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The first element of the International Space Station, ISS was built by Moscow-based Khrunichev enterprise under contract with the Boeing company. Although this contract funded only a single spacecraft, Khrunichev used spare parts and its own funds to build a backup module, in case the original Zarya module, also known by its Russian abbreviation as FGB, fails in the launch mishap or upon reaching the orbit. By the time, Zarya/FGB-1, successfully docked to the Zvezda service module in July 2000, the FGB-2 module was about 65 percent ready. At that point, Russian space officials considered several potential new roles for the craft in the ISS program, including its use as a heavy supply ship for the Russian segment of the station. In mid-2000, Boeing announced that it partnered with Khrunichev to "commercialize" the FGB-2. The move put Khrunichev/Boeing team on a collision course with RKK Energia and Spacehab, who at the end of 1999 claimed the same docking port on the ISS (nadir or Earth-facing docking port on the Zarya module) for their Enterprise module. The new role for FGB-2 Posted: 2001 August 10 During 2001, in the effort to save money on virtually stalled development of the Russian segment of the International Space Station, ISS, Khrunichev proposed to use the FGB-2 spacecraft as a base for Universal Docking Module, UDM. The UDM would serve as a hub for up to three Russian research modules; however, the work on the UDM module all but stopped due to lack of funds. The concept of using the FGB-2 as Universal Docking Module was considered in previous years, however the amount of work required for modifying the module for the task would not justify the effort. For example, the transfer compartment on FGB-2 had to be repositioned and equipped with three additional docking ports to receive future science modules. However by 2001, Khrunichev officials argued that in light of current financial situation, Russia had no chance of building all science modules in the station lifetime. According to Khrunichev, it would be enough to add a single docking port to the FGB-2 in order for it to serve as the Universal Docking Module. In August 2001, Khrunichev and RKK Energia -- the main Russian contractor on the ISS -- reportedly agreed on the use of the FGB-2 as the Universal Docking Module. According to that plan, the FGB-2 module would dock to the Earth-facing (nadir) port on the Zvezda service module, i.e. the same port where the UDM module was expected to dock. Such configuration would leave the "nadir" port on the Zarya module for the RKK Energia's proposed Enterprise module. In addition to the new docking port, the FGB-2's solar panels and a number of other systems would have to be modified, in order for the spacecraft to serve as a replacement for the UDM. Khrunichev representatives said that the FGB-2 could be prepared for launch within two years, after decision on its mission has been made. As of 2004, the launch of the FGB-2 module to the ISS was scheduled for 2007. MLM On November 3, 2006, RKK Energia and the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, signed a contract calling for the development of the Multipurpose Laboratory Module, MLM. At the time, the work on the module was expected to start in 2007, and its launch was targeted for 2009. In the new configuration, the MLM module would accommodate both service systems for the Russian segment of the ISS and scientific payloads. The European-built ERA manipulator and the DMS-R multifunction computer would also be installed onboard. |
PICTURE GALLERY
The FGB-2 module, minus its solar panels, sits in the assembly shop at Khrunichev enterprise in Moscow in August 2001. Protective red boxes cover attitude control engines. Copyright © 2001 by Anatoly Zak
The FGB-2's docking adapter. Khrunichev plans to install the additional docking ring on top of this section. Copyright © 2001 by Anatoly Zak
The interior of the FGB-2 module viewed from the docking adapter section toward the front docking port. Copyright © 2001 by Anatoly Zak
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