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UK has plans to join the ISS |
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Written by Derek Kessler on
Wednesday, 16 January 2008
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 The United Kingdom has drafted plans to add two habitation modules to the International Space Station that would dramatically improve onboard living conditions for the astronauts in orbit. The plan, not yet a part of the ISS partnership (which includes the USA, Russia, ESA, Italy, Japan, and Canada, but not the UK), would add 100 cubic meters of living space to the ISS.
The Habitat Extension Module (HEM) would in acutallity consist of two separate modules to be attached to the Node 3 hub segement of the ISS. Each module would be a cylinder about 4 meters across and 6 meters long. The modules would not be able to be delivered to the ISS until 2011 at the earliest, and with the US Space Shuttle fleet retiring in 2010, they would most likely have to be launched aboard Russian Soyuz rockets and use an onboard propulsion system to maneuver to the station.
The modules would obviously add a substantial amount of storage, working, and living space for the ISS crew. They would also deliver several tons of equipment and supplies to the station, allowing for a reduction in the number of Progress automated cargo modules that have to be sent into orbit.
The project would cost an estimated US$1 billion in construction, launch, and operational costs, all to be shouldered by the United Kingdom. The cost would cover the five years until the end of the current projected operating life of the ISS, though project managers are projecting that the station could remain operation for another decade beyond that.
An alternative to the HEM would have the UK paying US$31 million to the Russian government to launch British astronauts and experiments to the station.
Discuss: TrekUnited Forum
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"That was setting number one. Anyone want to see setting number two?"
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