Space Station

 

 

Observing the International Space Station is great fun. It can easily be seen with the naked eye even from large cities. You can get accurate predictions of when it can be seen from you location from Heavens Above  

 Stills Movies ISS Simulator Auto Tracking Flight Mode

For another view of the ISS, and other astronomy pictures, visit  Mike Tyrrell's site

Component Mission Launch Vehicle Date Length (m) Width (m) Mass (kg)
Zaraya 1A/R Proton Rocket 20/11/98 12.6 4.1 19,323
Unity Node 1 2A-STS88 Endeavour 01/12/98 5.49 4.57 11,612
Zvezda 1R Proton Rocket 12/07/00 13.1 4.15 19,050
Z1 Truss 3A-STS92 Discovery 11/10/00 4.9 4.2 8,755
P6 Truss and solar array 4A-STS97 Endeavour 30/11/00 73.2 10.7 15,900
Destiny 5A-STS98 Atlantis 07/02/01 8.53 4.27 14,515
Canada arm 2 6A-STS100 Endeavour 19/04/01 17.6 0.35 4,899
Quest airlock 7A-STS104 Atlantis 12/07/01 5.5 4 6,064
Docking compartment (Pirs airlock) 4R Progress M  14/08/01 4.1 2.6 3,900
S0 Truss 8A-STS110 Atlantis 08/04/02 13.4 4.6 13,970
Mobile base for Canada arm UF-2-STS111 Endeavour 05/06/02 5.7 2.9 1,450
S1 Truss 9A-STS112 Atlantis 07/10/02 13.7 3.9 12,598
P1 Truss 11A-STS113 Endeavour 23/11/02 13.7 3.9 12,598
             

ISS Facts

Zarya (Russian for dawn) was the first element of the station to reach orbit. It was launched on 20/11/98 by a Proton rocket. It has a docking port for visiting Progress or Soyuz craft on its nadir or Earth facing side. 

Unity was the second element to be launched. It was carried aloft by Endeavour STS-88 on December 4th 1998. At either end it has a PMA (pressurised mating adaptor) for linking up to Destiny and Zarya. 

Zvezda (or star) was originally scheduled for launch in December 1999 but eventually it was delayed until July 12th  2000. It is based on the design of the Mir-2 core module but has been considerably upgraded.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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