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Images by Christer Fuglesang of Johnson Space Center (JSC) and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
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Upgrading the International
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Upgrading the International Space Station |
| Explanation |
The International Space Station [ http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/ISS_OVR/index.htm ] (ISS) will be the largest human-made object ever to orbit [ http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/orbv.html ] the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010204.html ]. The station [ http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/ISS_OVR/orbit_assembly.htm ] is so large that it could not be launched [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010723.html ] all at once -- it is being built piecemeal [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/assembly/ndxpage1.html ] with large sections added continually by flights of the Space Shuttle [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990411.html ]. To function, the ISS needs trusses [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/its.html ] to keep it rigid and to route electricity [ http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/static.html ] and liquid coolants. These trusses [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/assembly/elements/its/ ] are huge, extending over 15 meters long, and with masses over 10,000 kilograms. Pictured above [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/sts-116/html/s116e05983.html ] earlier this month, astronauts [ http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/astronauts/wannabe.html ] Robert L. Curbeam [ http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/curbeam.html ] (USA) and Christer Fuglesang [ http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/fuglesan.html ] (Sweden) work to attach a new truss segment [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts116/news/STS-116-07.html ] to the ISS and begin to upgrade the power grid. |
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