 Exterior ofCupola with shutters open | |
| Module statistics | |
|---|---|
| COSPAR ID | 2010-004B[1] |
| Launch date | 8 February 2010, 09:14:08 UTC |
| Launch vehicle | Space Shuttle Endeavour |
| Berthed | 15 February 2010 |
| Mass | 1,880 kg (4,145 lb) |
| Height | 1.5 m (4.9 ft) |
| Diameter | 2.95 m (9.68 ft) |
TheCupola is anESA-built observatory module of theInternational Space Station (ISS). Its name derives from the Italian wordcupola, which means "dome". Its seven windows are used to conduct experiments, dockings and observations of Earth. It was launched aboardSpace ShuttleEndeavour's missionSTS-130 on 8 February 2010, and attached to theTranquility (Node 3) module. With theCupola attached, ISS assembly reached 85 percent completion. TheCupola's central window has a diameter of 80 cm (31 in).[2]
TheCupola provides an observation and work area for the ISS crew giving visibility to support the control of the space stationremote manipulator system and general external viewing ofEarth, celestial objects and visiting vehicles. The Cupola project was started by NASA andBoeing, but canceled due to budget cuts. A barter agreement between NASA and theESA resulted in theCupola's development being resumed in 1998 by ESA.[3]
TheCupola is important to astronauts aboard the ISS,[3] who enjoy using the module to view and photograph the Earth.Cupola replaced the RussianZvezda for such photographs.[4] Previously they looked out of smallportholes, or at best the 20-inch (50 cm) window in the USDestiny laboratory. TheCupola is berthed onto the Earth-facing port of theTranquility module. Because of its shape and multi window configuration theCupola has been compared to the cockpit window of theMillennium Falcon.[5][6]
The International Space StationCupola was first conceived in 1987 by Space Station Man-Systems Architectural Control Manager Gary Kitmacher as a workstation for operating the station'sCanadarm2 robotic arm, maneuvering vehicles outside the station, and observing and supportingspacewalks. He likened the use as similar to that of theShuttle Orbiter Aft Flight Deck. There were to have been two Cupolas, one on either end of the racetrack shape formed by the station modules and nodes. It was initially named the "windowed workstation", to distinguish it from other computer-based workstations inside of the station and from which the crew could operate the station's systems.
Once the idea was initially accepted, a number of people went to work. Human factors specialist Frances Mount began to develop the rationale and operational scenarios for theCupola, and got considerable support from Chief AstronautJohn Young and Shuttle CommanderGordon Fullerton. Charles Wheelwright, who had defined the specifications for every window on every prior United States crewed spacecraft, began to define the design specifications of theCupola windows. Laurie Weaver, who had just started with NASA as a student intern, began to work on a series of different configurations for theCupola. She started with Kitmacher's idea, based on the Shuttle Aft Flight Deck, in this case two Aft Flight Decks mounted back to back, placed atop a short cylinder. An inexpensive mock-up made ofPVC tubes was built and tested underwater, where critical dimensions could be measured to ensure that two crew members in zero-g would have adequate access. Then she built a series of small cardboard models, looking at a variety of different alternative shapes. The different configurations and their positive and negative attributes were presented at a series of Crew Station Reviews over the next year in which participants rated each. TheCupola that evolved was octagonal in shape, with eight similar windows around the periphery, four quadrant windows overhead, and mounted on a cylinder. The module was designed to fully contain at least two crewmembers "floating" side by side inzero-gneutral body posture. About this time, Kitmacher and designer Jay Cory applied the termCupola for the first time. Kitmacher wrote the requirements and the name into the Man-Systems Architectural Control Document and into therequests for proposals for Work Package 1 at MSFC and Work Package 2 atJSC. Later, Kitmacher went on to lead the Man-Systems group, leading the first lunar outpost and moonbase studies and theCupola reappeared on several of his rover and module designs.[7]
Because of confusion between the responsibilities of the two contracts, bothBoeing, which won Work Package 1, andMcDonnell Douglas, which won Work Package 2, bid to build theCupola. The McDonnell Douglas design was basically the same as NASA's, but Boeing's was smaller — a hexagon, with a single large circular overhead window, and a much shorter cylinder. The Boeing design had been considered but previously discarded, because it was unable to accommodate two crew members completely, and would instead require the crew to dangle their legs and bodies in the Node to which theCupola would be attached. This design was the one ultimately built.
Components of theCupola were initially fabricated in California, and the windows in New York in the late 1980s, but as budgets were cut, theCupola was a favorite target. Several times it was fought back into the program only to be cut again as not technically required. More than once the responsibilities for fabrication were bartered to one international partner and then another in exchange for Shuttle launch services and resources that the United States would provide on board the station in orbit. TheCupola made the rounds to Brazil and then finally wound up with ESA and the Italians in 1998, who completed it in 2003. Even then, the launch of theCupola was repeatedly delayed until it finally made it into orbit in February 2010. The delivery method also changed from theCupola being mounted on a SpaceLab pallet accompanyingKibo's external facility to being mounted on the European builtTranquility module as it was delivered.
The original barter agreement had ESA building two cupola modules for the ISS. This was later amended to just one.[8] The ESA-builtTranquility module and theCupola together cost nearly $409 m.[9]
With final design and assembly by the Italian contractor Alenia Spazio (now merged intoThales Alenia Space), it is nearly 3 metres in diameter and 1.5 metres tall. It has six side windows and a top window, all of which are equipped with shutters to protect them from damage bymicrometeoroids andorbital debris. It features a thermal control system, audio, video andMIL-STD-1553 bus interfaces, as well as the connections needed for installing one of the two identical workstations that control the robotic manipulatorCanadarm2.[10]
TheCupola's outer framework was built by theVereinigte Schmiedewerke inHattingen, Germany. It is made from forgedaluminum, with an inner skeleton made fromsteel plates and bars welded together; which add strength against the pressure. Several companies including Alcoa and Tata Steel Europe were contracted for the manufacturing.[11] A prototype is today exhibited in theHenrichshütte,LWL-Museen für Industriekultur.
Each window is composed of 4 separate layers ('panes'): An outer debris pane, two 25 mm pressure panes, and an inner scratch pane. Each pressure pane and debris pane is made from fused silica glass.[12] The panes can be replaced in-orbit after an external pressure cover has been fitted.[12]
The window shutters are manually controlled. Each window has a knob with a direct mechanical linkage to the outside shutter assembly.O-rings are used to prevent air leakage.[13]
Cupola was launched aboardSpace ShuttleEndeavour on missionSTS-130, on 8 February 2010. It was berthed to the forward port of theTranquility module for launch, and was later transferred to thenadir-facing port ofTranquility by the Canadarm2, onceTranquility had been berthed to theUnity Module of the ISS. The installation of theCupola, along withTranquility, marked one of the last main components to be added to the International Space Station.
ESA specifications:[10]
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