Mplm In Shuttle
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A Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) is a large pressurized container that was used on
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
missions to transfer cargo to and from the
International Space Station 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 ...
(ISS). Two MPLMs made a dozen trips in the Shuttle cargo bay and initially berthed to the ''
Unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a h ...
'' module and later the ''
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. However ...
'' 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 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 entit ...
(ASI): ''Leonardo'', ''Raffaello'', and ''Donatello''. The ''Leonardo'' module was modified in 2010 to turn it into the
Permanent Multipurpose Module The ''Leonardo'' Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) is a module of the International Space Station. It was flown into space aboard the Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' on STS-133 on 24 February 2011 and installed on 1 March. ''Leonardo'' is primari ...
(PMM) and was permanently attached to the ISS during the
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 ...
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. MPLMs were flown on 12 of the 37 Space Shuttle missions to the ISS.


History

The modules were provided to
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, succeeding t ...
under contract by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Three MPLMs were built and delivered to NASA and have names chosen by the ASI to denote some of the great talents in Italian history:
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, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
,
Raffaello Raffaello, Raffaele or Raffaellino is an Italian given name. It usually refers to Raphael (a.k.a. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino), an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. Raffaello may also refer to: * Raffaello (confection), a conf ...
and
Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Republic of Florence, Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sculpture and use ...
. Although built by ASI, the modules are owned by NASA. In exchange for building the MPLMs, ASI receives access to U.S. research time on the ISS. The MPLMs have a heritage that goes back to
Spacelab Spacelab was a reusable laboratory developed by European Space Agency (ESA) and used on certain spaceflights flown by the Space Shuttle. The laboratory comprised multiple components, including a pressurized module, an unpressurized carrier, ...
. In addition, ESA's ''
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...
'' module, the ''Harmony'' and ''
Tranquility Tranquillity (also spelled tranquility) is the quality or state of being tranquil; that is, calm, serene, and worry-free. The word tranquillity appears in numerous texts ranging from the religious writings of Buddhism, where the term ''passaddhi'' ...
'' ISS modules and the ATV and Cygnus resupply craft all trace their origins to the MPLMs. The MPLM concept was originally created for
Space Station Freedom Space Station ''Freedom'' was a NASA project to construct a permanently crewed Earth-orbiting space station in the 1980s. Although approved by then-president Ronald Reagan and announced in the 1984 State of the Union address, ''Freedom'' wa ...
. Initially, they were to be built by
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
, but in 1992, the Italians announced that they would build a "Mini-Pressurized Logistics Module", able to carry of cargo. After the 1993 redesign of Freedom, the length was doubled and it was renamed the "Multi-Purpose Logistics Module". Each empty MPLM is approximately long, in diameter, weighs , and can deliver up to nine metric tons of cargo to the ISS. ''Donatello'' was a more capable module than its two siblings, as it was designed to carry payloads that required continuous power from construction through to installation on the ISS. However, ''Donatello'' was never used and some of its parts were cannibalized to convert ''Leonardo'' into the PMM. With the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011, the ''Raffaello'' and ''Leonardo'' modules were flown a combined total of 12 times.


Design

An MPLM is a large cylinder equipped with a
common berthing mechanism The Common Mechanism (CBM) connects habitable elements in the US Orbital Segment (USOS) of the International Space Station (ISS). The CBM has two distinct sides that, once mated, form a cylindrical vestibule between modules. The vestibule is ...
at one end, and
grapple fixture Grapple fixtures are used on spacecraft or other objects to provide a secure connection for a robotic arm. North America The fixtures allowed the Space Shuttle's Canadarm (also known as the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System, or SRMS) to safely g ...
s to allow the
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, supp ...
to move it from the shuttle bay to a berthing port on the US Orbital Segment of the ISS.


Power during launch

In order to provide power to equipment and experiments inside the MPLM during launch, the MPLM could be connected to the Shuttle's power supply by means of the Remotely Operated Electrical Umbilical (ROEU). The umbilical was mounted on the starboard side payload bay sidewall longeron, and was a folding arm umbilical that connected to the MPLM while it was in the payload bay. The arm was disconnected and retracted prior to the MPLM being removed for placement on the ISS and then reconnected once the MPLM was placed back inside the payload bay.


Program logo

Since the module names are also the names of three of the four
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...
, the NASA MPLM Group approached
Mirage Studios Mirage Studios was an American comic book company founded in 1983 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in Dover, New Hampshire. The company was best known for the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') comic book series and the subsequent franc ...
artist A.C. Farley to design a logo featuring Raphael in an astronaut flight suit. There were cloisonné pins produced, as well as stickers and embroidered patches. Because the Ninja Turtles were created by Mirage Studios and owned by them at the time, NASA gave Mirage the copyright to the logo in exchange for the use of the studio's character on it.


Missions


Specifications

The following are the specifications of the MPLM: *Length – 6.6 m (cylindrical part 4.8 m) *Width – 4.57 m *Mass – 4,082 kg empty; 13,154 kg fully loaded *Habitable volume – 31 m3 *Material –
stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...


Future use

The ''Donatello MPLM'' has been converted by Lockheed Martin into a Habitat Ground Test Article (HGTA) Lunar habitat prototype which is located at NASA KSC. ''
Leonardo Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate ...
'' is permanently attached to the ISS as PMM and should reenter in the atmosphere with it. ''
Raffaello Raffaello, Raffaele or Raffaellino is an Italian given name. It usually refers to Raphael (a.k.a. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino), an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. Raffaello may also refer to: * Raffaello (confection), a conf ...
'' remains in storage at 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, ...
.
Axiom Space Axiom Space, Inc., also known as Axiom, is an American privately funded space infrastructure developer headquartered in Houston, Texas. Founded in 2016 by Michael T. Suffredini and Kam Ghaffarian, the company first flew a spaceflight in 20 ...
plans to use a Multi-Purpose module for the Axiom Commercial Space Station.


See also

*
Automated Transfer Vehicle The Automated Transfer Vehicle, originally Ariane Transfer Vehicle or ATV, was an expendable cargo spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), used for space cargo transport in 2008–2015. The ATV design was launched to orbit fiv ...
* List of Space Shuttle missions


References

{{Orbital launches in 2008 Italian Space Agency Supply vehicles for the International Space Station Vehicles introduced in 2001