Summary of the science performed onboard the International Space Station within the United States Orbital Segment during Increments 16 and 17
- Paper number
IAC-08.A2.6.A1
- Author
Dr. Kenol Jules, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Eric Istasse, European Space Agency (ESA), The Netherlands
- Coauthor
Dr. Hilde Stenuit, European Space Agency (ESA), The Netherlands
- Coauthor
Dr. Keiji Murakami, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japan
- Coauthor
Dr. Izumi Yoshizaki, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japan
- Coauthor
Dr. Perry Johnson-Green, Canadian Space Agency, Canada
- Year
2008
- Abstract
With the launch of the STS-122 on February 7, 2008, which delivered the European Columbus science module and the upcoming STS-124 flight, which will deliver the Japanese Kibo science module in May 2008, the International Space Station will become truly “International” with Europe and Japan joining the United States of America and Russia to perform science on a continuous basis in a wide spectrum of science disciplines. The last science module, Kibo, of the United States Orbital Segment (USOS) will be mated to the station on time to celebrate its first decade in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in October 2008 (end of Increment 17), thus ushering in the second decade of the station with all the USOS science modules mated and performing science. The arrival of the Kibo science module will also mark continuous human presence on the station for eighty eight (88) months, and, with the addition of the ESA science module during the STS-122 flight, the USOS will be made up of four space agencies: CSA, ESA, JAXA and NASA, spanning three continents. With the additional partners coming onboard with different research needs, every effort is being made to coordinate science across the USOS segment in an integrated manner for the benefit of all parties. One of the objectives of this paper is to discuss the integrated manner in which science planning/replanning and prioritization during the execution phase of an increment is being done. The main focus, though, of this paper is to summarize and to discuss the science performed during Increments 16 and 17 (October 2007 to October 2008). The discussion will focus mainly on the primary objectives of each investigation and their associated hypotheses that were investigated during these two Increments. Also, approved preliminary science results will be discussed for each of the investigation as science results availability permit. Additionally, the paper will briefly touch on what the science complement for these two increments was and what was actually accomplished due to real time science implementation and constraints. Finally, the paper will briefly discuss the science research complements for the next three Increments: Increments 18 to 20, in order to preview how much science might be accomplished during these three upcoming Increments as the station begins its second decade in LEO.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)