ISS MODULE ASSEMBLED

Tuesday, December 10th, 1996
Source: AUFORA News update

STATION'S FIRST MODULE ASSEMBLED; READY FOR TESTING

The first major component of the International Space Station (ISS) has been
completed on schedule and on budget.

Russia's Khrunichev Industries, working under contract to NASA's ISS prime
contractor, The Boeing Company, has completed assembly of the Functional Cargo
Block, or FGB, which will be launched in one year and will provide initial power
and propulsion for the ISS.

The FGB, a 20-ton pressurized spacecraft, will be launched on a Russian Proton
vehicle in November 1997.

"The first piece of Space Station is on track and will be ready to launch in
just twelve months," said Virginia Barnes, FGB program manager.  "The people of
Khrunichev worked hard to make this happen, and we are all excited to be playing
such a crucial role in this new chapter of space exploration."

In May 1997, the FGB will be transported from Moscow to the Baikonur launch
complex, where it will undergo final checkout and testing, and be mated to the
Proton rocket.

"Most of the subsystem hardware has been installed including the propulsion
system, the onboard computers, lighting power supply, solar array orientation
system, thermal controls, fire detection, and guidance, navigation and control,"
said Barnes.  "The subsystems will now undergo functional testing until the FGB
is transported to the launch site."

A week after the FGB launch, an interconnecting node module, built by Boeing in
Huntsville, AL, will be launched from the Kennedy Space Center, FL, aboard a
Space Shuttle.  Astronauts will link the two modules in space, signaling the
beginning of the largest space-based construction project in history.  The FGB
will provide orbital control, communications and power to the node.

During this period, the FGB will control the motion and define the altitude of
the Station's orbit.  Later in the assembly sequence of the Station, as
additional modules are added, the FGB will serve as a storage and
experimentation facility.  In addition, its external fuel tanks will continue to
be used throughout the lifetime of the Station.

"This is an exciting time for the FGB team," said Barnes.  "In the next 12
months we will be preparing to launch and to unite our two countries in building
the International Space Station."

In August 1995, Boeing Defense & Space Group and Russia's Khrunichev State
Research and Production Space Center, signed a $190 million contract for all
phases of development and production of the spacecraft.


All rights reserved to WUFOC and NÄRKONTAKT. If you reprint or quote any part of the content, you must give credit to: WUFOC, the free UFO-alternative on the Internet, http://www.wufoc.com