SPACEHAB, Inc. today announced that the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) added $21.6 million to the company’s
REALMS contract to perform the next resupply mission to the
International Space Station (ISS).
This Space Shuttle mission designated STS-106 and slated for
launch in August, will use SPACEHAB’s Logistics Double Module (LDM)
and Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) to ferry vital supplies to the ISS.
SPACEHAB’s carriers are needed to stock the ISS with food, equipment,
and spare parts for the first permanent crew that is scheduled to
arrive in October.
“This mission provides the foundation for continuous habitation of
the ISS later this year,” said SPACEHAB President David A. Rossi.
“As a leader in space commerce, we are pleased to play an
important role in expanding human presence in orbit. The ISS will be a
unique laboratory of the 21st century, benefiting everyone on Earth
through advances in biomedicine, pharmacology, and other life sciences
research.”
The STS-106 mission will be the second resupply mission for
SPACEHAB in calendar year 2000. SPACEHAB already is under contract to
perform a resupply mission to the ISS scheduled to launch on April 24.
The company will be flying an LDM and an ICC on this mission.
“With the space shuttle fleet back in operation and this second
mission to the ISS in August, SPACEHAB should be profitable in our
fourth quarter (ending June 30, 2000)”, stated Rossi.
SPACEHAB’s LDM adds 2200 cubic feet of pressurized volume to the
space shuttle, more than quadrupling the living and working area for
the astronauts onboard. Up to 10,000 pounds of supplies can be packed
into the LDM for delivery to the ISS through a pressurized access
tunnel connecting the LDM to the Space Shuttle’s primary crew
quarters.
The ICC, a flat-bed pallet mounted in the Shuttle cargo bay over
the LDM access tunnel, enables SPACEHAB to transport equipment and
spare parts that need to be attached to the outside of the ISS by
astronauts on several space walks.
Both missions will carry SPACEHAB Oceaneering Space Systems
(SHOSS) boxes that attach to the top of the ICC and hold equipment in
easily accessible locations for astronauts performing these space
walks.
The Research and Logistics Mission Support (REALMS) contract with
NASA was established in 1997 enabling NASA to manifest new research
flights or ISS resupply missions as needed.
SPACEHAB’s next research mission is scheduled for launch in
early-2001 on Space Shuttle mission STS-107. This mission will be the
debut of the company’s Research Double Module (RDM).
More than 8,500 pounds of equipment is manifested on this
international research flight. SPACEHAB’s customers include NASA, the
European Space Agency (ESA), the National Space Development Agency of
Japan (NASDA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the German Space
Agency (DLR), and the U.S. Department of Defense.
SPACEHAB’s Space Technology and Research Students (S*T*A*R*S)
program also will have a payload on this mission accommodating student
experiments from the United States, Japan, Israel, China, and
Australia.
NASA recently manifested another RDM mission scheduled for launch
in late-2001 that has not yet been added to the REALMS contract.
Updated information regarding NASA’s Space Shuttle launch manifest can
be obtained at www.jsc.nasa.gov. (Once at this site, perform a search
for the Space Shuttle manifest.)
To register a classroom to participate in the STS-107 S*T*A*R*S
experiments contact SPACEHAB at 888-647-9543 or visit the company’s
website at www.spacehab.com.
Founded in 1984 and with more than $100 million in annual revenue,
SPACEHAB is the world’s leading provider of commercial services for
manned and unmanned missions in space. SPACEHAB is the first company
to commercially develop, own and operate habitable modules that
provide laboratory facilities and logistics resupply aboard NASA’s
Space Shuttles.
The company also supports NASA astronaut training at the Johnson
Space Center in Houston, Texas and provides commercial satellite
processing services for Boeing’s Delta and Lockheed Martin’s Atlas
launch vehicles near the Kennedy Space Center in Titusville, Florida.
FACT SHEET April 2000 Logistics Double Module (LDM): -- SPACEHAB's LDM is a pressurized aluminum module that is carried in the Space Shuttle's cargo bay, connected to the crew living and working quarters by an access tunnel. -- Dimensions: 20 feet long, 14 feet wide, 11.2 feet high. -- Volume: 2200 cubic feet (holds up to 61 Space Shuttle middeck lockers plus four double racks; additional subfloor stowage is available). -- Launch weight (module plus contents): Approximately 20,000 pounds (STS-101: launch weight approximately 18,000 pounds; payload ascent weight approximately 8,000 pounds module tare weight 10,000 pounds). -- Features: two viewports, multiple rooftop stowage areas. -- Boeing-Huntsville developed the LDM for SPACEHAB and serves as the Company's mission integration contractor. Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC): -- SPACEHAB's ICC is an externally mounted, unpressurized, aluminum flat-bed pallet, coupled with a keel-yoke assembly, that expands the Space Shuttle's capability to transport cargo. -- Dimensions: 8 feet long, 15 feet wide, 10 inches thick. -- Capacity: up to 6,000 pounds; up to six 400-pound-capacity SHOSS boxes (see below) on pallet surface. Cargo can be carried on both the top and bottom of the pallet. -- Launch weight (STS-101): 3,200 pounds (ICC plus cargo; payload ascent weight 1,300 pounds). -- RSC Energia is the maker of the ICC pallet structure. DaimlerChrysler Aerospace is the maker of the yoke that anchors the ICC in the Shuttle cargo bay and is SPACEHAB's mission integration contractor. SPACEHAB Oceaneering Space Systems (SHOSS) Box: -- The SHOSS box is an unpressurized "tool box" attached to the top of the ICC. -- Capacity: up to 400 pounds of tools and other flight equipment. -- Oceaneering Space Systems of Houston is SPACEHAB's partner for development of the SHOSS box and serves as the Company's integration contractor for SHOSS box contents. SPACEHAB's Role in International Space Station (ISS) Assembly and Resupply March 2000 Assembly Flight 1A/R, November 20, 1998: Russian Proton rocket launched Zarya control module. (No SPACEHAB payload.) Assembly Flight 2A (STS-88), December 4, 1998: U.S. Space Shuttle Endeavour launched Unity connecting module (Node 1) with two Pressurized Mating Adapters that was linked to Zarya. (No SPACEHAB payload.) Resupply Mission 2A.1 (STS-96), May 27, 1999: SPACEHAB Logistics Double Module (LDM) and Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) and SPACEHAB Oceaneering Space Systems (SHOSS) box launched on Shuttle Discovery, carrying two tons of supplies to ISS including Russian Strela cargo crane components. Resupply Mission 2A.2a (STS-101), April 24, 2000: SPACEHAB LDM, ICC and SHOSS box to be launched on Space Shuttle Atlantis, carrying more than four tons of payload to ISS including Strela crane components and SOAR (Space-Integrated Global Positioning Integrated System (SIGI) Operational Attitude Readiness) technology-demonstration payload. Assembly Flight 1R, summer 2000: Russian Proton rocket to launch Zvezda service module, providing life support and living quarters for ISS crew. Resupply Mission 2A.2b (STS-106), August 2000: SPACEHAB LDM, ICC and SHOSS box to be launched on Space Shuttle Atlantis, carrying more than four tons of payload. Assembly Flight 3A (STS-92), September 2001: U.S. Space Shuttle Discovery to launch Integrated Truss Structure, third Pressurized Mating Adapter, Ku-band communications system, and attitude-control gyros. Assembly Flight 2R, October 2000: Russian Soyuz rocket with three crew members including U.S. astronaut William M. Shepherd, initiating permanent habitation of the ISS. Assembly Flight 7A.1 (STS-105), June 2001: SPACEHAB ICC and two SPACEHAB SHOSS boxes to be launched on Space Shuttle Discovery. Micrometeorite debris panels for the Russian Zarya module will be carried on the ICC. NASA and its partners have more than three dozen ISS assembly and resupply missions planned over the next five years. SPACEHAB anticipates playing a role in two to three of these missions per year. NASA's Research and Logistics Mission Support (REALMS) contract with SPACEHAB provides options for numerous Space Shuttle flights.