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  Space module madness!Aug 19, 2011 4:24 AM PDT | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:Thanks to AnsuGisalas for mentioning A* and my recent article with videos of some interesting DARPA projects (hypersonic planes, robotic hummingbirds and dogs, etc) on this TechRepublic article about DARPA's recent somewhat unsuccessful test of their Mach 20 Falcon HTV-2 aircraft. AnsuGisalas kindly referred to me there as an "advanced technophile"--I think "bumbling" would be much more accurate, but the link and the kind words are appreciated nonetheless. :)
 
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A little over a week ago I was talking about Spacelab, the modular, largely European-made space science experiment platform carried in the cargo bay on Space Shuttle missions. Well, the know-how obtained from that successful program paved the way for many other space modules--so many, in fact, that it's going to take me at least a couple days to tell you about them!
 
First, let's talk about the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules, or MPLMs. They were originally to be built by Boeing, for a never-realized American space station--this was in the late '80s and early '90s--but the Italian Space Agency (ISA) eventually got the job, constructing these cylindrical modules, 21 feet long and 15 feet in diameter, capable of carrying nine metric tonnes of cargo to the International Space Station. Three MPLMs were built: the Leonardo, the Raffaello, and the Donatello.
 
Here's the Leonardo in the Space Shuttle Discovery's cargo bay in 2001:
 
Image
image by NASA (source)
 
And the Raffaello docked to the ISS in 2005:
 
Image
image by NASA (source)
 
And a view inside the Leonardo in 2001, with cosmonaut Yuri P. Gidzenko among the cargo, providing a handy scale reference:
 
Image
image by NASA (source)
 
The Donatello never flew, but its multi-layer insulation (in which multiple insulated thermal layers help lower heat loss from a spacecraft by reflecting half of the incoming heat back to the previous layer; the more layers you have, the less heat makes its way to the final layer and (half) out into space: "a typical insulation blanket has 40 or more layers") was stripped off, reinforced with Kevlar for micrometeorite protection, and installed on Leonardo when it was converted into the Permanent Multipurpose Module in February of this year--it is now a fixed part of the ISS.
 
And yes, those are the names ("Raphael" was spelled slightly differently) of three of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And in fact the official MPLM logo features a space-suited Ninja Turtle, in a rather unique cooperation with Mirage Studios, who owns the Turtles IP; you can see that logo here.
 
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Also made in Italy, this time by the ESA, were the Harmony, Columbus, and Tranquility modules of the ISS. They follow the same basic design principles established for Spacelab and the MPLMs, and were carried into space in Space Shuttle cargo bays. Here's Harmony, which provides data, power, and a connection hub for the station, being attached to the ISS in 2007:
 
Image
image by NASA (source)
 
It's attached to the Boeing-built Destiny lab module, incidentally; Destiny, also of a similar diameter, as it was carried up in the Space Shuttle Atlantis' cargo bay in 2001, has a nifty telescope-quality 20-inch glass window--it's the window often used by astronauts to capture high-quality views of the Earth below. A manually operated shutter protects it when not in use; here it is open for viewing in 2001:
 
Image
image by NASA (source)
 
(You can see the labelled shutter lever above the window there.)
 
But back to the Italian-built modules! After Harmony in 2007, Columbus was added the next year, attaching to the side of Harmony, like so:
 
Image
image by NASA (source)
 
Columbus is a lab module, packed with instruments and experiments. Here's a handy diagram showing the layout:
 
Image
image by ESA (source)
 
and a nice view taken by a spacewalking astronaut in May of this year, with the Space Shuttle Endeavour there, docked to Harmony; Columbus is on the right:
 
Image
image by NASA (source)
 
Shiny!
 
Module madness continues tomorrow!
 
 
 
 
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