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CX2SA > ISS 01.02.07 01:05l 105 Lines 4522 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 45848-CX2SA
Read: GUEST OE7FMI
Subj: Space Station To Grow Faster,
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<OK0PPL<DB0RES<ON0AR<IW2OAZ<CX2SA
Sent: 070131/2248Z @:CX2SA.LAV.URY.SA #:45848 [Minas] FBB7.00e $:45848-CX2SA
From: CX2SA@CX2SA.LAV.URY.SA
To : ISS@WW
SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
> Jan. 31, 2007
>
> Katherine Trinidad
> Headquarters, Washington
> 202-358-3749
>
> James Hartsfield
> Johnson Space Center, Houston
> 281-483-5111
>
> RELEASE: 07-19
>
> SPACE STATION TO GROW FASTER, MARK FIRSTS THROUGHOUT YEAR
>
> HOUSTON - Already spanning an acre in orbit, the International Space
> Station this year will grow faster in size, power, volume and mass
> than ever before, significantly expanding its capabilities and
> setting new records for humans in orbit.
>
> "This will be a challenging but rewarding year for the station
> program," said Kirk Shireman, deputy program manager for the
> International Space Station. "The station's operations will grow both
> in orbit and on Earth. As we launch new international components this
> year, we also will begin new flight control operations from
> facilities around the world."
>
> In addition to control centers in the United States, Russia and
> Canada, control centers for the station also will be activated in
> France, Germany and Japan, allowing NASA's partners to oversee their
> contributions to the station.
>
> In 2007, NASA and Russia plan to conduct as many as 24 spacewalks,
> more than has ever been done in a single year. The first spacewalk
> began at 9:14 a.m. CST Wednesday, Jan. 31 on NASA TV and features
> Mike Lopez-Alegria, the commander of the current space station
> mission, known as Expedition 14.
>
> By the end of Expedition 14 in April, Lopez-Alegria should lead all
> astronauts in the number of spacewalks and the amount of time spent
> spacewalking. After returning to Earth in July, Expedition 14 and
> Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Sunita Williams will hold the NASA
> astronaut record for longest time in space. Lopez-Alegria will have
> set that record just months earlier. Williams also will have
> completed the most spacewalks by a woman by the end of February.
>
> Also this year, the electricity generated and used on the station will
> more than double. By the end of 2007, the station's solar panels will
> extend to almost three-quarters of an acre of surface area. The extra
> power and cooling will allow the station's living and working space
> to expand by more than one-third. The complex will grow from its
> current size of a two-bedroom apartment to the size of a four-bedroom
> house by year's end.
>
> The laboratories aboard will triple, with the addition of the European
> Space Agency's Columbus lab and the Japanese Experiment Module Kibo.
> A shuttle mission targeted for October will deliver Columbus, while
> another mission targeted for December will carry Kibo. The additions
> will mark the first time the station's interior space has grown in
> more than six years.
>
> The station's supply lines also will grow. A new European cargo
> vehicle, called the Automated Transfer Vehicle, is set to make its
> first trip to the station in July. Currently, only the space shuttle
> and Russian Progress cargo craft deliver supplies to the orbiting
> laboratory.
>
> This also will be a year of unparalleled robotic operations. For the
> first time, the station's robotic arm will be used to assemble large,
> pressurized components without a shuttle present. In the fall, the
> Canadarm2 will be used to move mating adapters and a large connecting
> module, called Node 2, into place on the station. Node 2 will provide
> pathways for crew members, air, electricity and water to the new
> international laboratories.
>
> As the station breaks new ground in its use of robotics, its robotics
> system also will grow. On the same mission that delivers the first
> section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo lab, the
> Canadian Space Agency's Dextre robotic system will be delivered.
> Dextre, an almost human-shaped two-armed robotic system designed to
> work with Canadarm2, will add to the highly sophisticated robotics
> aboard the space station. Dextre will enable the robotics to perform
> even more intricate maintenance and servicing tasks, which previously
> would have required spacewalks.
>
> For information about the International Space Station, visit:
>
> http://www.nasa.gov/station
>
>
> -end-
>
>
>
>
>
----
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