With the command of the commander, the Russian "Proton K" carrier rocket carried the first component of the future International Space Station, the functional cargo hold "Dawn", and flew out of the launcher with a blazing flame. After 587.6 seconds, the 13-meter-long function module successfully entered the low-earth orbit 179 km away from the earth. This marks that the International Space Station, the largest "skyline building" project in the history of human spaceflight with a total investment of nearly 100 billion US dollars, officially broke ground in space.
The "Dawn" functional module, which cost nearly $250 million, is the basic module of the International Space Station and was built by Russia. It weighs 24 tons, has a usable area of 40 square meters and an internal volume of about 72 cubic meters. It is equipped with navigation, communication, attitude control, climate and environment adjustment and other equipment. Its design life is 15 years, which can be used to provide power and driving force at the initial stage of space station construction.
On February 3rd of the same year, Unity, the second module of the International Space Station, was launched by the American space shuttle Endeavour. Since then, the service module, the nerve center of the space station built in Russia, the experimental module built in the United States and other experimental modules provided by Europe and Japan have also been carried into space. According to the plan, the launch time of the last module is set at 65438+ 10 in 2004.
The successful launch of "Dawn" function module and "Unity" connection module has made a good start for this vast century project.
During the Cold War, the competition in the international space field has been very fierce. In the 1980s, the American space shuttle caused a sensation when it shuttled between heaven and earth. The Soviet Union's "Mir" space station became the first space factory. Not to be outdone, the United States also put forward the idea of building the "Freedom" space station in the early 1980s, and invited Japan, Canada and the European Space Agency to participate. However, the cooperative research lasted 10 years and cost 1 10 billion dollars, but nothing was achieved. After the end of the Cold War, the Clinton administration proposed to develop the "Freedom" space station into a larger-scale international cooperation project, and named the space station "Alpha" International Space Station, later referred to as the International Space Station. In addition to Canada, Japan and the European Space Agency, the United States also brought Russia in. The United States, Russia and other 16 countries jointly built the International Space Station, marking the arrival of a new era in the world space field.
Generally speaking, the International Space Station consists of two parts: one part is based on the multi-functional cargo hold made in Russia, which is connected with Russian service module, research module, life support module, American experimental module, residential module, Japanese experimental module and European Space Agency Columbus orbital facility to form the core part of the space station; The other part is to install Canadian mobile service system, extravehicular instruments and equipment (including "Alpha" magnetic spectrometer developed by scientific research institutions in China) and four pairs of large solar panels on the truss structure in the United States. These two parts intersect vertically to form a "dragon skeleton", which strengthens the rigidity of the space station and is beneficial to the normal work of each subsystem and scientific research equipment. Moreover, it is very convenient for astronauts to carry out extravehicular assembly and maintenance, and the microgravity environment and control accuracy of the space station are also the best.
According to the plan, the construction of the International Space Station is divided into three stages, each of which is based on the previous stage:
The first stage of the construction of the International Space Station is the preparatory stage (1994 ~ 1998). The main content is to carry out nine docking flights between the American space shuttle and the Russian Mir space station, send American astronauts to work in the Mir space station for nearly three years, and gain the experience of rendezvous and docking between the space shuttle and the space station, and conduct life science, microgravity science experiments and earth observation on the space station for a long time. The docking flight also enabled the astronauts of the two countries to gain experience in dealing with problems and establish good cooperative relations. In addition, the docking experiment at this stage has enabled NASA to gain long-term space experience, verified the docking system developed by Russia and the ability of the space shuttle to control the attitude of the large space station, completed the research on reducing the assembly risk, and tested various methods of exchanging data between the US and Russian ground control centers. ...
The second stage is the preliminary assembly stage (1998 ~ 2000). The main content is to establish the core part of the International Space Station, so that the space station has the initial manned capacity. The launch of American airlock and the completion of on-orbit docking will mark the end of the second phase. At this time, the International Space Station has reached the level of allowing three astronauts to work in orbit. The station has 13 scientific experiment cabinets (which can carry out various scientific experiments) and a pair of solar panels (which can provide 10 kW power).
The third stage is the final assembly and application stage (265438+early 20th century). The main content is to complete the assembly work of the International Space Station and achieve the ability to allow 6 ~ 7 people to work in orbit for a long time. At this stage, American truss structures, solar arrays and other facilities will be assembled in water one after another; Russia will also assemble truss structures, solar panels and research cabins at the same time. The Alpha magnetic spectrometer developed by China is scheduled to be installed on the truss of the International Space Station in 2002. After the on-orbit assembly of American living quarters was completed in June 5438+October 2004/KLOC-0, the construction of the International Space Station was completed. It will be five times the size of the Russian Mir space station. When its solar panels are opened, the expansion area of the space station is about the size of two football fields. The enclosed volume of the space station is about 1300 cubic meters, which is equivalent to the internal space of two Boeing 747 aircraft, and the internal air pressure is kept at a standard atmospheric pressure. The Russian research module on the space station has 33 international standard cabinets and 20 payload cabinets for scientific experiments, and its service life will reach 10 ~ 15 years. By then, the International Space Station will run in an orbit with an inclination of 5 1.6 and a distance of 397 kilometers from the Earth.
The construction of this unprecedented "space building" will use the US space shuttle, Russian Proton and Soyuz carrier rockets. Because its total weight is nearly 430 tons, American and Russian astronauts have to fly in space for at least 43 times before they can send various components into space orbit, and then they have to walk in space for 1800 hours * * * 144 times before they can assemble these materials. This will be twice the space walk time of Russian and American astronauts in the past 40 years combined. Just in case, American scientists have also developed a lifeboat hanging on the International Space Station. When there is an emergency, astronauts can bring it back to earth.
The International Space Station is not only huge, but also expensive. It is estimated that the total cost of the International Space Station is about $654.38+000 billion. In a sense, it was built with a lot of money. John Park, director of space policy of the American Association of Scientists, commented: "This is the most expensive project in human history."
However, after the completion of the International Space Station, scientists will not only use it to study how people can survive safely and for a long time in space, but also complete some very important practical topics. For example, engaged in the research and development of high-quality and efficient drugs, special polymers, semiconductor materials for ultra-high-speed computers and high-temperature superconducting materials in the space station; A series of important scientific experiments will be carried out in the experimental cabin of the space station. In addition, scientists will conduct a very interesting experiment, which is to install a huge reflector on the space station. The length and width of this reflector are designed to be 654.38+00000 meters, and the sunlight it reflects is enough to illuminate the range of 654.38+06000 square kilometers on the earth. According to experts' calculations, this space "mirror" can help mankind save a lot of energy, and the cost saved in 10 is enough to recover its construction investment.
By June 5438+065438+ 10, 2000, the second phase of the International Space Station had been basically completed, and the first three astronauts had started working in orbit and carried out a series of scientific experiments.