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CX2SA > SAREX 05.12.06 00:50l 89 Lines 3930 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 19437-CX2SA
Read: GUEST
Subj: ROOM TO MOVE - SPACEHAB
Path: ON0AR<F6KMO<HR1FBB<CX2SA
Sent: 061204/2346Z @:CX2SA.LAV.URY.SA #:19437 [Minas] FBB7.00e $:19437-CX2SA
From: CX2SA@CX2SA.LAV.URY.SA
To : SAREX@WW
[sarex] ROOM TO MOVE - SPACEHAB
SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
TO VIEW PICTURES -
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/spacehab.html
Room to Move
11.28.06
Imagine if you could attach an enormous walk-in closet to your house for
more storage room.
Seven astronauts set to fly aboard Space Shuttle Discovery will benefit
from a similar arrangement. The commercially owned SPACEHAB logistics
single module will serve as an extra "float-in closet" during STS-116, a
12-day mission to deliver hardware, supplies and a new crew member to
the International Space Station.
Image to right: Inside the SPACEHAB Payload Processing Facility at Port
Canaveral, Fla., (from left) a technician reviews procedures with
STS-116 Mission Specialists Joan Higginbotham, Sunita Williams and
Nicholas Patrick. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
The SPACEHAB single module more than doubles the storage capacity of the
orbiter's middeck. And because the 1,100-cubic-foot module is
pressurized, powered and climate-controlled, it's a convenient
"shirtsleeve" environment for the astronauts. They can enter through a
tunnel connected to the middeck without ever having to suit up and step
out into space.
On the STS-116 mission, the module is filled almost to its three-ton
capacity. Mission Specialist Joan Higginbotham will serve as the "load
master," overseeing the transfer of the module's 5,800 pounds of cargo
to the International Space Station. Items to be delivered include crew
essentials like food, clothing and water containers, as well as
spacewalk tools, a television camera and critical spare parts.
The crew will free up room on the station by loading the SPACEHAB module
with Russian Elektron oxygen generator and waste containers for the
return trip to Earth.
Behind SPACEHAB in the payload bay are the P5 integrated truss segment
and another SPACEHAB product: the integrated cargo carrier. Measuring
almost 14 feet wide and 7.5 feet long, this versatile carrier acts as a
shelf inside the bay. Cargo attached to either side of the carrier can
be accessed by the shuttle's robotic arm or by spacewalking astronauts.
Among the equipment mounted on the carrier for STS-116 are debris panels
to shield the station's Zvezda service module from micrometeorites, and
three tiny microsatellites to be deployed late in the mission.
SPACEHAB modules and integrated cargo carriers are prepared for launch
at the company's own SPACEHAB Payload Processing Facility in Cape
Canaveral, Fla., near Kennedy Space Center. When the hardware is tested
and certified to fly, it is transported to Kennedy and installed in the
shuttle orbiter. The SPACEHAB logistics single module flying on STS-116
was installed along with the other payloads into Discovery's payload bay
on Nov. 11.
Image to left: With the payload successfully installed inside, the
payload bay doors on Space Shuttle Discovery are closing. Seen here are
(from top) the SPACEHAB module, the P5 truss and the integrated cargo
carrier below. Image credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
The modules can be configured for cargo or science research experiments,
and come in single or double sizes, depending on the mission's unique
needs. The first SPACEHAB module, configured for research, lifted off on
Space Shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-57 in 1993.
Another SPACEHAB logistics module and integrated cargo carrier are
slated to fly aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on the STS-118 mission,
scheduled for launch in 2007.
For more information about SPACEHAB, please visit:
+ SPACEHAB Home Page
Anna Heiney
NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center
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