The Unity connecting module, also known as Node 1, is the first U.S.-built component of the International Space Station (ISS). It connects the Russian and United States segments of the station, and is where crew eat meals together.

Unity

Unity as pictured by Space Shuttle Endeavour
Module statistics
COSPAR ID	1998-069F [1]
Launch date	4 December 1998, 08:35:34 UTC
Launch vehicle	Space Shuttle Endeavour
Docked	6 December 1998
Mass	11,612 kg (25,600 lb)
Length	5.47 m (17.9 ft)
Diameter	4.57 m (15.0 ft)
Configuration
This image of the International Space Station (ISS) was taken when Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-106) approached the ISS. At the bottom is the Russian Progress supply ship that is linked with Zvezda module. The Zvezda is connected with the Zarya module. The U.S. built Unity module is seen at the top.

The module is cylindrical in shape, with six berthing locations (forward, aft, port, starboard, zenith, and nadir) facilitating connections to other modules. Unity measures 4.57 m (15.0 ft) in diameter, is 5.47 m (17.9 ft) long, made of steel, and was built for NASA by Boeing in a manufacturing facility at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Unity is the first of the three connecting modules; the other two are Harmony and Tranquility.

Launch and initial berthing

Unity (with its two attached PMAs) was carried into orbit as the primary cargo of the Space Shuttle Endeavour (OV 105) on STS-88, the first Space Shuttle mission dedicated to assembly of the station. On 6 December 1998, the STS-88 crew mated the docking port of the PMA on the aft berthing port of Unity with the forward hatch of the already orbiting Zarya module. (Zarya was a mixed Russian-U.S. funded and Russian-built component launched a few days before aboard a Russian Proton launch vehicle from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.) This was the first connection made between two station modules.

Connecting modules and visiting vehicles

Unity has two axial and four radial Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) ports. In addition to connecting to the Zarya module, Unity connects to the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module (added on STS-98), the Z1 truss (an early exterior framework for the station added on STS-92), the PMA-3 (also added on STS-92), and the Quest Joint Airlock (added on STS-104). During STS-120 the Harmony module was temporarily berthed to the port-side hatch of Unity. Tranquility, with its multi-windowed cupola, was attached to Unity's port side during the STS-130 mission, and Leonardo was added to the nadir hatch during STS-133.

In addition, the Leonardo and Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules were each berthed to Unity on multiple missions.

Nadir

Patch	Spacecraft	Docking	Undocking
	STS-97	2 December 2000 19:59 UTC	9 December 2000 19:13 UTC
	STS-98	9 February 2001 16:51 UTC	16 February 2001 14:05 UTC
Leonardo PMM, 2011-2015
	Cygnus CRS OA-4	9 December 2015 14:26 UTC	19 February 2016 10:38 UTC
	Cygnus CRS OA-6	26 March 2016 10:51 UTC	14 June 2016 11:43 UTC
	Cygnus CRS OA-5	17 October 2016 23:45 UTC	27 November 2016 23:36 UTC
	Cygnus CRS OA-7	22 April 2017 12:39 UTC	4 June 2017 11:05 UTC
	Cygnus CRS OA-8E	14 November 2017 12:15 UTC	5 December 2017 17:52 UTC
	Cygnus CRS OA-9E	24 May 2018 12:13 UTC	15 July 2018 10:20 UTC
	Cygnus NG-10	19 November 2018 12:31 UTC	8 February 2019 14:37 UTC
	Cygnus NG-11	19 April 2019 11:31 UTC	6 August 2019 13:30 UTC
	Cygnus NG-12	4 November 2019 11:21 UTC	31 January 2020 13:10 UTC
	Cygnus NG-13	18 February 2020 11:16 UTC	11 May 2020 13:00 UTC
	Cygnus NG-14	5 October 2020 12:01 UTC	26 January 2020 20:23 UTC
	Cygnus NG-15	20 February 2021 17:36 UTC	29 June 2021 16:32 UTC
	Cygnus NG-16	12 August 2021 13:42 UTC	15 December 2021 06:25 UTC

Forward

Via PMA-2

Patch	Spacecraft	Docking	Undocking
	STS-96	27 May 1999 10:49:42 UTC	6 June 1999 02:02:43 UTC
	STS-101	20 May 2000 04:30 UTC	26 May 2000 23:03 UTC
	STS-106	8 September 2000 12:45:47 UTC	19 September 2000 07:56 UTC
	STS-92	11 October 2000 23:17:00 UTC	24 October 2000 20:59:47 UTC

Not via PMA-2 (Relocated to front of Destiny during STS-98 and again to the front of Harmony during STS-120.[2])

• Destiny, 2001–Present

Aft

• Zarya (via PMA-1), 1998–Present

Starboard

• Quest, 2001-Present

Port

• Tranquility, 2010-Present

Zenith

• Z1 truss, 2000-Present

Details

Essential space station resources such as fluids, environmental control and life support systems, electrical and data systems are routed through Unity to supply work and living areas of the station. More than 50,000 mechanical items, 216 lines to carry fluids and gases, and 121 internal and external electrical cables using six miles of wire were installed in the Unity node.[3] It is made of aluminium and stainless steel^{[dubious – discuss]},[4] or aluminium alloy.[5]

During the space station construction, a crew member placed two speed limit signs on the hatch (leading into the FGB) in 2003, noting the orbital velocity in mph and km/h.[6]

Prior to its launch aboard Endeavour, conical Pressurized Mating Adapters (PMAs) were attached to the aft and forward berthing mechanisms of Unity. Unity and the two mating adapters together weighed about 11,600 kg (25,600 lb). The adapters allow the docking systems used by the Space Shuttle and by Russian modules to attach to the node's hatches and berthing mechanisms.[3] PMA-1 now permanently attaches Unity to Zarya, while PMA-2 provided a Shuttle docking port. Attached to the exterior of PMA-1 are computers, or multiplexer-demultiplexers (MDMs), which provided early command and control of Unity. Unity also is outfitted with an early communications system that allows data, voice and low data rate video with Mission Control Houston, to supplement Russian communications systems during the early station assembly activities. PMA-3 was attached to Unity's nadir berthing mechanism by the crew of STS-92.

Other nodes

The two remaining station connecting modules, or nodes, were manufactured in Italy by Alenia Aerospazio, as part of an agreement between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). Harmony (also known as Node 2) and Tranquility (also known as Node 3) are slightly longer than Unity, measuring almost 6.4 m (21 ft) long in total. In addition to their six berthing ports, each can hold eight International Standard Payload Racks (ISPRs). Unity, in comparison, holds just four ISPRs. ESA built Nodes 2 and 3 as partial payment for the launch aboard the Shuttle of the Columbus laboratory module, and other ESA equipment.

References

External links

• NASA Facts: Unity Connecting Module: cornerstone for a Home in Orbit NASA, January 1999
• Expedition 15 - Tour of the Unity Node filmed in July 2007 by Clayton Anderson

На других языках

[de] Unity (ISS-Modul)

[ru] Юнити (модуль МКС)