International space station(ISS) - the successor of the Soviet station "Mir" - celebrates the 10th anniversary of its creation. The agreement on the establishment of the ISS was signed on January 29, 1998 in Washington by representatives of Canada, the governments of the member states of the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan, Russia and the United States.
Work on the International Space Station began in 1993 .
March 15, 1993 Director General of the RCA Yu.N. Koptev and General Designer of NPO "ENERGIA" Yu.P. Semenov approached the head of NASA, D. Goldin, with a proposal to create the International Space Station.
On September 2, 1993, the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation V.S. Chernomyrdin and US Vice President A. Gore signed a "Joint Statement on Cooperation in Space", which, among other things, provides for the creation of a joint station. In its development, RSA and NASA developed and on November 1, 1993 signed the "Detailed Work Plan for the International Space Station". This made it possible in June 1994 to sign a contract between NASA and RSA "On supplies and services for the Mir station and the International Space Station."
Taking into account certain changes at the joint meetings of the Russian and American sides in 1994, the ISS had the following structure and organization of work:
In addition to Russia and the USA, Canada, Japan and the countries of European cooperation are participating in the creation of the station;
The station will consist of 2 integrated segments (Russian and American) and will be gradually assembled in orbit from separate modules.
The construction of the ISS in near-Earth orbit began on November 20, 1998 with the launch of the Zarya functional cargo block.
Already on December 7, 1998, the American Unity connecting module, delivered into orbit by the Endeavor shuttle, was docked to it.
On December 10, hatches to the new station were opened for the first time. The first to enter it were Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev and American astronaut Robert Cabana.
On July 26, 2000, the Zvezda service module was introduced into the ISS, which at the station deployment stage became its base unit, the main place for the life and work of the crew.
In November 2000, the crew of the first long-term expedition arrived at the ISS: William Shepherd (commander), Yuri Gidzenko (pilot) and Sergey Krikalev (flight engineer). Since then, the station has been permanently inhabited.
During the deployment of the station, 15 main expeditions and 13 visiting expeditions visited the ISS. At present, the crew of Expedition 16 is at the station - the first female ISS commander, American, Peggy Whitson, ISS flight engineers, Russian Yuri Malenchenko and American Daniel Tani.
Under a separate agreement with ESA, six flights of European astronauts were carried out to the ISS: Claudie Haignere (France) - in 2001, Roberto Vittori (Italy) - in 2002 and 2005, Frank de Winne (Belgium) - in 2002, Pedro Duque (Spain) - in 2003, Andre Kuipers (Netherlands) - in 2004.
A new page in the commercial use of space was opened after the flights to the Russian segment of the ISS of the first space tourists - American Denis Tito (in 2001) and South African Mark Shuttleworth (in 2002). For the first time non-professional astronauts visited the station.
The International Space Station is a manned orbital station of the Earth, the fruit of the work of fifteen countries of the world, hundreds of billions of dollars and a dozen service personnel in the form of astronauts and cosmonauts who regularly go on board the ISS. The International Space Station is such a symbolic outpost of mankind in space, the farthest point of permanent residence of people in vacuum space (while there are no colonies on Mars, of course). The ISS was launched in 1998 as a sign of reconciliation between countries that tried to develop their own orbital stations (and this was, but not for long) during cold war, and will run until 2024 if nothing changes. On board the ISS, experiments are regularly carried out, which give their fruits, which are undoubtedly significant for science and space exploration.
Last night, a gap was discovered in the domestic compartment of the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. The air pressure dropped slightly, so there was no reason to worry. Most likely, the leak on board the Soyuz occurred on the night of August 30 due to a micrometeorite hit. A day later, the leak was eliminated, a control check will be carried out on the morning of August 31.
The idea of creating an international space station arose in the early 1990s. The project became international when Canada, Japan and the European Space Agency joined the US. In December 1993, the United States, together with other countries participating in the creation of the Alpha space station, invited Russia to become a partner this project. The Russian government accepted the offer, after which some experts began to call the project “Ralpha”, that is, “Russian Alpha”, recalls NASA public relations representative Ellen Kline.
Experts estimate that the construction of Alfa-R can be completed by 2002 and will cost about $17.5 billion. "It's very cheap," said NASA chief Daniel Goldin. - If we worked alone, the costs would be high. And so, thanks to cooperation with the Russians, we get not only political, but also material benefits ... "
It was finances, or rather their lack, that forced NASA to look for partners. The original project - it was called "Freedom" - was very grandiose. It was assumed that at the station it would be possible to repair satellites and entire spacecraft, study the functioning of the human body during a long stay in weightlessness, conduct astronomical research, and even establish production.
brought in the Americans and unique techniques on which millions of rubles and years of work of Soviet scientists and engineers were put. Having worked in the same "team" with the Russians, they also received a fairly complete idea of Russian methods, technologies, etc. related to long-term orbital stations. It's hard to estimate how many billions of dollars they're worth.
The Americans have made for the station a scientific laboratory, a residential module, docking blocks "Node-1" and "Node-2". The Russian side developed and delivered a functional cargo block, a universal docking module, transport supply ships, a service module and a Proton launch vehicle.
Most of the work was carried out by the Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center. The central part of the station was a functional-cargo block, similar in size and main structural elements to the Kvant-2 and Kristall modules of the Mir station. Its diameter is 4 meters, length - 13 meters, weight - more than 19 tons. The block serves as a home for the astronauts during the initial period of the station's assembly, as well as for providing it with electricity from solar panels and storing fuel supplies for propulsion systems. The service module was created on the basis of the central part of the Mir-2 station developed in the 1980s. Astronauts live in it permanently and conduct experiments.
Members of the European Space Agency have developed the Columbus laboratory and an automatic transport vehicle for a launch vehicle
"Ariane-5", Canada delivered a mobile service system, Japan - an experimental module.
The assembly of the International Space Station required approximately 28 American Space Shuttle flights, 17 Russian launches, and one Ariana-5 launch. The crews and equipment were to be delivered to the station by 29 Russian Soyuz-TM and Progress spacecraft.
The total internal volume of the station after assembling it in orbit was 1217 square meters, weight - 377 tons, of which 140 tons are Russian components, 37 tons are American ones. The estimated operating time of the international station is 15 years.
Due to the financial woes that plagued the Russian Aerospace Agency, the construction of the ISS got off schedule by as much as two years. But finally, on July 20, 1998, from the Baikonur cosmodrome, the Proton launch vehicle launched the Zarya functional unit, the first element of the international space station, into orbit. And on July 26, 2000, our Zvezda connected with the ISS.
This day went down in the history of its creation as one of the most important. at the Center for Manned space flights Johnson's name in Houston and in the Russian TsUP in the city of Korolev, the hands on the clock show different times, but the applause burst out at them at the same time.
Until that time, the ISS was a set of lifeless building blocks, Zvezda breathed a “soul” into it: a habitable and long-term fruitful work appeared in orbit scientific laboratory. It is fundamentally new stage a grandiose international experiment involving 16 countries.
"Now the gates are open to continue construction of the International Space Station," said NASA spokesman Kyle Herring with satisfaction. At the moment, the ISS consists of three elements - the Zvezda service module and the Zarya functional cargo block, created by Russia, as well as the Unity docking port, built by the United States. With the docking of the new module, the station not only grew noticeably, but also became heavier, as far as possible in zero gravity, gaining a total of about 60 tons.
After that, a kind of rod was assembled in near-Earth orbit, on which more and more new structural elements could be “strung”. "Star" is the cornerstone of the entire future space structure, comparable in size to a city block. Scientists claim that a fully assembled station in terms of brightness will be the third object in the starry sky - after the Moon and Venus. It can be observed even with the naked eye.
The $340 million Russian bloc is the key element that ensures the transition from quantity to quality. "Star" is the "brain" of the ISS. The Russian module is not only the place of residence of the first crews of the station. Zvezda carries a powerful central on-board computer and communications equipment, a life support system and a propulsion system that will provide the ISS orientation and orbit altitude. Henceforth, all crews arriving on the Shuttle during work on board the station will no longer rely on the systems of the American spaceship, but on the life support of the ISS itself. And the Star guarantees it.
“The docking of the Russian module and the station took place approximately at an altitude of 370 kilometers above the surface of the planet,” Vladimir Rogachev writes in the Echo of the Planet magazine. - At this moment, the spacecraft raced at a speed of about 27 thousand kilometers per hour. The operation was worth top marks experts, once again confirming the reliability of Russian technology and the highest professionalism of its creators. As Sergei Kulik, a representative of Rosaviakosmos, who is in Houston, stressed in a telephone conversation with me, both American and Russian specialists were well aware that they were witnesses historical event. My interlocutor also noted that specialists from the European Space Agency, who created the Zvezda central on-board computer, also made an important contribution to ensuring docking.
Then Sergey Krikalev picked up the phone. As part of the first long-stay crew starting from Baikonur at the end of October, he will have to settle in the ISS. Sergei noted that everyone in Houston was waiting for the moment of touch spacecraft with great stress. Moreover, after the automatic docking mode was turned on, very little could be done “from the side”. The accomplished event, the cosmonaut explained, opens the prospect for the deployment of work on the ISS and the continuation of the manned flight program. In essence, this is “..the continuation of the Soyuz-Apollo program, the 25th anniversary of the completion of which is celebrated these days. The Russians have already flown on the Shuttle, the Americans on the Mir, and now a new stage is beginning.”
Maria Ivatsevich, representing the Research and Production Space Center named after M.V. Khrunicheva, especially noted that the docking, which was completed without any failures and remarks, "became the most serious, key stage of the program."
The result was summed up by the commander of the first planned long-term expedition to the ISS, American William Sheppard. “Obviously, the torch of competition has now passed from Russia to the US and other partners of the international project,” he said. “We are ready to take on this load, realizing that it is up to us to maintain the station’s construction schedule.”
In March 2001, the ISS was nearly hit by space debris. It is noteworthy that it could be rammed by a part from the station itself, which was lost during the exit to outer space astronauts James Voss and Susan Helms. As a result of the maneuver, the ISS managed to avoid the collision.
For the ISS, this was not the first threat posed by a flying outer space garbage. In June 1999, when the station was still uninhabited, there was a threat of its collision with a fragment of the upper stage of a space rocket. Then the specialists of the Russian Mission Control Center, in the city of Korolev, managed to give the command to maneuver. As a result, the fragment flew past at a distance of 6.5 kilometers, which is minuscule by space standards.
Now the American Mission Control Center in Houston has demonstrated its ability to act in a critical situation. After receiving information from the Space Tracking Center about the movement of space debris in orbit in the immediate vicinity of the ISS, Houston specialists immediately gave the command to turn on the engines of the Discovery spacecraft docked to the ISS. As a result, the orbit of the stations was raised by four kilometers.
If it had not been possible to perform the maneuver, then the flying part could damage, first of all, the solar panels of the station in the event of a collision. The body of the ISS cannot penetrate such a fragment: each of its modules is reliably covered by anti-meteorite protection.
Work on the International Space Station (ISS, in the English literature ISS - International Space Station) began in 1993. By this time, Russia had more than 25 years of experience in operating the Salyut and Mir orbital stations, had unique experience in conducting long-term flights ( up to 438 days of continuous human stay in orbit), as well as various space systems(orbital station "Mir", manned and cargo transport vehicles of the "Soyuz" and "Progress" type) and developed infrastructure to ensure their flights. But by 1991, Russia found itself in a state of severe economic crisis and could no longer maintain funding for astronautics at the same level. At the same time and, in general, for the same reason (the end of the Cold War), the creators of the Freedom orbital station (USA) found themselves in a difficult financial situation. Therefore, a proposal appeared to combine the efforts of Russia and the United States in the implementation of manned programs.
On March 15, 1993, General Director of the Russian Space Agency (RSA) Yu.N. September 2, 1993 Prime Minister Russian Federation V. S. Chernomyrdin and US Vice President A. Gore signed the "Joint Statement on Cooperation in Space", which provided for the creation of the ISS. In its development, RSA and NASA on November 1, 1993 signed the "Detailed Work Plan for the International Space Station." In June 1994, a contract was signed between NASA and RSA "On supplies and services for the Mir and ISS stations." As a result of further negotiations, it was determined that, in addition to Russia (RKA) and the USA (NASA), Canada (CSA), Japan (NASDA) and the countries of European cooperation (ESA), a total of 16 countries, are participating in the creation of the station, and that the station will consist of 2 integrated segments (Russian and American) and assembled in orbit gradually from separate modules. The main work should be completed by 2003; the total mass of the station by this time will exceed 450 tons. The delivery of cargo and crews into orbit is carried out by Russian Proton and Soyuz launch vehicles, as well as American reusable space shuttles.
The head organization for the creation of the Russian segment and its integration with the American segment is the Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) Energia named after V.I. S.P. Koroleva, for the American segment - the Boeing company. The technical coordination of work on the Russian segment of the ISS is carried out by the Council of Chief Designers under the leadership of the President and General Designer of RSC Energia, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yu.P. Semenov. The Interstate Commission for Flight Support and Operation of Manned Orbital Systems is in charge of preparing and conducting the launch of elements of the ISS Russian Segment. In the manufacture of elements of the Russian segment are involved: Experimental Machine Building Plant RSC Energia named after. S.P. Koroleva and the Rocket and Space Plant GKNPTs them. M.V. Khrunichev, as well as GNP RCC "TsSKB-Progress", Design Bureau of General Mechanical Engineering, RNII of Space Instrumentation, Research Institute of Precision Instruments, RGNII TsPK im. Yu.A. Gagarina, Russian Academy of Sciences, organization "Agat" and others (about 200 organizations in total).
Stages of construction of the station.
The deployment of the ISS began with the launch on November 20, 1998 using the Proton rocket of the Zarya functional cargo unit (FGB), built in Russia. On December 5, 1998, the Space Shuttle Endeavor was launched (flight number STS-88, commander - R.Kabana, crew member - Russian cosmonaut S.Krikalev) with the American docking module NODE-1 ("Unity") on board. On December 7, Endeavor moored to the FGB, moved it with a manipulator and docked the NODE-1 module to it. The crew of the ship "Endeavor" carried out the installation of communication equipment and repair work at the FGB (inside and outside). On December 13, undocking was made, and on December 15, landing.
On May 27, 1999, Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-96) launched and docked with the ISS on May 29. The crew transferred cargo to the station, performed technical work, installed a cargo boom operator's post and an adapter for its fastening on the transition module. June 4 - undocking, June 6 - landing.
On May 18, 2000, Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-101) launched and docked with the ISS on May 21. The crew carried out repair work at the FGB and the installation of a cargo boom and handrails on the outer surface of the station. The shuttle engine carried out correction (ascent) of the ISS orbit. May 27 - undocking, May 29 - landing.
On July 26, 2000, the Zvezda service module was docked with the Zarya-Unity modules. Start of operation in orbit of the complex "Zvezda" - "Zarya" - "Unity" with a total mass of 52.5 tons.
From the moment (November 2, 2000) of the Soyuz TM-31 spacecraft docking with the ISS with the ISS-1 crew on board (V. Shepherd - expedition commander, Yu. mode and conducting scientific and technical research on it.
Scientific and technical experiments on the ISS.
Formation of the program scientific research on the Russian segment (RS) of the ISS was launched in 1995 after the announcement of a competition among scientific institutions, industrial organizations and higher educational institutions. 406 applications were received from over 80 organizations across 11 major research areas. In 1999, taking into account the technical study of the feasibility of received applications carried out by RSC Energia specialists, the “Long-term program of scientific and applied research and experiments planned on the ISS RS” was developed, approved by the Director General of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency Yu.N. Russian Academy Sciences Yu.S.Osipov.
The main scientific and technical tasks of the ISS:
– study of the Earth from space;
– study of physical and biological processes under conditions of weightlessness and controlled gravity;
– astrophysical observations, in particular, the station will have a large complex of solar telescopes;
– testing of new materials and devices for work in space;
– development of assembly technology in orbit large systems, including with the use of robots;
– testing of new pharmaceutical technologies and pilot production of new drugs in microgravity;
– Pilot production of semiconductor materials.
Modular International Space Station - the largest artificial satellite Land the size of a football field. The total hermetic volume of the station is equal to the volume of the Boeing 747 aircraft, and its mass is 419,725 kilograms. The ISS is a joint international project involving 14 countries: Russia, Japan, Canada, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, France, Switzerland, Sweden and, of course, the USA. 
Have you ever wanted to visit the International Space Station? Now there is such an opportunity! You don't have to fly anywhere. An amazing video will guide you around the ISS with the full effect of being in an orbital post. A fisheye lens with sharp focus and extreme depth of field delivers an immersive visual experience in virtual reality. During the 18-minute tour, your point of view will move smoothly. You will see our delightful planet 400 kilometers under the seven-window module of the ISS "Dome" and explore the habitable nodes and modules from the inside from the perspective of an astronaut.
international space station
Manned Orbital Multipurpose Space Research Complex
The International Space Station (ISS) was created to carry out scientific research in space. Construction began in 1998 and is being carried out with the cooperation of the aerospace agencies of Russia, the United States, Japan, Canada, Brazil and the European Union, according to the plan, it should be completed by 2013. The weight of the station after its completion will be approximately 400 tons. The ISS revolves around the Earth at an altitude of about 340 kilometers, making 16 revolutions per day. Tentatively, the station will operate in orbit until 2016-2020.
History of creation
10 years after the first space flight committed by Yuri Gagarin, in April 1971, the world's first space orbital station Salyut-1 was put into orbit. Long-term habitable stations (DOS) were necessary for scientific research, including the long-term effects of weightlessness on the human body. Their creation was a necessary step in the preparation of future human flights to other planets. The Salyut program had a dual purpose: the Salyut-2, Salyut-3 and Salyut-5 space stations were intended for military needs - reconnaissance and correction of the actions of ground troops. During the implementation of the Salyut program from 1971 to 1986, the main architectural elements of space stations were tested, which were subsequently used in the design of a new long-term orbital station, which was developed by NPO Energia (since 1994 RSC Energia) and the design bureau Salyut - leading enterprises of the Soviet space industry. Mir, which was launched in February 1986, became the new DOS in earth orbit. It was the first space station with a modular architecture: its sections (modules) were delivered into orbit by spacecraft separately and already in orbit were assembled into a single whole. It was planned that the assembly of the largest space station in history would be completed in 1990, and in five years it would be replaced in orbit by another DOS - Mir-2. However, the decay Soviet Union led to cuts in funding space program, therefore, Russia alone could not only build a new orbital station, but also maintain the efficiency of the Mir station. Then the Americans had practically no experience in creating DOS. In 1973-1974, the American station Skylab worked in orbit, the DOS Freedom project ("Freedom") faced sharp criticism from the US Congress. In 1993, US Vice President Al Gore and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin signed the Mir-Shuttle space cooperation agreement. The Americans agreed to finance the construction of the last two modules of the Mir station: Spektr and Priroda. In addition, from 1994 to 1998, the United States made 11 flights to Mir. The agreement also provided for the creation of a joint project - the International Space Station (ISS), and it was originally supposed to be called "Alpha" (American version) or "Atlant" (Russian version). In addition to the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) and the US National Aerospace Agency (NASA), the project was attended by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the European Space Agency (ESA, it includes 17 participating countries), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) , as well as the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB). Interest in participating in the ISS project was expressed by India and China. In Washington on January 28, 1998, the final agreement was signed to start construction of the ISS. The first module of the ISS was the basic functional-cargo segment "Zarya", launched into orbit four months late in November 1998. There were rumors that due to the underfunding of the ISS program and the failure to meet the deadlines for the construction of the basic segments, they wanted to exclude Russia from the program. In December 1998, the first American Unity I module was docked to Zarya. Concerns about the future of the station were caused by the decision to extend the operation of the Mir station until 2002, made by the government of Yevgeny Primakov against the backdrop of deteriorating relations with the United States due to the war in Yugoslavia and UK and US operations in Iraq. However, the last cosmonauts left Mir in June 2000, and on March 23, 2001, the station was flooded into pacific ocean, having worked 5 times more than the originally planned time. The Russian Zvezda module, the third in a row, was docked to the ISS only in 2000, and in November 2000 the first crew of three people arrived at the station: American captain William Shepherd and two Russians: Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko .
General characteristics of the station
The weight of the ISS after the completion of its construction, according to plans, will be more than 400 tons. In terms of dimensions, the station roughly corresponds to a football field. In the starry sky, it can be observed with the naked eye - sometimes the station is the brightest celestial body after the sun and moon. The ISS revolves around the Earth at an altitude of about 340 kilometers, making 16 revolutions around it per day. Scientific experiments are carried out on board the station in the following areas:
Research on new medical methods of therapy and diagnostics and life support in weightlessness
Research in the field of biology, the functioning of living organisms in outer space under the influence of solar radiation
Experiments on the study of the earth's atmosphere, cosmic rays, space dust and dark matter
Study of the properties of matter, including superconductivity.
Station design and its modules
Like Mir, the ISS has a modular structure: its various segments were created by the efforts of the countries participating in the project and have their own specific function: research, residential, or used as storage facilities. Some of the modules, such as the US Unity series modules, are jumpers or are used for docking with transport ships. When completed, the ISS will consist of 14 main modules with a total volume of 1000 cubic meters, a crew of 6 or 7 people will be permanently on board the station.
Zarya module
The first station module weighing 19.323 tons was launched into orbit by the Proton-K launch vehicle on November 20, 1998. This module was used at an early stage of the construction of the station as a source of electricity, as well as to control orientation in space and maintain the temperature regime. Subsequently, these functions were transferred to other modules, and Zarya began to be used as a warehouse. The creation of this module was repeatedly postponed due to lack of funds from Russian side and, ultimately, was built with US funds at the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and is owned by NASA.
Module "Star"
The Zvezda module is the main habitation module of the station; life support and station control systems are on board. The Russian transport ships Soyuz and Progress are docked to it. With a delay of two years, the module was launched into orbit by the Proton-K carrier rocket on July 12, 2000 and docked on July 26 with the Zarya and the previously launched Unity-1 American docking module. The module was partially built back in the 1980s for the Mir-2 station; its construction was completed with Russian funds. Since Zvezda was created in a single copy and was the key to the further operation of the station, in case of failure during its launch, the Americans built a less capacious backup module.
Pirs module
The docking module weighing 3,480 tons was manufactured by RSC Energia and launched into orbit in September 2001. It was built with Russian funds and is used for docking the Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, as well as for spacewalks.
"Search" module
The docking module "Poisk - Small Research Module-2" (MIM-2) is almost identical to "Pirs". It was launched into orbit in November 2009.
Module "Dawn"
Rassvet - Small Research Module-1 (MRM-1), used for biotechnological and materials science experiments, as well as for docking, was delivered to the ISS by a shuttle mission in 2010.
Other modules
Russia plans to add another module to the ISS - the Multifunctional Laboratory Module (MLM), which is being created by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and, after launching in 2013, should become the station's largest laboratory module weighing more than 20 tons. It is planned that it will include an 11-meter manipulator that will be able to move cosmonauts and astronauts in space, as well as various equipment. The ISS already has laboratory modules from the US (Destiny), ESA (Columbus) and Japan (Kibo). They and the main hub segments Harmony, Quest and Unnity were launched into orbit by shuttles.
Expeditions
Over the first 10 years of operation, the ISS was visited by more than 200 people from 28 expeditions, which is a record for space stations (only 104 people visited Mir. The ISS became the first example of the commercialization of space flights. Roscosmos, together with Space Adventures, sent space tourists into orbit for the first time The first of these was American entrepreneur Dennis Tito, who spent 20 million dollars aboard the station for 7 days and 22 hours in April-May 2001. Since then, the ISS has been visited by entrepreneur and founder of the Ubuntu Foundation Mark Shuttleworth ), American scientist and businessman Gregory Olsen, Iranian-American Anousheh Ansari, former head of the Microsoft software development team Charles Simonyi and computer game developer, founder of the role-playing game (RPG) genre Richard Garriott, son of American astronaut Owen Garriott. In addition, under a contract for the purchase of Russian weapons by Malaysia, Roskosmos in 2007 organized the flight to the ISS of the first Malaysian cosmonaut, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor. The episode with the wedding in space received a wide response in society. On August 10, 2003, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and an American of Russian origin Ekaterina Dmitrieva got married remotely: Malenchenko was on board the ISS, and Dmitrieva was on Earth, in Houston. This event received a sharply negative assessment from the commander of the Russian Air Force Vladimir Mikhailov and Rosaviakosmos. There were rumors that Rosaviakosmos and NASA were going to ban such events in the future.
Incidents
The most serious incident was the disaster during the landing of the shuttle Columbia ("Columbia", "Columbia") on February 1, 2003. Although Columbia did not dock with the ISS while conducting an independent research mission, this disaster led to the fact that the shuttle flights were terminated and resumed only in July 2005. This pushed back the deadline for completing the construction of the station and made the Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft the only means of delivering cosmonauts and cargo to the station. Other most serious incidents include smoke in the Russian segment of the station in 2006, computer failures in the Russian and American segments in 2001 and twice in 2007. In the fall of 2007, the station's crew was repairing a solar battery rupture that occurred during its installation. In 2008, the bathroom in the Zvezda module broke down twice, which required the crew to build a temporary system for collecting waste products using replaceable containers. A critical situation did not arise due to the presence of a backup bathroom on the Japanese module "Kibo" docked in the same year.
Ownership and funding
By agreement, each project participant owns its segments on the ISS. Russia owns the Zvezda and Pirs modules, Japan owns the Kibo module, ESA owns the Columbus module. Solar panels, which after the completion of the station will generate 110 kilowatts per hour, and the rest of the modules belong to NASA. Initially, the cost of the station was estimated at 35 billion dollars, in 1997 the estimated cost of the station was already 50 billion, and in 1998 - 90 billion dollars. In 2008, the ESA estimated its total cost at 100 billion euros.
Criticism
Despite the fact that the ISS has become a new milestone in the development of international cooperation in space, its project has been repeatedly criticized by experts. Due to funding problems and the Columbia disaster, the most important experiments, such as the launch of the Japanese-American module with artificial gravity, were canceled. Practical significance experiments carried out on the ISS did not justify the costs of creating and maintaining the operation of the station. Michael Griffin, who was appointed head of NASA in 2005, although he called the ISS "the greatest engineering marvel", stated that because of the station, financial support for space exploration programs by robotic vehicles and human flights to the Moon and Mars is decreasing. The researchers noted that the design of the station, which provided for a highly inclined orbit, significantly reduced the cost of flights to the Soyuz ISS, but made shuttle launches more expensive.
The future of the station
The construction of the ISS was completed in 2011-2012. Thanks to the new equipment delivered aboard the ISS by the Space Shuttle Endeavor expedition in November 2008, the station crew will be increased in 2009 from 3 to 6 people. It was originally planned that the ISS station should work in orbit until 2010, in 2008 another date was called - 2016 or 2020. According to experts, the ISS, unlike the Mir station, will not be sunk in the ocean, it is supposed to be used as a base for assembling interplanetary spacecraft. Despite the fact that NASA spoke in favor of reducing the funding of the station, the head of the agency, Griffin, promised to fulfill all US obligations to complete the construction of the station. One of the main problems is the further operation of the shuttles. The flight of the last shuttle expedition is scheduled for 2010, while the first flight of American space Orion ships("Orion"), which should replace the shuttles, was scheduled for 2014. Thus, from 2010 to 2014, cosmonauts and cargo were supposed to be delivered to the ISS by Russian rockets. However, after the war South Ossetia many experts, including Griffin, said that the cooling of relations between Russia and the United States could lead to the fact that Roskosmos would cease cooperation with NASA and the Americans would lose the opportunity to send their expeditions to the station. In 2008, the ESA violated the monopoly of Russia and the United States on the delivery of cargo to the ISS by successfully docking an Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) cargo ship to the station. Since September 2009, the Japanese Kibo laboratory has been supplied by the unmanned automatic spacecraft H-II Transfer Vehicle. It was planned that RSC Energia would create a new apparatus for flying to the ISS, the Clipper. However, the lack of funding led the Russian Federal Space Agency to cancel the competition for the creation of such a ship, so the project was frozen. In February 2010, it became known that US President Barack Obama ordered the closure of lunar program"Constellation". According to the American president, the implementation of the program was far behind in terms of time, and it itself did not contain a fundamental novelty. Instead, Obama decided to invest additional funds in the development of private companies' space projects, and as long as they can send ships to the ISS, the delivery of astronauts to the station should be carried out by Russian forces.
In July 2011, the shuttle Atlantis made its last flight, after which Russia remained the only country with the ability to send people to the ISS. In addition, the United States temporarily lost the ability to supply the station with cargo and were forced to rely on Russian, European and Japanese colleagues. However, NASA considered options for concluding contracts with private companies, which included the creation of ships that could deliver cargo to the station, and then astronauts. The first such experience was the Dragon spacecraft developed by the private company SpaceX. Its first experimental docking with the ISS was repeatedly postponed for technical reasons, but was successful in May 2012.
