International Space Station Partners Applaud Year's Achievements
26 January 2007
Paris meeting held to review Space Station cooperation, make future plans
Washington -- At a meeting in Paris January 23, the heads of the space agencies that have partnered for the International Space Station (ISS) -- from Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia and the United States -- noted significant milestones over the last year, including the return to a three-person crew and the resumption of construction of the orbiting laboratory.
In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the agencies also cited the past year’s three challenging space shuttle missions with successful spacewalks by American, Russian, Canadian and European astronauts, the continued good performance of the Canadarm2 and its on-orbit operation by a Canadian astronaut, and essential crew and cargo delivery and return by Russian Soyuz and Progress vehicles.
“After 3.5 years of very great difficulty in the space station program, as we worked hard to return the space shuttle to flight and then return the space station to assembly, the partnership held together,” said NASA Administrator Michael Griffin during a January 23 press conference at the European Space Agency headquarters.
Griffin said the partners found a way to keep the space station going, and “now we are going to find a way to finish it, staff it with a permanent crew of six as soon as possible and complete this investment that we have made as a partnership and begin to generate returns from it.”
Under current planning, the space station will have a six-person crew in April 2009.
SPACE STATION STATUS
Completing assembly activities paves the way for the planned arrival of Node 2, two new laboratories, and the Canadian two-armed special purpose dexterous manipulator called Dextre within a year. NASA is planning five shuttle launches in 2007.
Node 2, built under contract to Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, the Italian space agency, by Alenia Spazio in Turin and a consortium of European subcontractors, will increase the living and working space inside the station and will allow the European Columbus Laboratory and the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module to be added to the station.
During the meeting, the heads of the space agencies reviewed the status of ISS development, configuration and operations activities across the partnership. They also discussed the U.S. space shuttle, the Russian space vehicles, and the range of vehicles that will soon service the ISS:
• European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATVs) -- These unmanned vehicles, scheduled for first launch in July, will make regular deliveries of experimental equipment, spare parts, fuel, food, air and water for the space station’s permanent crew. Each ATV automatically will dock with the Russian service module, stay docked for six months, collect about seven tons of station trash, then back out of the dock, drop into the atmosphere, and burn up.
• Japanese H-2 Transfer Vehicle (HTV) -- This bus-sized orbital transfer vehicle will transport cargo to the space station. It will approach the space station and be captured by the CanadArm2 and placed in a berth on Node 2. The HTV will have two holds – one pressurized and one open to space, and a tank for carrying water. The first test launch is scheduled for 2009.
• Commercial Orbital Transportation Services -- This NASA program, announced in January 2006, will coordinate the commercial delivery of crew and cargo to the space station. Rather than flying payloads to the space station on government-operated vehicles, NASA will finance the demonstration of orbital transportation services from commercial providers.
• Crew Exploration Vehicle -- This vehicle, named Orion, will succeed the space shuttle – scheduled for retirement in 2010 – as NASA's main vehicle for human space exploration and is expected to carry a new generation of explorers to the moon and later to Mars. Its first flight to the space station with astronauts onboard is planned for 2014. Its first flight to the moon is planned for 2020.
STRONG PARTNERSHIP
Griffin said the space station completion date will be “prior to the end of 2010, with some margin.”
In their joint statement, the partners expressed continued appreciation for outstanding work by on-orbit crews and support staff on the ground to bring the space station to its full productive capacity.
They acknowledged the strength of the partnership that characterizes the ISS and the importance of international cooperation in achieving mutual objectives in the exploration and use of space. (See related article.)
For more information on U.S. policy, see Science and Technology.
More information about the International Space Station is available on the NASA Web site.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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