1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, production from I Heart Radio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio, and I 4 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: love all things tech and I think we're in the 5 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: penultimate space station episode, folks. So for those of you 6 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:29,720 Speaker 1: just you know, tuning into this episode and not hearing 7 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:32,880 Speaker 1: the others, this is a continuation of a series I've 8 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:36,160 Speaker 1: done about space stations. So we started off talking about 9 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,480 Speaker 1: monolithic stations, that is, stations that would launch into orbit, 10 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: all in one piece, like fully formed, and you would 11 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,319 Speaker 1: use some sort of heavy lift launch vehicle to get 12 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: them up up, you know, into orbit. That includes stuff 13 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:53,520 Speaker 1: like the Soviet Saliott stations, which also included a couple 14 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: of military platforms, and also the US sky Lab station. 15 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: Then and the following episode we focused a lot on 16 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: Mir the Soviet slash Russian modular space station, because that 17 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: particular space station was up in orbit and survived the 18 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: transition from the Soviet Union dissolving and becoming its various 19 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: you know, independent states. And then we followed that up 20 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: with an episode about NASA's attempts to get its own 21 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: modular space station up into orbit. That last one was 22 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: a real gut punch because it involves a series of 23 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,480 Speaker 1: different proposals and attempts that you know, fizzled out at 24 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: least as far as NASA's original plans go. But this 25 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: all sets the stage for the International Space Station or 26 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: the I S S, which is what I had intended 27 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: to podcast about in the first place, because, depending upon 28 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: whom you believe, that station is starting to near the 29 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: end of its functional life. All right, so let's do 30 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: a quick look at what was going on as we 31 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,919 Speaker 1: arrived at a point where the I S S becomes possible. First, 32 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: you had a Russia. Back in the Soviet days, the 33 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: Soviet Space Agency built several space modules that could serve 34 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:10,880 Speaker 1: as the core of a space station. Mirror's core module 35 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:15,079 Speaker 1: is an example of this. Another example was the Functional 36 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 1: Cargo Block or f g B. Now, this type of 37 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: module was originally intended for the Mirror space station, but 38 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: it never launched to join Mirror. It was also part 39 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: of a Soviet era anti ballistic missile system kind of 40 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:32,920 Speaker 1: like the star Wars program was supposed to be here 41 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,399 Speaker 1: in the United States, uh and similarly that also never 42 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: achieved orbit. Now, some in the West suspected that the 43 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: f g B module that would eventually become the first 44 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: I S S component in space, which would be called 45 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:52,640 Speaker 1: zaria that that means dawn or sunrise in Russian. Anyway, 46 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:55,480 Speaker 1: they thought that it's possible that this f g B 47 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: unit actually dated to the Soviet era, at least was 48 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:05,640 Speaker 1: largely constructed in the nineteen eighties. However, other documents show 49 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:08,840 Speaker 1: that while the design came from the Soviet era, the 50 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,640 Speaker 1: actual construction would take place in the nineties. More on 51 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,359 Speaker 1: that in just a bit. But the Russians also had 52 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: another module with the designation of Saliot Dose eight do 53 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: OS eight, And you might remember from the previous episodes 54 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: that the Saliot program included space stations that had the 55 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: DOS designation, and that Mirror's core module had the designation 56 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 1: d OS seven. While the d O S eight was 57 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: intended to serve as a core for successor space station, 58 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 1: the Mirror two. There's supposed to be a second Mirror. 59 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: The Soviets built d OS eight in the nineteen eighties, 60 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: but for various reasons, that program never got off the ground, 61 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: so to speak, and the module sat in storage in 62 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: the factory for many years, and it would eventually emerge 63 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 1: as Vezda, which means star in Russian, or possibly Zuesda, 64 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: since the V and W sounds are a little tricky, 65 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: I'll say Zvezda, but because I mean, I tried to 66 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:14,560 Speaker 1: look it up. But honestly, the the resources I looked at, 67 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,360 Speaker 1: I don't fully trust them because a lot of them 68 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: just had that robot telling me it's Vezda. It sounds 69 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: to me like it's just doing it, you know, phonetically. Anyway, 70 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:27,719 Speaker 1: over in the United States and Europe and Japan, you 71 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: had various space programs all at work on the design 72 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:33,800 Speaker 1: and development of modules for what was going to be 73 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:38,239 Speaker 1: Space Station Freedom and then Space Station Alpha or Space 74 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 1: Station Fred as some would call it, and these included 75 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: a module from the European Space Agency that would be 76 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: called Columbus and one from Japan called the Japanese Experiment 77 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: Module or j E M or Keybo. But by the 78 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: early es all of those plans were starting to fizzle 79 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: out as the United States Congress began to bulk at 80 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,480 Speaker 1: the prospect of paying out for a space station that 81 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:03,919 Speaker 1: had made little progress since the Reagan administration had announced it. 82 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 1: In That also put international strain on NASA because it 83 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:13,359 Speaker 1: had made commitments to these other space agencies, so the 84 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,480 Speaker 1: collapse of the Soviet Union did a serious number both 85 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: on its own space program as well as the United 86 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 1: States space program. So for decades, the rivalry between the 87 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 1: United States and the USSR pushed governments to pour more 88 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: resources into the space program for numerous reasons. One was 89 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:36,600 Speaker 1: to display technological superiority over an opponent in the Cold War. 90 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: Another was to establish technologies that could potentially be weaponized 91 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: in the future in a further escalation of the arms race. 92 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:48,360 Speaker 1: And of course there were the countless engineers and scientists 93 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:52,680 Speaker 1: who genuinely wanted to expand our understanding of space and science. 94 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:57,599 Speaker 1: But without that political rivalry, a lot of them was gone, 95 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 1: at least on a political side. And you know, don't 96 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: get me started on that. I find that so frustrating, 97 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: as if, you know, pushing back the boundaries of ignorance 98 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,840 Speaker 1: is somehow not priceless all by itself. You never know 99 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: what you're gonna learn or how you might be able 100 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: to use it, and it could be an enormous benefit, 101 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 1: but no, you know, unless there's that other guy to 102 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:24,080 Speaker 1: race against, it doesn't matter anyway. There was a real 103 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: possibility to any space station plans from anyone, We're just 104 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 1: gonna get tossed aside at least put on a back 105 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: burner for a really long time. Russia was struggling with 106 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,480 Speaker 1: a financial and political crisis. The United States was struggling 107 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 1: with the fact that the space station designs had moving 108 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:44,799 Speaker 1: goalposts and budgetary issues. So every time NASA was trying 109 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: to readjust new criticisms were coming in and various politicians 110 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,839 Speaker 1: were starting to pull money away from NASA budgets. Also, 111 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:55,720 Speaker 1: by that point, Bill Clinton had become the president of 112 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: the United States, so with a change in presidential administration 113 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:02,719 Speaker 1: comes another opportunity to salvage the work on developing a 114 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:07,479 Speaker 1: space station. This time, Russia would be invited to join 115 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: that project rather than serve as some sort of antagonist. 116 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: Clinton's team saw the possibility to combine the efforts of 117 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: Russia with those of the United States, Canada, Europe, and 118 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: Japan to create an international space station. The big benefit 119 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: here would be that the pieces that were already either 120 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: fully built or in the process of being constructed, or 121 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: at least ready to go into manufacturing, could still be 122 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 1: put to use rather than just go to waste. To 123 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: that end, US Vice President Al Gore and the Russian 124 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: Prime minister whose name I'm not even going to attempt 125 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: to pronounce. First name, Victor, I can get that one anyway. 126 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 1: They together announced the planned partnership of the I S 127 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: S what would become the I S S, and the 128 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: agreement would also create bonds of international cooperation, which in 129 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: turn could mean a shift in the arms race as 130 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:02,680 Speaker 1: well as a way to help Russia stabilize politically as 131 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: well as economically in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse. 132 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 1: That's a good thing. You don't want unstable countries, especially 133 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:17,680 Speaker 1: unstable countries that might have access to enormous stores of weaponry. 134 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 1: So the various countries all begin to form an inter 135 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:25,120 Speaker 1: governmental Agreement or i g A. This would create the 136 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:29,880 Speaker 1: three phases of the space station project. And actually this 137 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: was the second i g A. The first one actually 138 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 1: took place in nine, but that one was without Russia's involvement. 139 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: That was back when it was still going to be 140 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: you know, space station Freedom. The second agreement would come 141 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: out like a decade later in nine. All countries except 142 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 1: the United States in this agreement designated the i g 143 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: A as a treaty in in the US. It was 144 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,559 Speaker 1: not a treaty. It was an executive agreement. Now that's 145 00:08:55,559 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: an important distinction, because in the United States, a treaty 146 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:03,040 Speaker 1: with any foreign government requires that the United States Senate 147 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,960 Speaker 1: has to ratify that treaty by a two thirds majority vote. 148 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 1: Executive agreements do not require that kind of ratification, and 149 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 1: in fact, they can pretty much hold the same sort 150 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 1: of powers as a treaty can. Now this is interesting 151 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 1: because there's no express clause in the United States Constitution 152 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 1: that actually grants US presidents this particular power. However, there's 153 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:28,640 Speaker 1: also nothing in there saying that they can't do that. 154 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: So Clinton signed the executive agreement bypassing a congressional battle 155 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,080 Speaker 1: over the whole matter. And as NASA puts it, the 156 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: new i g A established the overall cooperative framework for 157 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: the design, development, operation, and utilization of the I s 158 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 1: S and addressed several legal topics, including civil and criminal jurisdiction, 159 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:54,200 Speaker 1: intellectual property, and the operational responsibilities of the participating partners. 160 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:59,560 Speaker 1: Lower level bilateral memoranda of understanding or m o use 161 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,560 Speaker 1: were signed that same day by NASA Administrator Daniel Golden 162 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: with his Russian, European and Canadian counterparts, and on February 163 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,040 Speaker 1: twenty with Japanese representatives, the m O used described the 164 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 1: roles and responsibilities of the partners in more detail. A 165 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: third layer consists of bartered contractual agreements establishing the trading 166 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: of the partner's rights and duties end quote. Really interesting 167 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 1: that bartering was part of this, because I'm going to 168 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:28,959 Speaker 1: cover a lot of the various components of the International 169 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,120 Speaker 1: Space Station in this episode, and many of those were 170 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 1: part of this bartering, where you know, one party was 171 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:38,320 Speaker 1: saying all right, well, I'll let you do this, but 172 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:41,079 Speaker 1: you need to let me do this, and that all 173 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,880 Speaker 1: kind of came about as international cooperation. So all of 174 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: this was going on while, of course Mirror was still 175 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,440 Speaker 1: operational and an orbit. And as I mentioned in the 176 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 1: Mirror episode, US astronauts would actually visit the Mirror Space 177 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: station as part of preparations for creating the International Space Station. 178 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 1: There were ga gathering valuable information about life and space, 179 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: the effects of space on the human body, and more. 180 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 1: These findings would inform design decisions for the future space 181 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 1: station modules. In fact, I should add the Mirror state 182 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:15,320 Speaker 1: in orbit until the spring of two thousand one, so 183 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:19,840 Speaker 1: there was operational overlap between Mirror and the International Space Station, 184 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:25,360 Speaker 1: so the Mere program continued while NASA, the E s A, Japan, Canada, 185 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: and Russia worked on components for the new International Space Station. 186 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 1: In things really got off the ground figuratively and literally. 187 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:37,680 Speaker 1: And not only is that when the participating countries signed 188 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:40,679 Speaker 1: that I G A and the m o US, it's 189 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,480 Speaker 1: also when the first component of the International Space Station 190 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:47,120 Speaker 1: launched into orbit. So ten months after that historic signing, 191 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:50,880 Speaker 1: Russia sent the Zarya module up into orbit aboard a 192 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:55,720 Speaker 1: launch vehicle called the Proton K, essentially a big old rocket. 193 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: All right, So let's address some stuff here. Now I 194 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,800 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier or that Zaria's design at the very least 195 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:06,280 Speaker 1: traces its origin to the Soviet era. Now, the purpose 196 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,959 Speaker 1: of the Zaria module was to act as a station 197 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:13,120 Speaker 1: keeping component. That is, it is a part of the 198 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,480 Speaker 1: station that can work to maintain a fixed distance from 199 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 1: other stuff in orbit to allow for things like docking 200 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: maneuvers and all that kind of stuff. It's important for 201 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:25,839 Speaker 1: the stabilization of the station. It would also serve as 202 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: a source of battery power for the station, including you know, 203 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:33,079 Speaker 1: having having solar arrays that could help charge the batteries. 204 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:36,240 Speaker 1: Are really not help charge the batteries, charge the batteries. 205 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: And uh. It was based off the f GB cargo 206 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:42,839 Speaker 1: spacecraft design. Now the thing is a module that was 207 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:46,959 Speaker 1: meant to do the very same thing as Zaria was 208 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:51,319 Speaker 1: originally part of this Soviet anti ballistic program called Skiff, 209 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 1: which was an abandoned project. They tried to launch a 210 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: laser based anti ballistic weapon up into space. The Russians did, 211 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 1: but that launch failed. So there were some folks who 212 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:09,240 Speaker 1: suspected that Zaria was not made in the nineties but 213 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:13,599 Speaker 1: was actually a leftover, perhaps even a spare f g 214 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: B that was originally meant for this weapons program back 215 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:19,640 Speaker 1: in the eighties. Now, if that was the case, then 216 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: the United States was essentially helping fund something that was 217 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 1: already built. Right because the United States paid the bill 218 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:30,400 Speaker 1: for Russia to make this thing, it could be that 219 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:33,160 Speaker 1: they already had it made and they were just like, yeah, no, 220 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:35,960 Speaker 1: things are going great, keep sending the money, you know, 221 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,840 Speaker 1: checks in the mail. It would largely explain how this 222 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: spacecraft managed to come in under budget and on time. 223 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:45,320 Speaker 1: Those are two things that are pretty darn rare when 224 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: it happens in the space industry. Now, does that mean 225 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: for sure that it was actually built in the eighties 226 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 1: but passed off as being built in the nineties. No, No, 227 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: not at all, just that it's possible, but whether it 228 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,360 Speaker 1: was constructed in the nineteen eighties or the nineties, Zaria 229 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:05,400 Speaker 1: did launch into space on November twentie n It launched 230 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:09,559 Speaker 1: from Kazakhstan and it got into orbit without any major problems. Now, 231 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: the intent was to have Zaria operate on its own 232 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:15,760 Speaker 1: with no crew aboard for up to eight months, and 233 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:17,720 Speaker 1: it would turn out that the module would be lonely 234 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 1: a bit longer than that. Now, broadly speaking, you can 235 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:23,040 Speaker 1: think of the I S S as being made of 236 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:28,520 Speaker 1: two major sections. There's the Russian orbital segment or r 237 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 1: O S, and there is the US Orbital segment or 238 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 1: U S O S. Zaria is the module that connects 239 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 1: the R O S to the U S O S, 240 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: or at least on the Russian side. So Zaria is 241 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:44,880 Speaker 1: twelve point five six meters that's a bit more than 242 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,800 Speaker 1: forty one feet long, and it's four point one one 243 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 1: ms or about thirteen and a half feet wide at 244 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 1: its widest point. It is sort of a uh you know, 245 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 1: it's a cylinder, but a stepped cylinder, so it's not 246 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:00,720 Speaker 1: all the same diameter across the entire length of spacecraft. 247 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:02,920 Speaker 1: Like I said, it also has a pair of solar 248 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,360 Speaker 1: arrays that stretched out to either side, kind of like 249 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:09,960 Speaker 1: wings to help you know to to generate electricity. Zaria 250 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 1: has three docking ports, one on each end of the module, 251 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: So like if you look at a cylinder, one on 252 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: one end of the cylinder, one on the other, and 253 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: there's a third one that faces Earth, typically on the 254 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,200 Speaker 1: outer circumference near the forward end of the module. They 255 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: call this the Nader So you have the Nader ports. 256 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 1: Those are ones that typically face towards Earth in the 257 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: I S S normal orientation, and then you have the 258 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 1: zenith ports, which face away from Earth in I S 259 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:42,760 Speaker 1: S is normal orientation. Then you also have port and 260 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 1: starboard uh ports, and some of these starboard being the 261 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 1: right hand side, assuming you're facing forward and your upright. 262 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 1: You normally don't have to say that because you're normally 263 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: talking about starboard import on a boat, and you're almost 264 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: always upright on a boat unless you're really sick, and 265 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 1: then port of course is the left side. So anyway, 266 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,560 Speaker 1: those are the various directions. We try to keep them straight. 267 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: It's hard to do when you're talking about being in 268 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:10,560 Speaker 1: a microgravity environment. We're up and down are more concepts 269 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: than anything else anyway. So three ports, one on either 270 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: end of this module, one on the nader or Earth 271 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: facing side of Zaria and uh Zaria links to the 272 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:27,920 Speaker 1: Vezda module on the aft end, and it connects to 273 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: a U S module we're going to talk about in 274 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:33,560 Speaker 1: the second on the forward end, and it connects to 275 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: a third module called Ross Vett on the earth facing port. 276 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,000 Speaker 1: Although originally that port was actually used for Selia's space 277 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 1: capsules to dock with the station. As I mentioned, this 278 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,200 Speaker 1: module alone was not enough to support life aboard the station, 279 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 1: so there was no crew at this point. The second 280 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 1: component to join the I S S was the U 281 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 1: S built Unity Module. This is a connector piece kind 282 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 1: of Its main purpose is to connect the R O 283 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: S section of the space station with the U S 284 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 1: O S section, so this is the United States version 285 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:09,960 Speaker 1: of that. It also serves as a crew dining area, 286 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:13,679 Speaker 1: and it launched on December four as part of the 287 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:17,320 Speaker 1: Space Shuttle Endeavor mission. So this module was in the 288 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:21,000 Speaker 1: payload of that space shuttle. We'll talk more about Unity 289 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 1: as well as lots of other modules on the I 290 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:25,639 Speaker 1: S S after we come back from this quick break. 291 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 1: All right, we're back to Unity. Let's learn some more 292 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:39,159 Speaker 1: about this particular little module, which again was sort of 293 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 1: the connector piece, one of three nodes, as it would 294 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: turn out. So there are two other um units aboard 295 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:47,480 Speaker 1: the I S S or part of the I S 296 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:50,960 Speaker 1: S that are similar to Unity. So Unity measures five 297 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,399 Speaker 1: point four seven ms or nearly eighteen feet long and 298 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,040 Speaker 1: four point five seven ms or fifteen feet in diameter, 299 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 1: so it looks like a very short cylinder when you're 300 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:05,120 Speaker 1: at a distance. Right has six ports on it, as 301 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:08,240 Speaker 1: one on either end. So these are the axial births. 302 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:12,200 Speaker 1: That's b E r t h S. Not not birth 303 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,919 Speaker 1: is in like birthday, but birth is in you know, 304 00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:21,879 Speaker 1: ship birth. And it also has four along the circumference 305 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:24,399 Speaker 1: of the spacecraft if you like. These would be the zenith, 306 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:31,160 Speaker 1: nadir um and port and starboard h ports or births 307 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:33,960 Speaker 1: so on the forward and aft births, which are called 308 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 1: the common birthing mechanisms. Again b E R t H 309 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: these are cb ms. These at these ends, they had 310 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:45,120 Speaker 1: two pressurized mating adapters one on either side. These are 311 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: called p m as, and as the name suggests, p 312 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,080 Speaker 1: m as serve as a way to connect two components 313 00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 1: together and maintain a pressurized environment so that different pieces 314 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: could link together. The p m A on the aft 315 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:02,320 Speaker 1: side of Unity dock with the Zarya module at the 316 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:04,800 Speaker 1: p m A on the forward side would later serve 317 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:08,320 Speaker 1: as a docking point for space shuttles, though in subsequent missions, 318 00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:11,199 Speaker 1: crews would disconnect this p m A and attach it 319 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: to other births while connecting new components to the I 320 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: S S, so it was not permanently affixed to the 321 00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 1: forward side. It was, however, and is permanently affixed to 322 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,880 Speaker 1: the aft side, where it connects to the Russian part 323 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 1: of the space station. Astronauts a board Endeavor used the 324 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: shuttle's robotic arm to connect Unity to Zaria, locking the 325 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:34,679 Speaker 1: two pieces together and creating the first linked modules for 326 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: the I S S. It still wasn't ready to support 327 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:39,639 Speaker 1: a crew yet, but it was the first step towards 328 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 1: the dream of an international space station. You know in 329 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:48,800 Speaker 1: space Now I mentioned that Unity, the connector module, uh 330 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:52,080 Speaker 1: you know, serves as a place where crews eat meals together, 331 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:54,600 Speaker 1: and it also acts as a pass through for the 332 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:58,639 Speaker 1: various electrical and fluid systems on board the I S S, 333 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:01,880 Speaker 1: meaning it allows for those things to continue through this 334 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: module and connect to others. Very important, like all these 335 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: modules need to not just fit together, that they need 336 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:11,200 Speaker 1: to allow the various systems, especially life support, to go 337 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:13,600 Speaker 1: from one unit to another so that you have it 338 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:17,600 Speaker 1: throughout the entire space station. A unity was responsible for 339 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 1: one of these things, even though it wasn't itself, uh, 340 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 1: you know, a life support system module. Now, the plan 341 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:28,719 Speaker 1: was to add other components in pretty short order and 342 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 1: get the station to a point where it could be 343 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:33,920 Speaker 1: habitable for cruise. Like the idea was, all right, we'll 344 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 1: get the third module up there with life support, and 345 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:40,359 Speaker 1: then we'll have a crew aboard and we'll be ready 346 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:43,359 Speaker 1: to go by the end of But the next module 347 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:45,760 Speaker 1: to go up would be a Russian one, and the 348 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:51,159 Speaker 1: Russian space program rose Cosmos was really struggling. The United States, 349 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:55,679 Speaker 1: as I said, actually owned Zaria, having paid for its construction. Again, 350 00:20:55,720 --> 00:21:01,240 Speaker 1: assuming it wasn't already constructed, Zvezda would need extra help 351 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:05,480 Speaker 1: in order to get off the ground, both figuratively and literally, 352 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:09,880 Speaker 1: and it got some help from and I promise I'm 353 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 1: not making this up Pizza Hut. So Russia as a 354 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:19,840 Speaker 1: whole was still really unstable economically around this time, and 355 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:24,720 Speaker 1: the Space Agency, while never lacking in scientific expertise and ingenuity, 356 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:28,720 Speaker 1: often found itself strapped for cash, which makes it really 357 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: hard if you want to launch something into space. So 358 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: part of the funding for this project actually came from advertising. 359 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: Pizza Hut spent a truckload of money to have its 360 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:44,280 Speaker 1: company logo painted on the Proton launch vehicle that it 361 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: carries Vesta up to orbit. The New York Times reported 362 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:50,280 Speaker 1: that the pizza company spent about half of what it 363 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:52,800 Speaker 1: would take to run a thirty second ad during the 364 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: Super Bowl at that time, and that was around two 365 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,880 Speaker 1: and a half million dollars, so more than a million dollars, 366 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:00,800 Speaker 1: maybe a little less than a million and a half. 367 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 1: And hey, you know, this might sound a little crass about, 368 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,840 Speaker 1: you know, slapping a logo on the space rocket, but 369 00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:10,480 Speaker 1: the money helped keep the dream of the I S 370 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:14,480 Speaker 1: S alive. Zvezda would be the first module to actually 371 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 1: have a life support system incorporated into it, so would 372 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:20,919 Speaker 1: finally allow people to go aboard the young I s s. 373 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 1: Once everything was connected and operational, Zvesda launched on July twelfth, 374 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:29,280 Speaker 1: two thousand. The initial docking with the aft port of 375 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:34,000 Speaker 1: Zaria happened on July two thousand. However, it would take 376 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: a Space Shuttle mission that was launched a few months 377 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:40,440 Speaker 1: later in September for astronaut h and a cosmonaut and 378 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,280 Speaker 1: astronaut cosmonaut each to go on a spacewalk and make 379 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 1: all the cable connections between Vesta and Zaria. That spacewalk 380 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:51,920 Speaker 1: lasted more than six hours to get all those connections complete, 381 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:54,720 Speaker 1: and at the end of it, Vesta, Zaria and by 382 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:59,400 Speaker 1: extension unity, we're all connected together. On September twelve, two thousand, 383 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:03,320 Speaker 1: all the systems operational members of the Space Shuttle crew 384 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:07,760 Speaker 1: boarded the space station for the first time. Now as 385 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:11,760 Speaker 1: part of that transfer, Zaria's computers handed over control of 386 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:15,960 Speaker 1: the station to VESDA. So Zaria now was no longer 387 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:20,480 Speaker 1: mission control for the Russian part of the space station, 388 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:24,320 Speaker 1: and Zvezda would serve as the living quarters for astronauts 389 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:26,880 Speaker 1: in the time. For the time being, it also had 390 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:31,359 Speaker 1: propulsion systems for making attitude and orientation adjustments to the station. 391 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: Very important, and it also had a communication system for 392 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:38,439 Speaker 1: making contact with Earth. Finally, after components had been in 393 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:42,479 Speaker 1: orbit for about two years, the space station would have 394 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:48,400 Speaker 1: occupants and it would maintain some crew, sometimes a very 395 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 1: small one, but it would always have a crew all 396 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: the way up to and including today, So since September 397 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:59,680 Speaker 1: two thousand twelve, there has always been at least a 398 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:04,240 Speaker 1: crew aboard the I S S. So Zezda would be 399 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,240 Speaker 1: home to early cruise at the I S S. You 400 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,080 Speaker 1: might wonder what it was like. LA module was thirteen 401 00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:13,080 Speaker 1: point one long, that's about forty three and our feet 402 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,320 Speaker 1: in length rather and it's whitest point in Its diameter 403 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:18,440 Speaker 1: is four point three fives that's a bit more than 404 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:22,480 Speaker 1: fourteen feet, and it has four docking ports. Three of 405 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,679 Speaker 1: those are part of a section called a transfer compartment, 406 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:28,720 Speaker 1: which it's at one end of this So imagine like 407 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,320 Speaker 1: a cylinder has almost like a ball at one end. 408 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 1: That's the the where the transfer compartment is, and that's 409 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:39,200 Speaker 1: where you could find three of those ports. Uh. And 410 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:41,639 Speaker 1: it's at the forward end, like I said, of the 411 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,120 Speaker 1: the module, you have one port in the axial direction, 412 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:47,679 Speaker 1: so it means coming out from the end and The 413 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,119 Speaker 1: other two ports are on either side of the sphere 414 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:53,920 Speaker 1: at ninety degrees from the axial port, so you can 415 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:56,200 Speaker 1: think of him as Zenith and Nadier up and down. 416 00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:57,840 Speaker 1: You can also think of them as left and right, 417 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,399 Speaker 1: depending on how you're looking at the station. So the 418 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 1: axial port docked with Zaria, so these modules connected end 419 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:06,840 Speaker 1: to end. You can think of him as like two 420 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:10,560 Speaker 1: cylinders connected end to end with one another. The other 421 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:14,840 Speaker 1: two ports on the transfer compartment attached ultimately would attach 422 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,120 Speaker 1: to the Poist module on one side, and originally a 423 00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:21,160 Speaker 1: module called Piers on the other, but Piers would later 424 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:25,640 Speaker 1: get swapped out for a new module called Naka, which 425 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:27,920 Speaker 1: will have a lot more to say about later on. 426 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:31,879 Speaker 1: A fourth docking port was on the aft end of 427 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 1: the VESDA module, so on the opposite side of the cylinder. 428 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: This would serve as a docking port for Soya's spacecraft 429 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 1: and cargo ships coming up from Russia to resupply the station. 430 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 1: This VESDA supports up to six crew members, actually as 431 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:48,679 Speaker 1: sleeping quarters for two, so folks have to kind of 432 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 1: sleep in shifts. It also has other necessities like a toilet, 433 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:55,960 Speaker 1: obviously really important astronauts who flew aboard the Apollo missions 434 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,520 Speaker 1: could tell you all about that, and it also had 435 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,439 Speaker 1: exercise equipment in order to help crew members stay healthy 436 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,879 Speaker 1: in space and counteract things like muscle and bone loss. 437 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:08,720 Speaker 1: It also has a kitchen area for food preparation. There 438 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:13,800 Speaker 1: are fourteen windows in Zvezda UM, including one in each 439 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:17,440 Speaker 1: of the sleeping compartments, and one of the carryovers from 440 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:20,959 Speaker 1: the Soviet era of Russia's space program would end up 441 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 1: being a real source spot for VESDA, also for Zaria. So. 442 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:30,240 Speaker 1: NASA's approach to space modules was to include components that 443 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:34,320 Speaker 1: could be swapped out, so that should something fail, you 444 00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:37,640 Speaker 1: could bring up a replacement on a subsequent mission, remove 445 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: the failed piece of equipment and install the new one, 446 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:45,639 Speaker 1: and now you've got operational abilities back again. Russia built 447 00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:48,919 Speaker 1: everything directly into their spacecraft like it was not something 448 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:52,200 Speaker 1: that was removable, so if anything failed, then the only 449 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:54,879 Speaker 1: approach you had was to repair the thing that failed. 450 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:57,760 Speaker 1: Otherwise it was just useless because there was no way 451 00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:01,199 Speaker 1: to replace it. You couldn't get out and put a 452 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,119 Speaker 1: new whatever it was in like a new computer system, 453 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:07,200 Speaker 1: for example. You either fixed what you had or you 454 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:09,840 Speaker 1: had a broken one and that was it. So that 455 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:15,280 Speaker 1: included Vezda's oxygen generation system. The device used is called 456 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:19,000 Speaker 1: an electron that's E L E K T R O N, 457 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:23,960 Speaker 1: and it uses surprise surprise electricity to generate oxygen from water. 458 00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:27,000 Speaker 1: This process is called electrolysis. I've talked about it a 459 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,199 Speaker 1: few times on this show. Is pretty darn simple and 460 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:34,760 Speaker 1: concept you you apply an electric charge to water molecules, 461 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:38,280 Speaker 1: and that that electricity, that that energy breaks the molecular 462 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:41,600 Speaker 1: bond between oxygen and hydrogen, and both of them get 463 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: released as gases. Now, you could theoretically use that hydrogen 464 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 1: as fuel, but it's pretty dangerous stuff. It's incredibly flammable, 465 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:55,040 Speaker 1: and so the electron system would simply vent hydrogen into space, 466 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:57,600 Speaker 1: but the oxygen would be used as part of the 467 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:01,000 Speaker 1: life support system. But the trouble is the electron system 468 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,720 Speaker 1: on Zvezda is pretty darn rickety. I mean, it was 469 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:08,199 Speaker 1: originally developed for the Mere space station, and frequently it 470 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:11,639 Speaker 1: requires repairs because as a tendency to break down, and 471 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:16,400 Speaker 1: the cosmonauts can't get a new electron into the Vezda 472 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:21,600 Speaker 1: module because and here's a classic problem, the electron system 473 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:26,160 Speaker 1: is larger than the Vezda modules hatches, so in other words, 474 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:29,199 Speaker 1: you couldn't get a replacement system in there because it 475 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:34,160 Speaker 1: won't fit through the door. Whoops. Say. But anyway, back 476 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:36,760 Speaker 1: in two thousand, all of this was brand new and 477 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 1: started breaking down yet, and on September twelve, two thousand, 478 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:43,240 Speaker 1: there would be a crew aboard the space station and 479 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:46,800 Speaker 1: there has been every day since. Next the US attached 480 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 1: a trust segment called the Z one to Unity and 481 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 1: also added a third pressurized mating adapter, the other two 482 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,680 Speaker 1: being mounted to either axial end of Unity and the 483 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:00,280 Speaker 1: trust of the space station. You could think of it 484 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:03,840 Speaker 1: like a scaffold. Uh. It's it's a it's a skeleton 485 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:08,080 Speaker 1: in a way upon which you can suspend numerous components, 486 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:11,120 Speaker 1: and there are a ton of them. Uh. This trust 487 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:13,600 Speaker 1: extends outward from the space station, and it can hold 488 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:15,960 Speaker 1: stuff like the massive solar arrays. When you look at 489 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:18,040 Speaker 1: a picture of the space station and you see those 490 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:21,760 Speaker 1: big wings of solar arrays, those connect back to the 491 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,600 Speaker 1: trusts of the space station. Uh, but a lot of 492 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:27,840 Speaker 1: other stuff connects to it. To The Z one was 493 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,560 Speaker 1: the first of these trust pieces, and NASA would add 494 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:34,800 Speaker 1: to this many many times over the following years. However, 495 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:37,600 Speaker 1: I'm just gonna let you know, I'm gonna skip all 496 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:41,800 Speaker 1: of those different trust editions because there's a ton of them. 497 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 1: They're important, but if I focused on all those, I 498 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,880 Speaker 1: would never get to the modules. So the next module 499 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: to join the party was from the United States, and 500 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:53,880 Speaker 1: this was the Destiny module. It launched on February seven, 501 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:58,000 Speaker 1: two thou one aboard this Space shuttle Atlantis, docking with 502 00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:00,880 Speaker 1: the other end of the Unity capsule on right tenth 503 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 1: and before that could even happen, the Atlantis crew used 504 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 1: the Space shuttle's robotic arm to detach the p M 505 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:12,200 Speaker 1: A two from Unity's forward docking port. So this was 506 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,680 Speaker 1: the one that was opposite the one that connects Unity 507 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:19,000 Speaker 1: to the Russian module Zarya. The p M A two 508 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,080 Speaker 1: got shuffled around a bit until Destiny had been docked 509 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:27,160 Speaker 1: into place uh in the forward side of Unity, and 510 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:30,680 Speaker 1: then the Atlantis crew reattached p M A two to 511 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: the other end of Destiny. It would take several days 512 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,560 Speaker 1: for a strong astronauts to make all the connections necessary 513 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: in order to bring Destiny fully online. Now, this module 514 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:43,560 Speaker 1: is eight point four meters or twenty eight feet long, 515 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:45,920 Speaker 1: and it has a diameter of four point two meters 516 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:48,480 Speaker 1: or fourteen feet, and it kind of looks like a 517 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:51,800 Speaker 1: can of soda to me. But obviously with docking ports 518 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:55,080 Speaker 1: on either axial end, uh, those are the only two 519 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:57,920 Speaker 1: docking ports on Destiny. It does not have any of 520 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:01,240 Speaker 1: the ones at the zenith, nader or starboard or ports sides, 521 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:05,040 Speaker 1: so it just has one on either end of the cylinder. 522 00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:09,920 Speaker 1: Destiny serves as the first and primary research lab aboard 523 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:12,640 Speaker 1: the I S S, at least on the U S 524 00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:15,920 Speaker 1: O S side. This is where the science gets done, 525 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,680 Speaker 1: but you know, not to make a neat gun for 526 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:23,920 Speaker 1: the people who are still alive. We're talking about biomedical experiments, 527 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:29,880 Speaker 1: engineering experiments, physics experiments, earth science experiments, material science experiments, 528 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff. When you think of the 529 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:36,720 Speaker 1: science that's happening aboard the International Space Station, Destiny is 530 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 1: the primary spot where that stuff happens, not the only one, 531 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:43,040 Speaker 1: but the main one. So this is the kind of 532 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:47,000 Speaker 1: stuff that astronauts aboard the sky Lab space station focused 533 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:51,040 Speaker 1: on back in the nineteen seventies. Destiny was the first 534 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:55,160 Speaker 1: module to make use of racks to hold various station 535 00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:58,280 Speaker 1: systems and experiments in place. So these are kind of 536 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:02,480 Speaker 1: like mounting points for various experiments. Obviously, when you're in 537 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:06,440 Speaker 1: a microgravity environment, you've gotta have ways to attach stuff 538 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:10,000 Speaker 1: to your spacecraft or else it's just gonna you know, 539 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:14,640 Speaker 1: float around and bump around in microgravity. So these are 540 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:18,960 Speaker 1: standardized racks, and in fact they're called International Standard Payload 541 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:23,720 Speaker 1: Racks or i sprs, and other countries with the exception 542 00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:27,960 Speaker 1: of Russia, use the same standard, so that experiments and 543 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,680 Speaker 1: systems can fit on any of these. The Destiny has 544 00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: eight rack bays and they can hold up to twenty 545 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:38,720 Speaker 1: four racks. These things, by the way, are massive, unearthed, 546 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:44,320 Speaker 1: way around t pounds. Of course in microgravity you don't 547 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:46,880 Speaker 1: have to worry about that now. As I mentioned, some 548 00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,880 Speaker 1: of those racks hold station systems in place, you know, 549 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:54,360 Speaker 1: stuff like life support systems and electrical power systems or 550 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 1: climate control systems. Uh and Destiny did not have the 551 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:02,200 Speaker 1: full complement of twenty four racks when it launched. It 552 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:04,760 Speaker 1: had some, but not all of them. Additional space shuttle 553 00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:08,160 Speaker 1: missions would bring up more racks, which would then get 554 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:12,680 Speaker 1: installed into the rack bays in Destiny's lab. Destiny also 555 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:18,200 Speaker 1: includes a twenty inch window of incredible clarity. NASA calls 556 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:21,920 Speaker 1: it like the quality of a telescope lens, like that 557 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,480 Speaker 1: kind of level of clarity, and astronauts mostly use this 558 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:29,360 Speaker 1: to conduct Earth science experiments. So if you've ever felt 559 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:31,920 Speaker 1: like someone was just kind of watching you, maybe it 560 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:34,880 Speaker 1: was a peeper aboard the I S. S. Except it 561 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:38,960 Speaker 1: doesn't like magnify everything. Obviously I'm being a little facetious. 562 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,560 Speaker 1: The pictures of it are amazing, but obviously, like then, 563 00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:44,480 Speaker 1: you're looking at a lens through a lens, right, you're 564 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:48,080 Speaker 1: looking at a camera image of the glass. I really 565 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:50,080 Speaker 1: wish I could see what it looks like to look 566 00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:53,280 Speaker 1: at the Earth through that glass, you know, in person, 567 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:57,320 Speaker 1: I imagine has to be absolutely spectacular. We've got a 568 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:00,240 Speaker 1: lot more to say about the I S. S. And boy, 569 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:05,560 Speaker 1: this is really a huge, huge undertaking. We are going 570 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:16,440 Speaker 1: to take another break and come back right after this. Okay, 571 00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:19,160 Speaker 1: let's get back to it. In July two thousand one, 572 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:23,680 Speaker 1: the United States launched a joint airlock module named Quest 573 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:28,480 Speaker 1: and this module attached to the Unity module, and it 574 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:32,359 Speaker 1: gave astronauts on the U S O S side of 575 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:35,480 Speaker 1: the space station the ability to perform e V A 576 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:38,560 Speaker 1: S or spacewalks, because up to that point the only 577 00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:41,960 Speaker 1: airlock aboard the space station was on the Russian side 578 00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:47,000 Speaker 1: of the I S S, so, uh, you know, astronauts 579 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:49,840 Speaker 1: weren't really going over to the Russian side and vice versa, 580 00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:53,319 Speaker 1: so they didn't really get to use that airlock. All 581 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:55,600 Speaker 1: the other e v A s that were performed on 582 00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:59,280 Speaker 1: the US side had been part of Space Shuttle missions 583 00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:02,040 Speaker 1: rather than and you know, conducted by the crew aboard 584 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:04,640 Speaker 1: the I S S because they had no airlock to 585 00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:07,960 Speaker 1: go through in order to you know, exit the station 586 00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:12,040 Speaker 1: and do an e v A. But Quest changed all that. 587 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:16,560 Speaker 1: Then the Russians launched another module in September two thou one. 588 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:19,560 Speaker 1: This one was the Piers module, that's p I R S, 589 00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:22,960 Speaker 1: and the Russians docked it with a port on This 590 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:27,160 Speaker 1: Vezda module frequently referred to as the bottom or Nadier 591 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:31,279 Speaker 1: Point because it was facing the Earth usually and it 592 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:34,120 Speaker 1: served as a docking module. In other words, this was 593 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:38,200 Speaker 1: a way for other spacecraft like so Yu's capsules and 594 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:42,279 Speaker 1: cargo ships unscrewed cargo ships two dock with the I 595 00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:45,040 Speaker 1: S S. It could also serve as an airlock so 596 00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:47,440 Speaker 1: that cosmonauts could go on e v A. So this 597 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:54,279 Speaker 1: expanded the station's ability to have you know, spacecraft dock 598 00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:58,239 Speaker 1: with it. I should add that one thing that is 599 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:01,000 Speaker 1: consistent aboard the I S S is that it always 600 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:04,200 Speaker 1: has a couple of Soya's capsules attached to it to 601 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:08,560 Speaker 1: serve as escape capsules, so that should there be a 602 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:13,200 Speaker 1: catastrophic failure aboard the space station, cosmonauts and astronauts would 603 00:36:13,239 --> 00:36:16,799 Speaker 1: have the ability to get into a spacecraft capable of 604 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:19,319 Speaker 1: making the return back to Earth. So some of these 605 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:24,040 Speaker 1: docking ports end up being in use as these these 606 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:27,799 Speaker 1: various capsules stay attached for up to like six months 607 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:33,080 Speaker 1: at a time before being swapped around. Now, this module, 608 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:35,439 Speaker 1: the Piers module, is one that we can actually refer 609 00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:37,799 Speaker 1: to in the past tense because while it was part 610 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:39,800 Speaker 1: of the I S S for a really long time, 611 00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:43,799 Speaker 1: I mean almost twenty years, it is no longer part 612 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,920 Speaker 1: of the I S S today. Earlier this year, Russia 613 00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:50,960 Speaker 1: removed Peers from the I S S and maneuvered it 614 00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:56,600 Speaker 1: for re entry and de orbited the module on July one. 615 00:36:56,760 --> 00:36:58,920 Speaker 1: This was so that they could make room for a 616 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:02,960 Speaker 1: new module, which we will talk about possibly in the 617 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,799 Speaker 1: next episode, because this one's running longer than I anticipated. 618 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:08,759 Speaker 1: But for twenty years, piers was a big part of 619 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:11,480 Speaker 1: the I S S. Then, from the end of two 620 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:14,719 Speaker 1: thousand one to two thousand seven, the I S S 621 00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:17,960 Speaker 1: pretty much stayed as I described it, with no other 622 00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:21,560 Speaker 1: modules joining, although crews would continue to join and leave 623 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:25,840 Speaker 1: through various so us and a few spatial emissions. Also, 624 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:29,360 Speaker 1: the trust section did get larger with more components, but 625 00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:33,320 Speaker 1: as I said earlier, I'm not gonna cover all those. 626 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:36,520 Speaker 1: It would just take way too much time. It's fascinating stuff, 627 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:38,640 Speaker 1: by the way, I mean like it added tons of 628 00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:41,319 Speaker 1: different functionality to the I S S. But I gotta 629 00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:43,840 Speaker 1: draw the line somewhere anyway. Part of the reason for 630 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:47,600 Speaker 1: that long delay, why nothing happened really as far as 631 00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:50,920 Speaker 1: modules are concerned between two thousand one and two thousand seven, 632 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:54,880 Speaker 1: is that the Space Shuttle program was grounded due to 633 00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:58,200 Speaker 1: the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster that happened on February first, 634 00:37:58,239 --> 00:38:02,680 Speaker 1: two thousand three. Just like NASA put the spatial program 635 00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:06,240 Speaker 1: on pause for more than two years after the Challenger disaster, 636 00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:10,919 Speaker 1: they did the same thing after Columbia. Shuttle missions would 637 00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:13,960 Speaker 1: not start again until July of two thousand five, so 638 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:17,400 Speaker 1: it really set back plans of building out the I 639 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:21,480 Speaker 1: S S and only Russian capsules visited the I S 640 00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:23,960 Speaker 1: S in the meantime, and a skeleton crew of two 641 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:28,960 Speaker 1: people served to occupy the station at that point because 642 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:32,080 Speaker 1: there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity to do much else. 643 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:34,759 Speaker 1: So this was an era of the I S S 644 00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:37,120 Speaker 1: where not that much science is getting done. You only 645 00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:40,520 Speaker 1: got two people aboard there. They have to handle everything 646 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:43,160 Speaker 1: aboard the station, not just the experiments, but you know, 647 00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:47,440 Speaker 1: the regular maintenance and operations of the station itself. The 648 00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:50,680 Speaker 1: next module to join would not launch until October two 649 00:38:50,719 --> 00:38:54,440 Speaker 1: thousand seven. It was aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, and 650 00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:57,520 Speaker 1: this would be the module that would be called Harmony. 651 00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:01,640 Speaker 1: And this module is very similar to Unity. It's one 652 00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:05,319 Speaker 1: of the node modules, and like I said, a third 653 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:07,560 Speaker 1: one will join the I S S before we're all 654 00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:11,600 Speaker 1: done with it, so, like you know, Unity, Harmony's purpose 655 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:16,799 Speaker 1: is partly to provide connecting points between other units in 656 00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:20,280 Speaker 1: the space station, but it also serves as sleeping quarters 657 00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:24,480 Speaker 1: for up to four crew members. Initially, Harmony docked with 658 00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:27,680 Speaker 1: one of the births on Unity, so that these two 659 00:39:27,719 --> 00:39:31,399 Speaker 1: nodes were connected directly to each other, but a few 660 00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,239 Speaker 1: weeks later, crews would move Harmony to the other end 661 00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:38,160 Speaker 1: of Destiny, so that Destiny connected to unity on one 662 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:42,520 Speaker 1: end and Harmony on the other end. Harmony also serves 663 00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:46,560 Speaker 1: as the mounting location for the space station's robotic arm 664 00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:50,960 Speaker 1: Cannad armed too. It also has four I sprs dedicated 665 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:53,360 Speaker 1: to cruise storage and another four I s p r 666 00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:59,000 Speaker 1: s for avionics systems. In two thousand eight, the European 667 00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:03,399 Speaker 1: Space Agency module Columbus joined the I S s NOW. 668 00:40:03,440 --> 00:40:06,000 Speaker 1: This was originally intended to be part of Space Station 669 00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:09,480 Speaker 1: Freedom more than a decade earlier, you know, back when 670 00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:13,160 Speaker 1: that was still a thing. Columbus launched aboard the Space 671 00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:18,919 Speaker 1: Shuttle Atlantis on February seven eight. It is seven ms long, 672 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:21,040 Speaker 1: that's twenty three ft and it's four and a half 673 00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:23,919 Speaker 1: meters in diameter or fifteen feet and they can hold 674 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:27,520 Speaker 1: up to ten I s p rs for science experiments 675 00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:31,120 Speaker 1: and then more for various systems. The e s A 676 00:40:31,239 --> 00:40:37,160 Speaker 1: technically has operational control of Columbus, NASA has the rest 677 00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:39,960 Speaker 1: of it. That means that the two agencies actually split 678 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:44,280 Speaker 1: these racks between them, so e s A has control 679 00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:47,080 Speaker 1: of five racks for experiments and NASA has control of 680 00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:51,160 Speaker 1: the other five and that they just share the space. 681 00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:55,480 Speaker 1: They cohabitate. Like Destiny, the activities on Columbus are geared 682 00:40:55,520 --> 00:40:59,279 Speaker 1: towards scientific experiments and expanding our knowledge, particularly when it 683 00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:03,799 Speaker 1: comes to ace exploration. Columbus docked with the starboard port 684 00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:08,120 Speaker 1: of Harmony on February eleven eight. So again, that means 685 00:41:08,160 --> 00:41:11,279 Speaker 1: if you were in the Harmony module and your right 686 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:14,000 Speaker 1: side up, which is you know, again a weak distinction 687 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:17,000 Speaker 1: when you're in space and you have the Destiny module 688 00:41:17,120 --> 00:41:21,319 Speaker 1: behind you that's to your aft you're facing forward, that 689 00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:24,000 Speaker 1: would mean that Columbus would be on your right hand side. 690 00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:26,520 Speaker 1: You would need to go through the hatch on the 691 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:30,879 Speaker 1: right to get to the Columbus module. Again, all these 692 00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:33,239 Speaker 1: directions get pretty loosey goosey when you start to lose 693 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:38,000 Speaker 1: reference points like up and down, so your mileage may vary. 694 00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:41,600 Speaker 1: I guess next up. Shortly after Columbus came the Japanese 695 00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:45,680 Speaker 1: Experiment Module or KEYBO. Now, Keybo is a really big module. 696 00:41:46,239 --> 00:41:50,280 Speaker 1: It's so big that it required three separate shuttle missions 697 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:53,160 Speaker 1: to bring all the major pieces of the module up 698 00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:57,520 Speaker 1: to the I S S. Like Columbus, Kebo connected to Harmony, 699 00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:00,320 Speaker 1: on the port side, so that's the left side of 700 00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:03,040 Speaker 1: harmony if you've got destiny behind you and your right 701 00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:06,960 Speaker 1: side up. And it has twenty three I s p 702 00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:11,359 Speaker 1: rs aboard it those racks, those enormous experiment racks. UH. 703 00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:13,680 Speaker 1: Ten of those are reserved for science. The rest are 704 00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:17,879 Speaker 1: for Keybos systems and crew storage. Keybo has its own 705 00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:21,680 Speaker 1: robotic arm. It also has its own communication system. UH. 706 00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:25,279 Speaker 1: It hosts a ton of different science experiments, and that 707 00:42:25,320 --> 00:42:28,399 Speaker 1: includes stuff like Earth science experiments that monitor the CEO 708 00:42:28,480 --> 00:42:32,080 Speaker 1: two content of the atmosphere of our planet. Has X 709 00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:38,279 Speaker 1: ray astronomy experiments, electron telescopes, cosmic ray experiments, lots of 710 00:42:38,520 --> 00:42:42,759 Speaker 1: really super cool stuff. It also hosts various physics and 711 00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:47,839 Speaker 1: biology experiments. And then there's an exposed facility. This is 712 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:51,160 Speaker 1: a a part of the Keybo module that attached to 713 00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:54,400 Speaker 1: the far end of it. UH. This is a science 714 00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:58,040 Speaker 1: platform that's exposed to space for those kinds of experiments, 715 00:42:58,080 --> 00:43:00,439 Speaker 1: you know, the kind where there ain't no air out there. 716 00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:03,600 Speaker 1: It's a little tricky to talk about the size of 717 00:43:03,719 --> 00:43:06,880 Speaker 1: Kebo because of all these different pieces that came together. 718 00:43:07,200 --> 00:43:09,680 Speaker 1: If we're just looking at the pressurized parts of the 719 00:43:09,719 --> 00:43:12,839 Speaker 1: module as the bits that astronauts can move through without 720 00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:16,279 Speaker 1: wearing a spacesuit. Then you have one part of it 721 00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:19,040 Speaker 1: that is about eleven ms long or thirty six and 722 00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:21,520 Speaker 1: a half feet long, and it has a diameter of 723 00:43:21,520 --> 00:43:24,200 Speaker 1: about four point four meters or a little more than 724 00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:28,160 Speaker 1: fourteen feet. But then there's a second part of it, 725 00:43:28,200 --> 00:43:31,160 Speaker 1: a module that extends out from KEBO at a ninety 726 00:43:31,160 --> 00:43:34,560 Speaker 1: degree angle of this tube. So think of this one 727 00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:37,800 Speaker 1: pressurized tube and then think of like almost like a submarine, 728 00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:40,640 Speaker 1: you know, has like that that console at the the 729 00:43:40,920 --> 00:43:44,120 Speaker 1: at one end, you've got this this part that juts 730 00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:48,000 Speaker 1: out of one side of the tube at ninety degrees. 731 00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:50,680 Speaker 1: This one's four point two meters long or thirteen point 732 00:43:50,680 --> 00:43:53,680 Speaker 1: eight feet and four point three nine ms or fourteen 733 00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:57,800 Speaker 1: point four feet in diameter. So KEBO isn't a simple 734 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:00,759 Speaker 1: cylindrical shape like most of the other modules. It's a 735 00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:05,520 Speaker 1: little funky looking. Next up we get the Poisk module 736 00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:08,440 Speaker 1: p o I s K. This was the first of 737 00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:13,239 Speaker 1: the Russian Orbiting System the r OS portion of the 738 00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:17,320 Speaker 1: space station to be added after many many years. POIS 739 00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:21,719 Speaker 1: is similar to the Piers module, in fact almost identical 740 00:44:21,800 --> 00:44:24,520 Speaker 1: to it, and Piers as I will remind you it 741 00:44:24,640 --> 00:44:26,200 Speaker 1: docked back with the I S S way back in 742 00:44:26,239 --> 00:44:30,160 Speaker 1: two thousand one. So POIS serves as a docking you know, 743 00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:35,120 Speaker 1: docking compartment primarily just as Piers used to do before. 744 00:44:35,719 --> 00:44:37,320 Speaker 1: You know, they gave it the boot from the I 745 00:44:37,520 --> 00:44:40,880 Speaker 1: S S earlier this year. POIS thus houses an airlock 746 00:44:41,040 --> 00:44:44,840 Speaker 1: and docking system, and it attached to this Vesdam module 747 00:44:44,920 --> 00:44:49,279 Speaker 1: on the side opposite the Piers side, or rather, you 748 00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:52,080 Speaker 1: know the side where Piers used to be, so it's 749 00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:57,040 Speaker 1: on the Zen side. On February ten, NASA launched a 750 00:44:57,080 --> 00:45:01,480 Speaker 1: module called Tranquility aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor. Now this 751 00:45:01,520 --> 00:45:04,760 Speaker 1: one was commissioned by the EESA and the Italian Space 752 00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:08,400 Speaker 1: Agency or a s I. The module's main purpose is 753 00:45:08,440 --> 00:45:12,680 Speaker 1: to provide life support systems, environmental control systems, and an 754 00:45:12,719 --> 00:45:16,600 Speaker 1: observation coupola to the space station, sort of like a 755 00:45:17,200 --> 00:45:20,719 Speaker 1: quality of life module if you think about it. And 756 00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:24,880 Speaker 1: Tranquility has six ports or birthing locations, allowing it to 757 00:45:24,920 --> 00:45:28,960 Speaker 1: connect to up to six other components on the space station. Uh, 758 00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:32,120 Speaker 1: it docked with the port side of Unity, and we'll 759 00:45:32,200 --> 00:45:34,960 Speaker 1: chat about a couple of the other components that have 760 00:45:35,080 --> 00:45:40,240 Speaker 1: since docked with tranquility in our next episode. But um, 761 00:45:40,280 --> 00:45:43,400 Speaker 1: I want to do one more before we we wrap 762 00:45:43,520 --> 00:45:47,960 Speaker 1: up here, and that is the ras Vett module r 763 00:45:48,080 --> 00:45:50,080 Speaker 1: A S S V E T. And if you're thinking 764 00:45:50,120 --> 00:45:52,920 Speaker 1: that sounds like that's Russian, you're right. It joined the 765 00:45:52,960 --> 00:45:56,480 Speaker 1: I S S and Rasvet's main purpose is to serve 766 00:45:56,600 --> 00:46:01,000 Speaker 1: as a storage container as well as another docking for spacecraft. 767 00:46:01,520 --> 00:46:04,279 Speaker 1: This one didn't fly aboard a Russian launch vehicle. It 768 00:46:04,320 --> 00:46:07,480 Speaker 1: actually went up courtesy of the Space Shuttle Atlantis on 769 00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:11,800 Speaker 1: May and docked with the I S S on May eighteenth. 770 00:46:12,239 --> 00:46:14,959 Speaker 1: It connected with the bottom or native point of these 771 00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:18,600 Speaker 1: Azario module, the original I S S module that started 772 00:46:18,640 --> 00:46:21,600 Speaker 1: this whole thing, and the other port on Rassevet serves 773 00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:24,680 Speaker 1: as a docking port for Soya's spacecraft and cargo spacecraft. 774 00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:29,000 Speaker 1: This module is six meters or about nineteen point seven 775 00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:32,120 Speaker 1: ft long and two point three five or seven point 776 00:46:32,160 --> 00:46:35,080 Speaker 1: seven feet in diameter. All Right, we're gonna wrap up 777 00:46:35,120 --> 00:46:37,440 Speaker 1: here and we're gonna come back in our next episode 778 00:46:37,440 --> 00:46:39,360 Speaker 1: to pick up where we left off. Talk about the 779 00:46:39,440 --> 00:46:42,680 Speaker 1: last few modules that have joined the I S S, 780 00:46:42,719 --> 00:46:46,319 Speaker 1: including the Naka which is the most recent one. Uh. 781 00:46:46,360 --> 00:46:48,520 Speaker 1: And we've got another one on the way before the 782 00:46:48,600 --> 00:46:50,839 Speaker 1: end of the year if everything goes well, So we'll 783 00:46:50,880 --> 00:46:53,279 Speaker 1: talk about those, and we'll talk about what life is 784 00:46:53,320 --> 00:46:55,360 Speaker 1: like aboard the space station, some of the experiments that 785 00:46:55,400 --> 00:46:58,080 Speaker 1: have been done, some of the you know, interesting things 786 00:46:58,120 --> 00:47:00,759 Speaker 1: that have happened aboard the space station, ring it's you know, 787 00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:04,440 Speaker 1: time and service, as well as talk a little bit 788 00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:08,480 Speaker 1: about the plans of what comes next, like how much 789 00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:12,680 Speaker 1: longer does the I S S have before we really 790 00:47:12,719 --> 00:47:17,120 Speaker 1: need to consider retiring it because various components are pretty 791 00:47:17,160 --> 00:47:20,359 Speaker 1: old at this point, and what should come after that. 792 00:47:20,880 --> 00:47:23,560 Speaker 1: But we'll do that for the next episode. This one 793 00:47:23,600 --> 00:47:25,960 Speaker 1: has gone on long enough. If you have suggestions for 794 00:47:26,040 --> 00:47:28,240 Speaker 1: topics I should cover in future episodes of tech Stuff, 795 00:47:28,520 --> 00:47:30,520 Speaker 1: reach out to me on Twitter. The handle for the 796 00:47:30,520 --> 00:47:33,799 Speaker 1: show is text Stuff h s W and I'll talk 797 00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:42,440 Speaker 1: to you again really soon. Text Stuff is an I 798 00:47:42,560 --> 00:47:46,080 Speaker 1: Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, 799 00:47:46,400 --> 00:47:49,600 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 800 00:47:49,680 --> 00:47:51,160 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.