Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/STATION/STFMEDEA.C10

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INTERNATIONAL  PARTNERS

Canada

At the "Shamrock Summit" in March 1986, Prime Minister Brian
Mulroney and President Reagan agreed to meaningful, visible
Canadian participation in the space station program.  Canada
intends to commit $1.2 billion on the program through the
year 2000.

Canada will provide the Mobile Servicing Center (MSC) for
Space Station Freedom.  Together with a U.S. provided,
rail-mounted, mobile transporter, which will move along the
truss, the MSC and the transporter comprise the Mobile
Servicing System (MSS).  The MSS will play the main role in
Space Station Freedom's assembly and maintenance, moving
equipment and supplies around the station, releasing and
capturing satellites, supporting EVA activities, and
servicing instruments and other payloads attached to the
station.  It will also be used for docking the Shuttle
Orbiter to the station and then loading and unloading
materials from its cargo bay.
NASA considers the MSC as part of the station's critical
path; an indespensible component in the assembly,
performance and operation of Space Station Freedom.

The Mobile Servicing Center will be the next generation of
Canadarm, currently being used on the Shuttle Orbiter.  The
MSC will be about the same size but will be about three
times as strong.

The arm will be 17.6m (58 feet) long with a payload capacity
of 100,000kg (110 tons).  It will be voice controlled and
utilize artificial intelligence.  On-board cameras will
provide the system with the visual data needed to recognize,
automatically track, and handle a variety of objects.

A separate smaller robot, called the Special Purpose
Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), will have two arms, each two
meters long, for more delicate jobs such as working on
electrical circuits, fuel lines, and cooling systems.  The
SPDM will have exceptional mechanical dexterity and will be
able to work alone or as a companion to the MSC.  It will
contain tactile sensors for "feeling" surfaces and carry a
set of tools to enable it to perform many functions.

The MSC itself will consist of a remote manipulator system
with special purpose dextrous manipulators, end-effectors,
and servicing tools.  This base structure will handle
assembly, servicing, payloads, orbital replacement units,
utilities, and thermal control.  Crew-members can operate
the MSC from internal and external control stations.

In space, Canada will supply the Space Station Remote
Manipulator System, the MSS Maintenance Depot (MMD), the
special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), MSS work and
control stations, a power management and distribution system
and a data management system.  On the ground, Canada will
build a Manipulator Development and Simulation Facility
(MDSF) and a mission operations facility and equipment.


Besides the creation and operation of hardware systems for
the MSC, involving advanced technology, Canadian
industry--especially the non-aerospace companies-- plans to
make use of the weightless environment of space for the
development of commercial products.  The user development
program will enable Canada to capture its share of the large
anticipated market for products developed on Space Station
Freedom.

Project management is handled by the Canadian Space Agency.

INTERNATIONAL  PARTNERS

European Space Agency (ESA)

Columbus is the name of ESA's program to develop the three
elements representing Europe's contribution to the space
station.

The Columbus philosophy aims at providing an in orbit and
ground infrastructure compatible with European and
international user needs from the mid-1990's onwards.  The
program also provides Europe, through international
cooperation, with expertise in manned, man-assisted and
fully automatic space operations, as a basis for future
autonomous missions. The program also aims to ensure the
establishment within Europe of the key technologies required
for these various types of space flights.  In this respect,
the development of the Columbus space elements and
associated ground infrastructure is closely linked to that
of other ESA programs such as Ariane 5, Hermes and the
European Data Relay Satellite.

The concept of Columbus was studied in the early 1980s as a
followup to the successful Spacelab.  The design,
definition, and technology preparation phase was completed
at the end of 1987.  The development phase is planned over a
duration of ten years (1988-1998) and will be completed by
the initial launch of the following three elements:

Columbus Attached Laboratory
This laboratory which will be permanently attached to the
station's manned base.  It has a diameter of about 4m (13
feet), and will be used primarily for Materials Sciences,
Fluid Physics and compatible Life Sciences missions.

The internal architecture of the laboratory provides a
"shirt sleeve" environment for the crew.  The subsystems
required to sustain the laboratory functions and to provide
the necessary payload services and crew life support are
accommodated under the floor and in standard equipment
racks.  All subfloor subsystem equipment and the standard
racks can be exchanged on-orbit.  Two viewports for external
viewing and a scientific airlock for small experiments
requiring exposure to the vacuum of space are provided.

The Columbus Attached Laboratory will be launched from the
Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on a dedicated Shuttle flight,
removed from the Shuttle Orbiter payload bay and berthed at
Space Station Freedom's  manned base.

Columbus Free Flying Laboratory
This laboratory, also called the Free Flyer, will be
operated in a microgravity optimized orbit with 28.5o
inclination, centered on the altitude of Space Station
Freedom.  It will accommodate automatic and remotely
controlled payloads, primarily from the materials sciences
and technology disciplines, together with its initial
payload, and will be launched by an Ariane 5 from the Centre
Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana.

It consists of a 2-segment pressurized module for the
accommodation of payloads, and an unpressurized resource
module which provides the main utilities and services
required by the Free Flyer and its payloads.  It is about
12m (40 ft) long and 4.4 m (14 ft) in diameter and weighs
about 20,000 kg (44,000 lbs.)

It will be routinely serviced in orbit by Hermes at
approximately 6-month intervals.  Initially this servicing
will be performed at Space Station Freedom, which the Free
Flyer will also visit every 3-4 years for major external
maintenance events.

Columbus Polar Platform
The unmanned Polar Platform will be stationed in a highly
inclined sun synchronous polar orbit with a morning
descending node and will be used primarily for Earth
observation missions.  The platform is planned to operate in
conjunction with one or more additional platforms provided
by NASA and/or other international partners, and will
accommodate European and internationally provided payloads.

The platform is not serviceable and is designed to operate
over a minimum of a four year lifetime.  The platform will
accommodate between 1700 kg (773 lbs) and 2300kg (1045 lbs)
of ESA and internationally provided payloads.

INTERNATIONAL  PARTNERS

Japan

Japan initiated its space station program in 1985 in
response to the United State's invitation to join the
program.  The Space Activities Commission's (SAC) Ad Hoc
Committee on the Space Station concluded that Japan should
take part in the phase B study of the program with its own
experimental module.  On the basis of the committee's
conclusion, the Science and Technology Agency (STA)
concluded the phase B memorandum of understanding (MOU) with
NASA.  Under the supervision of STA, the National Space
Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), which is a
quasigovernmental organization responsible for developing
and implementing Japanese space activities, began the
detailed definition and the preliminary design of the
Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), which will be attached to
the international space station.  The JEM is a multipurpose
laboratory and consists of a pressurized module, an exposed
facility and an experiment logistics module.

Pressurized Module (PM)
The PM is an approximately 10 meter long tubular cylinder
with an internal diameter of approximately 140 cubic meters.
It has a pressurized volume of approximately 140 cubic
meters.  The PM can accommodate 23 equivalent standard
racks.  Materials processing experiments and life science
experiments will be performed in the PM.  The PM will also
accommodate the capabilities of controlling and monitoring
the experiments on the EF.



Exposed Facility (EF)
The EF is a box type working station composed of EF-1 and
EF-2, both of which are connected by berthing mechanisms.
Each part is 4 meters in length, 2.5 meters in height and
1.4 meters in width.  It will be connected to the PM by a
berthing mechanism, and can be mechanically disconnected on
orbit.  Some kinds of activities on the EF, such as an
exchange of experimental equipment and materials and
construction of large structures in space will require
frequent crew access.  However, by employing a local
manipulator and an equipment airlock, both operated within
the PM, this access can partially be accomplished while
minimizing extravehicular activity.  Scientific observation,
communication experiments, scientific/engineering, and
materials experiments will be conducted on the EF.


Experiment Logistics Module (ELM)
The ELM provides on-orbit storage volume and can transport
JEM logistics supplies such as experiment specimens, gases
and fluids, equipment for configuration change, and space
parts for maintenance.  The ELM will consist of two
sections:  a pressurized section and an exposed section.
The pressurized section will store and transport JEM
logistic supplies in a pressurized environment and have crew
evacuation provisions for emergencies.  It is designed to
have a pressurized volume of approximately 40 cubic meters.
It will provide crew survival conditions during emergency
evacuation for rescue.  The exposed section will store and
transport JEM logistic supplies in an unpressurized
environment.


The JEM will be launched on two Shuttle flights.  The first
flight will transport the PM and EF-1.  The second flight
will bring up the EF-2 and ELM.


Heading toward the space station era, Japan is promoting
many space experiments.  As to the Space Shuttle/Spacelab
program, Japan is preparing the First Materials Processing
Test (FMPT) project planned in 1991 and is participating in
the International Microgravity Laboratory (IML) program.
The Space Flyer Unit (SFU) is also being developed as a
joint program among the Institute of Space and Institute of
Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), STA/NASDA and
Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) aiming
at the launch in 1993.  Many governmental agencies,
universities and private companies are also promoting basic
research and research support for space utilization in
Japan.