International Space Station Assembly Zarya

Zarya

Zarya

Launch Date:	11/20/98
Launch Time:	01:40 AM eastern time
Vehicle:	Proton
Launch Site:	Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakstan
Launch Window:	10:00
Altitude:	210 nautical miles
Inclination:	51.6 degrees
Liftoff Weight:	Zarya - 44,000 lbs; Proton - 1,540,000 lbs.

Zarya Orbital Events Summary Zarya Launch Countdown

Launch of the Zarya Control Module

Launched by a three-stage Proton rocket, the Zarya control module, also known by the technical term Functional Cargo Block and the Russian acronym FGB, will be the first component launched for the International Space Station and provide the station's initial propulsion and power. The 44,000-pound pressurized module is scheduled to be launched on Nov. 20 1998 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakstan.

Zarya Means "Sunrise"

The module was named Zarya, meaning "sunrise", in tribute to the new beginning in space that will be ushered in by the its launch as the first component of the International Space Station. The module, funded by the United States but built and launched by Russia, also is symbolic of the dawn of a new era of joint space flight between all of the station's international partners. In orbit, the module will see 16 new sunrises every 24 hours, one on each revolution of Earth. On the ground, its launch will be the dawn of a new era of human space flight, the beginning of an international venture of unprecedented scale.

Less than two weeks after Zarya reaches orbit, the Space Shuttle Endeavour will rendezvous with it and attach the U.S.-built Unity connecting module. Zarya will provide orientation control, communications and electrical power attached to Unity for several months before the launch of the third component, a Russian-provided crew living quarters and early station core known as the Service Module. The Service Module will enhance or replace many functions of the Zarya. Later in the station's assembly sequence, the Zarya module will be used primarily for its storage capacity and external fuel tanks.

Zarya's solar arrays and six nickel-cadmium batteries can provide an average of 3 kilowatts of electrical power. Each of the two solar arrays is 35 feet long and 11 feet wide. Using the Russian Kurs system, the Zarya will perform an automated and remotely piloted rendezvous and docking with the Service Module in orbit. Its docking ports will accommodate Russian Soyuz piloted spacecraft and unpiloted Progress resupply spacecraft. The module has been modified to allow it to be refueled by a Progress vehicle docked to its down-facing port if necessary. The module's 16 fuel tanks combined can hold more than 6 tons of propellant. The attitude control system for the module includes 24 large steering jets and 12 small steering jets. Two large engines are available for reboosting the spacecraft and making major orbital changes.

Launched by a three-stage Proton rocket, some of the module's systems will be active and some in an idle, or standby, mode and not fully activated until reaching orbit. After reaching the initial elliptical orbit and separating from the Proton's third stage, a set of preprogrammed commands will automatically activate the module's systems and deploy the solar arrays and communications antennas. On ensuing days after several operational tests, the module will be commanded to fire its engines and circularize its orbit at an altitude of about 240 statute miles, the orbit at which Endeavour will rendezvous and capture the spacecraft using the Shuttle's robotic arm.

Background

The U.S.-funded and Russian-built Zarya is a U.S. component of the station although it was built by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center (KhSC) in Moscow under a subcontract to The Boeing Co. for NASA. It was shipped to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakstan, launch site to begin launch preparations in January 1998.