Destiny (ISS module)
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The Destiny module is the primary laboratory for U.S. research payloads aboard the International Space Station (ISS). It was berthed to the Unity connecting module and activated over a period of five days in early February 2001. Destiny is NASA's first permanent operating orbital research station since Skylab was last vacated in February 1974.
The aluminum U.S. laboratory module is 28 feet (8.5 m) long and 14 feet (4.3 m) wide. It comprises three cylindrical sections and two endcones that contain the hatch openings through which astronauts enter and exit the module. The aft port of Destiny is connected to the forward port of Unity; the forward port of Destiny is connected to the aft port of the Harmony module.
Astronauts work inside the pressurized facility to conduct research in numerous scientific fields. Scientists throughout the world will use the results to enhance their studies in medicine, engineering, biotechnology, physics, materials science, and Earth science.
The Boeing Company began construction of the 16 ton (14.5 imp.t), state-of-the art research laboratory in 1995 at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Destiny was shipped to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 1998 and was turned over to NASA for pre-launch preparations in August 2000. It launched on February 7, 2001 aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-98.
[edit] Laboratory structure
As in the European and Japanese laboratories planned for the ISS, payloads inside Destiny are configured around International Standard Payload Racks (ISPRs).[1] Each rack weighs about 1,200 pounds (540 kg). Destiny arrived at ISS with five ISPRs containing a life support system that provides electrical power, cooling water, air revitalization, and temperature and humidity control. Seven [2] additional racks were flown to Destiny in the Leonardo MPLM by STS-102, and ten more were delivered on subsequent missions. [3] Four standoffs provide raceways for module utilities—interfaces for ducting, piping, and wiring which run to/from the individual racks and throughout the Lab. In total, Destiny holds 23 racks—six each on the port and starboard sides and overhead, and five on the deck.
Internal to the laboratory are racks, rack standoffs, and vestibule jumpers. The lab racks house the system hardware in removable modular units. The rack standoffs provide a volume for ducting, piping and wiring to be run to/from the individual racks and throughout the Lab. The racks interface to the piping and wiring in the standoff via outlets and ports located in the standoffs at the base end of each rack location.
Jumpers in the vestibule, the area between Unity and Destiny, connect the piping and wiring between the two. Grounding straps between Unity and Destiny will be installed. One side of the grounding strap will be connected to the Active Common Berthing Mechanism (ACBM) on Unity, while the other end will be connected to the Passive Common Berthing Mechanism (PCBM) on Destiny.
Some of the mechanisms on Destiny are the CBMs (passive and active), hatches, and the laboratory window shutter. The ACBM is in the forward port of the laboratory. It is attached to the Harmony node. The PCBM on Destiny is located in the laboratory’s aft port. The ACBM in Unity’s forward port is latched to the laboratory’s PCBM to berth Destiny to Unity.
Each of the two berthing ports on Destiny contains a hatch. Both hatches are now normally open, and will remain open unless a situation arises requiring a module to be isolated.
Each hatch has a window. The hatches can be opened or closed from either side. The hatches have a pressure interlock feature, which prevents the hatch from being opened if there is a negative pressure across the hatch (higher pressure on the outside of the hatch).
Destiny has an optical quality window (principally for Earth science observations) and a window shutter to protect the window from potential micrometeoroid and orbital debris strikes during the life of the ISS. The crew manually opens the shutter to use the window. The shutter will be installed during the third scheduled space walk.
Destiny also contains the Minus Eighty Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI), transported to the Space Station on STS-121. This Freezer is used both to store samples and reagents on the ISS and to transport them to and from the space station in a temperature controlled environment.
[edit] Specifications
- Length: 8.53 m
- Diameter: 4.27 m
- Mass: 32,000 lb (14,500 kg)
[edit] References
NASA - U.S. Destiny Laboratory
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