International Space Station: UnderConstruction

Here is a look at what is planned for the International Space Station currently being assembled in orbit. The space station currently looks a lot like this. The Zveda module, where the crew sleep and eat, is at left, connected to the Zarya module with its temporary power-distribution system. The Zarya, in turn, connects to Unity Node, which will serve as the main passageway between the U.S. and European sections to the Russian sections. An aluminum bulkhead for the truss that will span the ISS and support the solar arrays is machined at Boeing facilities in Huntington Beach, Calif. The bulkheads will be coupled with longerons to make up the 43-ft-long center truss segment, designated the S0 truss segment. Nine such segments will eventually make up the 328-ft-long truss. A Russian Proton rocket is raised into a vertical position as it prepares to carry the Zveda module into orbit from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome. Node One, also called Unity Node, is 22 ft long and 14 ft in diameter with six hatches like the one in which this Boeing technician is working. The Joint Airlock is about 18-ft long and weighs 13,500 lb, and has two sections. The larger one on the right will be used to store space suits. The narrower "crewlock" section is where crew members will exit the ISS into space. TransHab is a concept for a 12,000-cu-ft, inflatable space habitat that might see ISS service in late 2005. It uses a 1-ft-thick inflatable shell comprised of successive layers of insulation and open-cell foam surrounding three air-tight bladders. The bladders are made of Combitherm, a material widely used to pack food. An inner layer, which also serves as the living quarters' outer walls, is fireproof Nomex and protects the bladders from scuffs and scratches. The shell is strong enough to insulate and protect against micrometeorites. After years on the drawing board, construction finally began on the International Space Station (ISS) a little over two and a half years ago. And for the last nine months, astronauts have been living and working there. When completed in 2006, the ISS will house seven scientists roughly 220 miles above the Earth. Inside, pressurized living quarters and six laboratories will be spread over a volume about the size of a 747 jetliner's passenger cabin (43,000 cu ft). And by the time the station is completed, more than a million pounds of equipment will have been launched into orbit and assembled into a structure that stretches more than 360 ft from end to end. The ISS will be an in-orbit lab for research into living and