Steps of ISS assembly
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|
Spacecraft |
Launch date |
Landing date |
Station element |
| 5 |
Zvezda |
July 12, 2000 | up to now |
Service Module Zvezda is the third ISS module |
Assembly work on the flight unit of the Service Module (SM) started
in April 1997 at the Khrunichev State Scientific-and-Production
Space Center.
The Service Module is the most complex and critical element
of the Russian segment and of the entire international Space Station.
It addresses the tasks of the centralized digital control of the entire
space station, performance of attitude control modes, orbital reboost
and correction, crew life support, control of the equipment that provides
the necessary habitable environment parameters within the closed volume
for the duration of a continuous manned mission.
On June 1, 1998, the Service Module was delivered to S.P. Korolev
RSC Energia.
By May 1999, the work on the SM manufacturing, assembly and outfitting
was, for the most part, completed. Concurrently with SM manufacturing,
its instruments, equipment and systems (more than 200 types of items)
were tested.
On April 26, 1999, the certificate of the Service Module "Zvezda"
readiness for transportation to the Baikonur launch site processing
facility was signed.
On May 19, 1999, the Service Module was delivered to Baikonur
for the final cycle of pre-launch processing and the launch.
|
Service Module
pre-launch processing at Baikonur.
|
 |
On
July 12, 2000 Service Module Zvezda was successfully inserted
into the target Earth orbit by the Russian launch vehicle
Proton-K.
After deployment of the solar arrays and onboard antennae providing
the orbit radio monitoring and communication with the Earth as well
as the onboard systems tests performance, the module orbit was risen
by means of several burns of the propulsion system up to 350 km to provide
conditions required for its docking with modules Zarya-Unity.
On August 26, 2000 Service Module Zvezda was successfully docked with
modules Zarya-Unity. Complex Zvezda-Zarya-Unity with a mass of about
52.5 tons began on-orbit operation.
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