WEBVTT - The Origins of the International Space Station 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:12.520 Welcome to tech Stuff, production from I Heart Radio. Hey there, 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:16.360 and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:18.680 I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio, and I 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:21.880 love all things tech and I think we're in the 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:26.840 penultimate space station episode, folks. So for those of you 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:29.720 just you know, tuning into this episode and not hearing 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:32.880 the others, this is a continuation of a series I've 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:36.160 done about space stations. So we started off talking about 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:40.480 monolithic stations, that is, stations that would launch into orbit, 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:43.920 all in one piece, like fully formed, and you would 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:46.319 use some sort of heavy lift launch vehicle to get 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:49.400 them up up, you know, into orbit. That includes stuff 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:53.520 like the Soviet Saliott stations, which also included a couple 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:58.040 of military platforms, and also the US sky Lab station. 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.840 Then and the following episode we focused a lot on 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:07.440 Mir the Soviet slash Russian modular space station, because that 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:11.880 particular space station was up in orbit and survived the 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:16.160 transition from the Soviet Union dissolving and becoming its various 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:19.800 you know, independent states. And then we followed that up 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:22.520 with an episode about NASA's attempts to get its own 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:25.800 modular space station up into orbit. That last one was 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:28.360 a real gut punch because it involves a series of 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:32.480 different proposals and attempts that you know, fizzled out at 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:35.240 least as far as NASA's original plans go. But this 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:39.360 all sets the stage for the International Space Station or 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:42.600 the I S S, which is what I had intended 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:46.360 to podcast about in the first place, because, depending upon 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:48.840 whom you believe, that station is starting to near the 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:52.360 end of its functional life. All right, so let's do 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:55.240 a quick look at what was going on as we 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:59.919 arrived at a point where the I S S becomes possible. First, 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:03.320 you had a Russia. Back in the Soviet days, the 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:07.160 Soviet Space Agency built several space modules that could serve 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:10.880 as the core of a space station. Mirror's core module 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:15.079 is an example of this. Another example was the Functional 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:18.680 Cargo Block or f g B. Now, this type of 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:22.600 module was originally intended for the Mirror space station, but 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:27.120 it never launched to join Mirror. It was also part 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:30.440 of a Soviet era anti ballistic missile system kind of 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:32.920 like the star Wars program was supposed to be here 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:36.399 in the United States, uh and similarly that also never 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:41.320 achieved orbit. Now, some in the West suspected that the 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:45.160 f g B module that would eventually become the first 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:48.000 I S S component in space, which would be called 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:52.640 zaria that that means dawn or sunrise in Russian. Anyway, 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:55.480 they thought that it's possible that this f g B 0:02:56.520 --> 0:03:00.560 unit actually dated to the Soviet era, at least was 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:05.640 largely constructed in the nineteen eighties. However, other documents show 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:08.840 that while the design came from the Soviet era, the 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:12.640 actual construction would take place in the nineties. More on 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:15.359 that in just a bit. But the Russians also had 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:19.600 another module with the designation of Saliot Dose eight do 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:23.480 OS eight, And you might remember from the previous episodes 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:26.520 that the Saliot program included space stations that had the 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:31.000 DOS designation, and that Mirror's core module had the designation 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:34.920 d OS seven. While the d O S eight was 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:38.880 intended to serve as a core for successor space station, 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:42.120 the Mirror two. There's supposed to be a second Mirror. 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.800 The Soviets built d OS eight in the nineteen eighties, 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:49.320 but for various reasons, that program never got off the ground, 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:52.840 so to speak, and the module sat in storage in 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:57.480 the factory for many years, and it would eventually emerge 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:03.680 as Vezda, which means star in Russian, or possibly Zuesda, 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:07.040 since the V and W sounds are a little tricky, 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:10.280 I'll say Zvezda, but because I mean, I tried to 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:14.560 look it up. But honestly, the the resources I looked at, 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:17.360 I don't fully trust them because a lot of them 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:20.599 just had that robot telling me it's Vezda. It sounds 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:24.560 to me like it's just doing it, you know, phonetically. Anyway, 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:27.719 over in the United States and Europe and Japan, you 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:30.680 had various space programs all at work on the design 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:33.800 and development of modules for what was going to be 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:38.239 Space Station Freedom and then Space Station Alpha or Space 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:41.719 Station Fred as some would call it, and these included 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:44.520 a module from the European Space Agency that would be 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:48.440 called Columbus and one from Japan called the Japanese Experiment 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:51.640 Module or j E M or Keybo. But by the 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:54.680 early es all of those plans were starting to fizzle 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:57.440 out as the United States Congress began to bulk at 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:00.480 the prospect of paying out for a space station that 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:03.919 had made little progress since the Reagan administration had announced it. 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:09.320 In That also put international strain on NASA because it 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:13.359 had made commitments to these other space agencies, so the 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:16.480 collapse of the Soviet Union did a serious number both 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:19.560 on its own space program as well as the United 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:23.599 States space program. So for decades, the rivalry between the 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:28.000 United States and the USSR pushed governments to pour more 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:32.240 resources into the space program for numerous reasons. One was 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:36.600 to display technological superiority over an opponent in the Cold War. 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:41.200 Another was to establish technologies that could potentially be weaponized 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:44.200 in the future in a further escalation of the arms race. 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:48.360 And of course there were the countless engineers and scientists 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:52.680 who genuinely wanted to expand our understanding of space and science. 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:57.599 But without that political rivalry, a lot of them was gone, 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:00.760 at least on a political side. And you know, don't 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:03.400 get me started on that. I find that so frustrating, 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.000 as if, you know, pushing back the boundaries of ignorance 0:06:06.400 --> 0:06:09.840 is somehow not priceless all by itself. You never know 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:11.760 what you're gonna learn or how you might be able 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:14.320 to use it, and it could be an enormous benefit, 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:18.440 but no, you know, unless there's that other guy to 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:24.080 race against, it doesn't matter anyway. There was a real 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:28.200 possibility to any space station plans from anyone, We're just 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:31.159 gonna get tossed aside at least put on a back 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:34.000 burner for a really long time. Russia was struggling with 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:37.480 a financial and political crisis. The United States was struggling 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:40.200 with the fact that the space station designs had moving 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:44.799 goalposts and budgetary issues. So every time NASA was trying 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:49.200 to readjust new criticisms were coming in and various politicians 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:52.839 were starting to pull money away from NASA budgets. Also, 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:55.720 by that point, Bill Clinton had become the president of 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:59.080 the United States, so with a change in presidential administration 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:02.719 comes another opportunity to salvage the work on developing a 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:07.479 space station. This time, Russia would be invited to join 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:11.240 that project rather than serve as some sort of antagonist. 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:15.440 Clinton's team saw the possibility to combine the efforts of 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:19.360 Russia with those of the United States, Canada, Europe, and 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:23.920 Japan to create an international space station. The big benefit 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:26.520 here would be that the pieces that were already either 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:30.360 fully built or in the process of being constructed, or 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:33.200 at least ready to go into manufacturing, could still be 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:36.200 put to use rather than just go to waste. To 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:39.480 that end, US Vice President Al Gore and the Russian 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:42.760 Prime minister whose name I'm not even going to attempt 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:46.280 to pronounce. First name, Victor, I can get that one anyway. 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:49.760 They together announced the planned partnership of the I S 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:52.720 S what would become the I S S, and the 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:56.320 agreement would also create bonds of international cooperation, which in 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:59.080 turn could mean a shift in the arms race as 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:02.680 well as a way to help Russia stabilize politically as 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:06.080 well as economically in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse. 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:11.960 That's a good thing. You don't want unstable countries, especially 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:17.680 unstable countries that might have access to enormous stores of weaponry. 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:20.920 So the various countries all begin to form an inter 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:25.120 governmental Agreement or i g A. This would create the 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:29.880 three phases of the space station project. And actually this 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:32.400 was the second i g A. The first one actually 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:36.120 took place in nine, but that one was without Russia's involvement. 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:37.400 That was back when it was still going to be 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:42.000 you know, space station Freedom. The second agreement would come 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:45.720 out like a decade later in nine. All countries except 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:48.800 the United States in this agreement designated the i g 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:52.600 A as a treaty in in the US. It was 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:55.559 not a treaty. It was an executive agreement. Now that's 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:59.160 an important distinction, because in the United States, a treaty 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:03.040 with any foreign government requires that the United States Senate 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:06.960 has to ratify that treaty by a two thirds majority vote. 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:12.080 Executive agreements do not require that kind of ratification, and 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:15.000 in fact, they can pretty much hold the same sort 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:18.480 of powers as a treaty can. Now this is interesting 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:21.800 because there's no express clause in the United States Constitution 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:26.040 that actually grants US presidents this particular power. However, there's 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:28.640 also nothing in there saying that they can't do that. 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:33.840 So Clinton signed the executive agreement bypassing a congressional battle 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:37.080 over the whole matter. And as NASA puts it, the 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:40.760 new i g A established the overall cooperative framework for 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:44.600 the design, development, operation, and utilization of the I s 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:49.280 S and addressed several legal topics, including civil and criminal jurisdiction, 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:54.200 intellectual property, and the operational responsibilities of the participating partners. 0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:59.560 Lower level bilateral memoranda of understanding or m o use 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:03.560 were signed that same day by NASA Administrator Daniel Golden 0:10:03.720 --> 0:10:07.440 with his Russian, European and Canadian counterparts, and on February 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:11.040 twenty with Japanese representatives, the m O used described the 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:14.080 roles and responsibilities of the partners in more detail. A 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:18.640 third layer consists of bartered contractual agreements establishing the trading 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:22.480 of the partner's rights and duties end quote. Really interesting 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:25.280 that bartering was part of this, because I'm going to 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:28.959 cover a lot of the various components of the International 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:32.120 Space Station in this episode, and many of those were 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:35.760 part of this bartering, where you know, one party was 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:38.320 saying all right, well, I'll let you do this, but 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:41.079 you need to let me do this, and that all 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:44.880 kind of came about as international cooperation. So all of 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.720 this was going on while, of course Mirror was still 0:10:47.760 --> 0:10:50.440 operational and an orbit. And as I mentioned in the 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:54.400 Mirror episode, US astronauts would actually visit the Mirror Space 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:59.240 station as part of preparations for creating the International Space Station. 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:02.400 There were ga gathering valuable information about life and space, 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:05.400 the effects of space on the human body, and more. 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:09.480 These findings would inform design decisions for the future space 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:12.640 station modules. In fact, I should add the Mirror state 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:15.320 in orbit until the spring of two thousand one, so 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:19.840 there was operational overlap between Mirror and the International Space Station, 0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:25.360 so the Mere program continued while NASA, the E s A, Japan, Canada, 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:29.240 and Russia worked on components for the new International Space Station. 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:34.000 In things really got off the ground figuratively and literally. 0:11:34.600 --> 0:11:37.680 And not only is that when the participating countries signed 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:40.679 that I G A and the m o US, it's 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:43.480 also when the first component of the International Space Station 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:47.120 launched into orbit. So ten months after that historic signing, 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:50.880 Russia sent the Zarya module up into orbit aboard a 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:55.720 launch vehicle called the Proton K, essentially a big old rocket. 0:11:56.200 --> 0:11:59.280 All right, So let's address some stuff here. Now I 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:02.800 mentioned earlier or that Zaria's design at the very least 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:06.280 traces its origin to the Soviet era. Now, the purpose 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:09.959 of the Zaria module was to act as a station 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:13.120 keeping component. That is, it is a part of the 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:16.480 station that can work to maintain a fixed distance from 0:12:16.559 --> 0:12:19.800 other stuff in orbit to allow for things like docking 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:22.640 maneuvers and all that kind of stuff. It's important for 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:25.839 the stabilization of the station. It would also serve as 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:29.600 a source of battery power for the station, including you know, 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:33.079 having having solar arrays that could help charge the batteries. 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:36.240 Are really not help charge the batteries, charge the batteries. 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:39.760 And uh. It was based off the f GB cargo 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:42.839 spacecraft design. Now the thing is a module that was 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:46.959 meant to do the very same thing as Zaria was 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:51.319 originally part of this Soviet anti ballistic program called Skiff, 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:57.040 which was an abandoned project. They tried to launch a 0:12:57.160 --> 0:13:01.360 laser based anti ballistic weapon up into space. The Russians did, 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:05.280 but that launch failed. So there were some folks who 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:09.240 suspected that Zaria was not made in the nineties but 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:13.599 was actually a leftover, perhaps even a spare f g 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:16.520 B that was originally meant for this weapons program back 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:19.640 in the eighties. Now, if that was the case, then 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.880 the United States was essentially helping fund something that was 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:27.400 already built. Right because the United States paid the bill 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:30.400 for Russia to make this thing, it could be that 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.160 they already had it made and they were just like, yeah, no, 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:35.960 things are going great, keep sending the money, you know, 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:38.840 checks in the mail. It would largely explain how this 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:41.920 spacecraft managed to come in under budget and on time. 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:45.320 Those are two things that are pretty darn rare when 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:48.640 it happens in the space industry. Now, does that mean 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:51.160 for sure that it was actually built in the eighties 0:13:51.200 --> 0:13:54.120 but passed off as being built in the nineties. No, No, 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:58.120 not at all, just that it's possible, but whether it 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:01.360 was constructed in the nineteen eighties or the nineties, Zaria 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:05.400 did launch into space on November twentie n It launched 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:09.559 from Kazakhstan and it got into orbit without any major problems. Now, 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:11.880 the intent was to have Zaria operate on its own 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:15.760 with no crew aboard for up to eight months, and 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:17.720 it would turn out that the module would be lonely 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:21.280 a bit longer than that. Now, broadly speaking, you can 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:23.040 think of the I S S as being made of 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:28.520 two major sections. There's the Russian orbital segment or r 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:32.320 O S, and there is the US Orbital segment or 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:36.320 U S O S. Zaria is the module that connects 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:38.920 the R O S to the U S O S, 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:41.840 or at least on the Russian side. So Zaria is 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:44.880 twelve point five six meters that's a bit more than 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:48.800 forty one feet long, and it's four point one one 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:51.840 ms or about thirteen and a half feet wide at 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:55.120 its widest point. It is sort of a uh you know, 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:57.520 it's a cylinder, but a stepped cylinder, so it's not 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:00.720 all the same diameter across the entire length of spacecraft. 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:02.920 Like I said, it also has a pair of solar 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:05.360 arrays that stretched out to either side, kind of like 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:09.960 wings to help you know to to generate electricity. Zaria 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:14.440 has three docking ports, one on each end of the module, 0:15:14.920 --> 0:15:16.920 So like if you look at a cylinder, one on 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:18.880 one end of the cylinder, one on the other, and 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:22.320 there's a third one that faces Earth, typically on the 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:25.200 outer circumference near the forward end of the module. They 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:28.720 call this the Nader So you have the Nader ports. 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:32.640 Those are ones that typically face towards Earth in the 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:35.520 I S S normal orientation, and then you have the 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:40.040 zenith ports, which face away from Earth in I S 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.760 S is normal orientation. Then you also have port and 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:46.160 starboard uh ports, and some of these starboard being the 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:50.640 right hand side, assuming you're facing forward and your upright. 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:53.160 You normally don't have to say that because you're normally 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:55.440 talking about starboard import on a boat, and you're almost 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:58.200 always upright on a boat unless you're really sick, and 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:00.920 then port of course is the left side. So anyway, 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:03.560 those are the various directions. We try to keep them straight. 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:06.200 It's hard to do when you're talking about being in 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:10.560 a microgravity environment. We're up and down are more concepts 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:14.160 than anything else anyway. So three ports, one on either 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:17.160 end of this module, one on the nader or Earth 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:23.280 facing side of Zaria and uh Zaria links to the 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:27.920 Vezda module on the aft end, and it connects to 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:29.640 a U S module we're going to talk about in 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:33.560 the second on the forward end, and it connects to 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:38.400 a third module called Ross Vett on the earth facing port. 0:16:38.800 --> 0:16:42.000 Although originally that port was actually used for Selia's space 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:45.320 capsules to dock with the station. As I mentioned, this 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:48.200 module alone was not enough to support life aboard the station, 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:51.680 so there was no crew at this point. The second 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:54.320 component to join the I S S was the U 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:57.840 S built Unity Module. This is a connector piece kind 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.240 of Its main purpose is to connect the R O 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:03.560 S section of the space station with the U S 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:06.720 O S section, so this is the United States version 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:09.960 of that. It also serves as a crew dining area, 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:13.679 and it launched on December four as part of the 0:17:13.680 --> 0:17:17.320 Space Shuttle Endeavor mission. So this module was in the 0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:21.000 payload of that space shuttle. We'll talk more about Unity 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:23.080 as well as lots of other modules on the I 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:25.639 S S after we come back from this quick break. 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:36.280 All right, we're back to Unity. Let's learn some more 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:39.159 about this particular little module, which again was sort of 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:42.760 the connector piece, one of three nodes, as it would 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:45.800 turn out. So there are two other um units aboard 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:47.480 the I S S or part of the I S 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.960 S that are similar to Unity. So Unity measures five 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:54.399 point four seven ms or nearly eighteen feet long and 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:58.040 four point five seven ms or fifteen feet in diameter, 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:01.520 so it looks like a very short cylinder when you're 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:05.120 at a distance. Right has six ports on it, as 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:08.240 one on either end. So these are the axial births. 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:12.200 That's b E r t h S. Not not birth 0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:15.919 is in like birthday, but birth is in you know, 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:21.879 ship birth. And it also has four along the circumference 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:24.399 of the spacecraft if you like. These would be the zenith, 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:31.160 nadir um and port and starboard h ports or births 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:33.960 so on the forward and aft births, which are called 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:38.040 the common birthing mechanisms. Again b E R t H 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:41.480 these are cb ms. These at these ends, they had 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:45.120 two pressurized mating adapters one on either side. These are 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:48.280 called p m as, and as the name suggests, p 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:51.080 m as serve as a way to connect two components 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:55.320 together and maintain a pressurized environment so that different pieces 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:58.280 could link together. The p m A on the aft 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:02.320 side of Unity dock with the Zarya module at the 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:04.800 p m A on the forward side would later serve 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:08.320 as a docking point for space shuttles, though in subsequent missions, 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:11.199 crews would disconnect this p m A and attach it 0:19:11.240 --> 0:19:13.760 to other births while connecting new components to the I 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:17.320 S S, so it was not permanently affixed to the 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:21.000 forward side. It was, however, and is permanently affixed to 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:23.880 the aft side, where it connects to the Russian part 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:27.000 of the space station. Astronauts a board Endeavor used the 0:19:27.160 --> 0:19:31.080 shuttle's robotic arm to connect Unity to Zaria, locking the 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:34.679 two pieces together and creating the first linked modules for 0:19:34.720 --> 0:19:37.240 the I S S. It still wasn't ready to support 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:39.639 a crew yet, but it was the first step towards 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:42.879 the dream of an international space station. You know in 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:48.800 space Now I mentioned that Unity, the connector module, uh 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:52.080 you know, serves as a place where crews eat meals together, 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:54.600 and it also acts as a pass through for the 0:19:54.680 --> 0:19:58.639 various electrical and fluid systems on board the I S S, 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:01.880 meaning it allows for those things to continue through this 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:04.800 module and connect to others. Very important, like all these 0:20:04.840 --> 0:20:07.520 modules need to not just fit together, that they need 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:11.200 to allow the various systems, especially life support, to go 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:13.600 from one unit to another so that you have it 0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:17.600 throughout the entire space station. A unity was responsible for 0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:20.840 one of these things, even though it wasn't itself, uh, 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:25.480 you know, a life support system module. Now, the plan 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:28.719 was to add other components in pretty short order and 0:20:28.800 --> 0:20:31.080 get the station to a point where it could be 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:33.920 habitable for cruise. Like the idea was, all right, we'll 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:36.480 get the third module up there with life support, and 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:40.359 then we'll have a crew aboard and we'll be ready 0:20:40.359 --> 0:20:43.359 to go by the end of But the next module 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:45.760 to go up would be a Russian one, and the 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:51.159 Russian space program rose Cosmos was really struggling. The United States, 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:55.679 as I said, actually owned Zaria, having paid for its construction. Again, 0:20:55.720 --> 0:21:01.240 assuming it wasn't already constructed, Zvezda would need extra help 0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:05.480 in order to get off the ground, both figuratively and literally, 0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:09.880 and it got some help from and I promise I'm 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:15.000 not making this up Pizza Hut. So Russia as a 0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:19.840 whole was still really unstable economically around this time, and 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:24.720 the Space Agency, while never lacking in scientific expertise and ingenuity, 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:28.720 often found itself strapped for cash, which makes it really 0:21:28.760 --> 0:21:31.720 hard if you want to launch something into space. So 0:21:32.040 --> 0:21:36.600 part of the funding for this project actually came from advertising. 0:21:36.960 --> 0:21:40.320 Pizza Hut spent a truckload of money to have its 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:44.280 company logo painted on the Proton launch vehicle that it 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:47.760 carries Vesta up to orbit. The New York Times reported 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:50.280 that the pizza company spent about half of what it 0:21:50.280 --> 0:21:52.800 would take to run a thirty second ad during the 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:55.520 Super Bowl at that time, and that was around two 0:21:55.560 --> 0:21:58.880 and a half million dollars, so more than a million dollars, 0:21:58.880 --> 0:22:00.800 maybe a little less than a million and a half. 0:22:01.440 --> 0:22:04.600 And hey, you know, this might sound a little crass about, 0:22:04.680 --> 0:22:07.840 you know, slapping a logo on the space rocket, but 0:22:08.119 --> 0:22:10.480 the money helped keep the dream of the I S 0:22:10.480 --> 0:22:14.480 S alive. Zvezda would be the first module to actually 0:22:14.520 --> 0:22:17.840 have a life support system incorporated into it, so would 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:20.919 finally allow people to go aboard the young I s s. 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:26.000 Once everything was connected and operational, Zvesda launched on July twelfth, 0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:29.280 two thousand. The initial docking with the aft port of 0:22:29.440 --> 0:22:34.000 Zaria happened on July two thousand. However, it would take 0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:36.320 a Space Shuttle mission that was launched a few months 0:22:36.400 --> 0:22:40.440 later in September for astronaut h and a cosmonaut and 0:22:40.520 --> 0:22:44.280 astronaut cosmonaut each to go on a spacewalk and make 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:48.600 all the cable connections between Vesta and Zaria. That spacewalk 0:22:48.680 --> 0:22:51.920 lasted more than six hours to get all those connections complete, 0:22:52.160 --> 0:22:54.720 and at the end of it, Vesta, Zaria and by 0:22:54.720 --> 0:22:59.400 extension unity, we're all connected together. On September twelve, two thousand, 0:23:00.040 --> 0:23:03.320 all the systems operational members of the Space Shuttle crew 0:23:03.560 --> 0:23:07.760 boarded the space station for the first time. Now as 0:23:07.800 --> 0:23:11.760 part of that transfer, Zaria's computers handed over control of 0:23:11.800 --> 0:23:15.960 the station to VESDA. So Zaria now was no longer 0:23:16.200 --> 0:23:20.480 mission control for the Russian part of the space station, 0:23:20.920 --> 0:23:24.320 and Zvezda would serve as the living quarters for astronauts 0:23:24.320 --> 0:23:26.880 in the time. For the time being, it also had 0:23:27.160 --> 0:23:31.359 propulsion systems for making attitude and orientation adjustments to the station. 0:23:31.520 --> 0:23:34.840 Very important, and it also had a communication system for 0:23:34.920 --> 0:23:38.439 making contact with Earth. Finally, after components had been in 0:23:38.560 --> 0:23:42.479 orbit for about two years, the space station would have 0:23:42.720 --> 0:23:48.400 occupants and it would maintain some crew, sometimes a very 0:23:48.400 --> 0:23:51.320 small one, but it would always have a crew all 0:23:51.359 --> 0:23:55.600 the way up to and including today, So since September 0:23:55.640 --> 0:23:59.680 two thousand twelve, there has always been at least a 0:24:00.040 --> 0:24:04.240 crew aboard the I S S. So Zezda would be 0:24:04.320 --> 0:24:07.240 home to early cruise at the I S S. You 0:24:07.320 --> 0:24:10.080 might wonder what it was like. LA module was thirteen 0:24:10.119 --> 0:24:13.080