addition to its function as a storage module it is now the personal hygiene area for the ISS astronauts in the

. Astronauts have much privacy in ''Leonardo'' and do sponge baths and change their clothes here. ''Leonardo'' might also be used on Axiom Station after the

ISS 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 (J ...

is decommissioned.

Modifications

After returning to Earth on April 20, 2010 at the end of the

STS-131 STS-131 ( ISS assembly flight 19A) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). launched on 5 April 2010 at 6:21 am from LC-39A, and landed at 9:08 am on 20 April 2010 on runway 33 at the Kennedy Space ...

mission, the ''Leonardo'' MPLM was moved to the

Space Station Processing Facility The Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) is a three-story industrial building at Kennedy Space Center for the manufacture and processing of flight hardware, modules, structural components and solar arrays of the International Space Station, ...

(SSPF) at the

in Florida to undergo modifications. To convert the ''Leonardo'' MPLM into the PMM, NASA made the following modifications: removal of +Y grapple fixture (Flight Releasable Grapple Fixture, or FRGF), removal of ROFU (Remotely Operated Fluid Umbilical) components, replacement of CBM seal, installation of new forward end cone MMOD shields, feed through seal replacement, and installation of visiting vehicle retro-reflectors. In addition, the

Multi-layer insulation Multi-layer insulation (MLI) is thermal insulation composed of multiple layers of thin sheets and is often used on spacecraft and cryogenics. Also referred to as superinsulation, MLI is one of the main items of the spacecraft thermal design, pri ...

(MLI) blankets from the never-flown ''Donatello'' MPLM were cannibalized for use on ''Leonardo''. The blankets were removed and returned to Italy where they were reinforced with Nextel/

Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...

to provide better protection against micro-meteorites. The upgraded blankets were then installed on about two-thirds of ''Leonardo''s surface area. The ''Leonardo'' PMM mass is .

As an MPLM

The ''Leonardo'' MPLM, also known as MPLM-1, was one of three

s which were operated by

to transfer supplies and equipment to and from the

. ''Leonardo'' was used for eight of the twelve MPLM flights to the space station, with '' Raffaello'' being used for the other four. It was the first MPLM to be launched, making its first flight in March 2001, aboard on

STS-102 STS-102 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle '' Discovery'' and launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. STS-102 flew in March 2001; its primary objectives were resupplying the ISS a ...

Flights

References

External links