Science planned for the International Space Station, Unites States On-Orbit Segment, upon attaining full complement of six crew members
- Paper number
IAC-08.A2.6.A2
- Author
Mr. Jorge Sotomayor, NASA Johnson Space Center, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. George Norris, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Myron Chornuk, United States
- Year
2008
- Abstract
The International Space Station will increase its crew from three to six crew members in May 2009, reaching its full on-orbit complement during Expedition 19. This will consequently increase the number of crew members participating in various science objectives, and will also provide additional crew time to perform experiments. Facilities that will be available to perform on-orbit science include the United States Destiny laboratory, delivered in 2001, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Columbus module, delivered in 2008, and the Japanese Kibo laboratory, planned to be delivered in 3 Space Shuttle flights in 2008 and 2009. These three laboratories will include a total of nineteen internal racks designed to perform science in the areas of human research, material research, fluids, combustion, microgravity, and earth science, among others. In addition to these internal facilities, the Columbus and Kibo laboratories are also equipped with external research platforms to accommodate 4 and 10 experiments (payloads), respectively. NASA also plans to launch four EXPRESS Logistics Carriers in 2009 and 2010 using the Space Shuttle to support external research in various areas including earth science, material science, astrophysics, space exploration, and communications. The first Japanese cargo vehicle to the ISS, HTV1, will also bring external payloads during this critical mission. The main objective of this paper is to describe the science objectives of the USOS investigations planned for this historical Expedition on-board the ISS. With the increased number of facilities on the ISS and twice the crew to perform science, we look forward to a bright future and new discoveries, not only scientific in nature, but also breaking new frontiers in multinational space cooperation. Expedition 19 represents a truly international crew with Russian cosmonauts and astronauts from the United States, Europe and Canada.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)