First step in next stage of ISS construction complete.

[Johnny Rico]

This morning, the ISS crew moved the PMA3 from the port side of the Unity node to the nadir side (earth-facing) to make room for the Harmony node's temporary docking berth which is coming up next shuttle mission.

There it will stay until it is again moved temporarily as that's where Node 3 will go eventually.

 

[Brent]

I am glad we are FINALLY making good progress with the construction of the ISS.

I fear though, since it has been so long since they started, and delay after delay of getting it complete, some of the technology up there, like computers and all, are already outdated! You know how fast technology moves.

By the time this thing is completed it will be over 10 years old.

 

[Johnny Rico]

Brent said:
I am glad we are FINALLY making good progress with the construction of the ISS.

I fear though, since it has been so long since they started, and delay after delay of getting it complete, some of the technology up there, like computers and all, are already outdated! You know how fast technology moves.

By the time this thing is completed it will be over 10 years old.

Yeah, one of the head NASA officials, either Michael Griffin or Bill Gerstenmeyer (sp?) said during one of the recent press briefings that the station is actually finally starting to look like a space station. Mainly due to the now twin set of solar arrays on each side.

But this is the time to be excited about ISS construction, as we're finally getting to the point when each shuttle mission till the middle of next year will be adding a new pressurized habitable module. Until now, well up until the addition of the Destiny Lab back in 2000 they have been working on the Truss system and/or bringing up MPLMs.

If you go to the multi-media section of the NASA website, load up the ISS 360° tour and check out just how much internal space that the Harmony, Columbus, and Kibo modules will supply. The Kibo alone is about 35' itself.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Yes, this is indeed great. We're actually getting to the point where you have to TURN to get somewhere on the station, and before long you'll be tuning in to the TV and be forced to wonder where on board they are. Great stuff, a long time in coming.

Mark

 

[Mark de Vries]

I'm really looking forward to the new modules arriving. The contrast between them and the older modules will be interesting to see. I recall photos of Bob Cabana and Sergei Krikalev in Unity when it was really very clean and new. It looks far more lived in now.

Brent said:
I fear though, since it has been so long since they started, and delay after delay of getting it complete, some of the technology up there, like computers and all, are already outdated! You know how fast technology moves.

Yeah, there was some fear of that when they moved PMA-3. They kept getting faulty readouts, so they postponed the move for almost an hour. But the fact remains that it went without a serious hitch.

By the way, anyone notice Clay Anderson goofing around everytime he spoke to Mission Control? Makes me wonder how his more formal (at least, when communicating with the ground) Russian crew mates relate to him.

 

[Johnny Rico]

Mark de Vries said:
I'm really looking forward to the new modules arriving. The contrast between them and the older modules will be interesting to see. I recall photos of Bob Cabana and Sergei Krikalev in Unity when it was really very clean and new. It looks far more lived in now.

Brent said:
I fear though, since it has been so long since they started, and delay after delay of getting it complete, some of the technology up there, like computers and all, are already outdated! You know how fast technology moves.

Yeah, there was some fear of that when they moved PMA-3. They kept getting faulty readouts, so they postponed the move for almost an hour. But the fact remains that it went without a serious hitch.

By the way, anyone notice Clay Anderson goofing around everytime he spoke to Mission Control? Makes me wonder how his more formal (at least, when communicating with the ground) Russian crew mates relate to him.

Yeah, Clay is pretty casual in is way of doing things up there. I kinda wished more of them [astronauts] were like that. Watching mission coverage would be so much more entertaining.

 

[Brent]

How 'upgradeable' is the ISS?

For example if they wanted to strip the computer system and install all new state-of-the art computers, could they do that?

What about whole modules of the ISS itself, can they be removed and replaced?

 

[Cutter John]

^ Oooh, a space vehicle with a 'computer core'.

 

[Deks]

Brent said:
How 'upgradeable' is the ISS?

For example if they wanted to strip the computer system and install all new state-of-the art computers, could they do that?

What about whole modules of the ISS itself, can they be removed and replaced?

While I have not followed the ISS progress too much, one should be able to surmise that upgrades of internal systems would be fully doable along with module removal/replacement.
Modules after all are made separately and then later on attached to the main structure ...

 

[Mark de Vries]

I should think it is possible to replace most of the modules, but only if it is really necessary. And I can't think of a situation where it would be.
In fact, there was some concern that the solar arrays on the P6 segment would refuse to retract, and if that would be the case, the entire segment would be detached and tossed. Didn't happen, and it isn't a proper module, but still...
But none of the connectors are permanent, so it would be possible to remove and replace modules. It'd be a hell of a lot of work, though.

Same with the computer system. Some parts of it can be swapped (they're doing that with the command and control computers in Zvezda at the moment), but since it is a network that stretches from Zvezda to Unity (and utlimately to Harmony, Columbus and Kibo) and from one end of the truss structure to the other, they can never take it all out without dismantling the station.

 

[Johnny Rico]

Well, with regards to all the laptops on the station, I believe they're fully replaceable with newer models. After all, most of the applications they run are just software programs for the Windows OS or Unix. In fact, I think they've already upgraded several computers as they were getting quite old, ie. P-IIIs or so. Remember the station started construction back in '98 and by the time they even got the Destiny Lab up there in 2000, they had to replace some of the older laptops. I'm sure by the time the station is complete in the next couple years, they'll have the latest laptop technology up there.

 

[Deks]

I sure hope so.
If anything with computer technology quickly advancing, perhaps it would be prudent to perform internal systems upgrade every 4 years.

Taking into consideration how usual desktop computers are going to be fully usable at least over the following 2 years after they are bought ... and even with some smaller updates they can be pushed to last 3 to 4 years until a major upgrade is needed.

So it's doable.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

The ISS, or at least the non-Russian part of it, runs just about everything from laptops. You can easily see them on most pictures of the inside of Destiny, at the robotics and command stations they have. They are physically moved around to the different lab stations as necessary for scientific purposes too. The Russian design, being originally from the 1980s Mir-style, was more hardwired - but when it was upgrade to ISS standards, swappable components were introduced that could be brought up or down via Soyuz/Progress or shuttle Spacehab.

The big criticism is that once the shuttle is retired, there are critically few options for larger-scale overhauls of ship systems. The NASA, ESA and JAXA labs are based around modular experiment racks that are too large to be brought up or replaced by anything but the shuttle MPLM - they're simply too big to fit through the Russian cone/probe hatches. JAXA is devising their HTV automated cargo ship that will allow transfer of larger cargo components, but that won't be ready for a while and STILL won't measure up to the shuttle's MPLM "turtles".

Mark

 

[Mark de Vries]

What about the European ATV? I know it is to dock at the aft of Zvezda, and I imagine it would be able to deliver substantial pieces of equipment. Do the connections between Zevzda and Zarya and the PMA between Zarya and Unity pose a problem for getting them all the way to Columbus or Kibo?

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

The Jules Verne series of ATVs can heft more cargo mass up to the station; however, they are not capable of carrying overly large pieces of equipment, like the aforementioned lab modules. This is ONLY capable of transfer through the much larger docking hatches on the non-Russian portion of the station. The Russian and shuttle hatches are simply not big enough to have the lab racks fit through. Even if they could, they'd not be able to squeeze them through the Zvezda module to get them to Destiny and beyond.

This is why the shuttle has to unberth the MPLM from its cargo bay and dock it with one of the unused ports on the ISS node modules, which are designed to accomodate the racks as well as other large pieces of equipment. The ATV is primarily designed for smaller experiment racks, food, water, logistical supplies, and the use of its own engines for axial station reboost maneuvers.

Mark