The Zvezda Service Module is the first fully Russian contribution to the International Space Station and will serve as the early cornerstone for the first human habitation of the station. Zvezda provides the early station living quarters, electrical power distribution and life support, data processing, flight control and propulsion systems. Zvezda (Russian for "star") also will provide a communications system that includes remote command capabilities from ground flight controllers. Although many of these systems will be supplemented or replaced by later U.S. station components, Zvezda will remain the structural and functional center of the Russian segment of the International Space Station. |