November 16, 2000. Copyright 2000. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

NEW STAR RISING

LONDON, November 16, Graphic News: THE U.S. space shuttle Endeavour is on its launch pad at FloridaÕs Kennedy Space Centre, scheduled to blast off on 30 November to begin a new phase of construction on the U.S. segment of the International Space Station (ISS).

During its 10-day mission, Endeavour will see the ISS spread its wings -- giant solar arrays that will quintuple the stationÕs electrical power -- enabling future unparalleled research.

With the 240-foot (73-metre) solar arrays attached and unfolded the ISS will be the largest structure to ever fly in space. Endeavour will carry aloft a 17-ton (7,700-kg) package including the U.S.-developed solar arrays, associated electronics, batteries, cooling radiator, and support structure.

The first permanent crew -- Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev -- blasted off to the ISS aboard a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 31 October.

Since then, the claustrophobic life-style has been that of a Second World War submarine rather than the starship Enterprise in ÒStar Trek.Ó In the harsh and demanding environment of space, systems are expected to break down.

ÒI fully expect weÕll spend much of our time making repairs,Ó Shepherd said in a pre-launch news conference.

With only enough electricity to keep two of the three modules heated, they have been working to bring a variety of life-support systems on-line, as well as creating a computer network -- the Òcommand bridgeÓ -- that will allow them to control all the stationÕs systems from upgraded IBM Thinkpad laptop computers.

The crew, known as Expedition One, have been breathing the air already aboard the 13-story structure. That should be enough to last them until they have installed a Russian-made system that separates the oxygen and hydrogen molecules in water stored aboard the station.

The water is a by-product of power generators on U.S. space shuttles. Shuttle crews have been leaving the water behind during visits over the past two years.

But the main problem facing the Expedition One crew has been tons of stowed supplies and hardware that clog the narrow corridors of the station. The 18 November delivery by a Progress-M1 rocket of 2.6 tons (2,420 kg) of water, food and technical equipment added to this.

At the end of the month, the Progress-M1 will be loaded with garbage, undocked from the ISS, and commanded to perform a destructive reentry into the EarthÕs atmosphere.

The cargo ship will be replaced by shuttle Endeavour. During the 10-day mission, EndeavourÕs international crew of five -- Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Mike Bloomfield and Mission Specialists Carlos Noriega, Joe Tanner and Canadian Marc Garneau -- will install the P-6 truss module. Immediately after docking, Garneau will use the shuttleÕs 50-foot (15.2-metre), Canadian-built robotic arm to lift the truss out of the payload bay, holding it in position overnight to stabilize its temperature.

On the following day, Tanner and Noriega will perform the first of two planned space walks to install the giant solar panels and connect cables for power and data to the rest of the station.

The Shuttle crew will greet ShepherdÕs team when the hatches are fully opened between the spacecraft on the seventh day of the mission.

Expedition OneÕs crew will serve for 118 days, until February, when they will be replaced by a crew of two Americans and a Russian commander. Crew command is scheduled to pass between the two nations throughout the construction phase of the stationÕs life. 

The $60 billion space-station project is a joint effort by the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada. When finished in 2006, it will have an internal volume roughly equal to the space in the passenger cabin of a 747 jumbo jet  and should be one of the brightest objects in the night-time sky.
/ENDS

Sources: NASA, Aviation Week & Space Technology, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Associated Press, Reuters