Canada and the International Space Station Program: Overview and Status since IAC 2005
- Paper number
IAC-06-B4.1.03
- Author
Mr. Savinder Sachdev, Canadian Space Agency, Canada
- Coauthor
Mr. Graham Gibbs, Canadian Embassy, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Benoit Marcotte, Canadian Space Agency, Canada
- Coauthor
Dr. Nicole Buckley, Canadian Space Agency, Canada
- Coauthor
Mr. James Doherty, Canadian Space Agency, Canada
- Coauthor
Mr. William Harvey, Canadian Space Agency, Canada
- Year
2006
- Abstract
NOTE: This is a placeholder Abstract – since the ISS Program at the time of submission is approaching the second Space Shuttle return to flight STS-121 that is important to the future of the ISS assembly sequence. In 2005, the operation, utilization and maintenance of the ISS continued with a two- person crew supported by Canada's Mobile Servicing System (MSS). As described in our IAC05 Paper, Canadian robotic systems played a key role in assuring the safe and successful flight of STS-114 in July/August 2005, the first Space Shuttle flight after the loss of Columbia on February 1, 2003. Significantly this year, CSA has proven its ability to control from the ground operations of the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) also known as Canadarm2 and is now preparing, in cooperation with the ISS flight control team, for more advanced ground controlled operations which will not only serve the ISS but also mature these capabilities for future exploration activities. At the Heads Of Agency meeting on March 2, 2006, key decisions were endorsed for the ISS assembly sequence, configuration and transportation plan. Also, the ISS Partnership has reaffirmed its commitment to complete the ISS and establish a sustainable six-person crew. The implications of these decisions for Canada are described in the Paper. During the remainder of 2006, the CSA space robotic systems will support operations on the ISS and the Space Shuttle while up to three shuttle flights, seven Progress flights and four Soyuz flights are scheduled to be performed. Beyond 2006, with the MSS, CSA will continue to support ISS assembly especially the deployment of the ESA Columbus module, the JAXA Japanese Experimental Module (JEM) and the CSA two-armed dexterous robot Dextre. The main focus of this paper will be the near term assembly and development of ISS emphasizing the importance of continuous Canadarm2 and Dextre operations as well as increasing scientific utilization. Canadian expectations for the future are: to deploy Dextre in 2007, to secure and support an early 6 crew capability, to acquire Canadian Astronaut opportunities, to maximize utilization of the ISS to perform physical and life sciences research and to seek full utilization of the MSS for assembly and maintenance tasks.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-06-B4.1.03.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.