A new era in space exploration has begun with the successful launch of Zarya, the first module of the $60 billion International Space Station.
A Russian built Proton rocket lifted off at 6.40 a.m. Irish time yesterday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan. The Zarya was built by the Russians and financed by the US.
It is now orbiting 220 miles overhead. Zarya's solar panels which provide electrical power for its computers and onboard systems were successfully deployed, according to its Russian and US controllers.
Zarya will initially provide navigation, communications and power for the first few International Space Station (ISS) components. It will be joined within weeks by the second USbuilt component, the Unity connection module which is scheduled to be carried into orbit on December 3rd.
Zarya is the first of 100 components to be carried aloft over 45 launches during the next five years. The ISS project is being supported by 16 countries including the US, Russia, members of the European Space Agency, Brazil, Japan and Canada.
The ISS is scheduled for completion by 2004 and will weigh about 500 tonnes. The first three-member, US-Russian crew is expected to begin the first habitation of the ISS during a five-month visit beginning in January 2000. Under the current plan the US will build about half the station and carry most of its components aloft. Russia will contribute about a third, and Europe, Canada and Japan the rest.
The ISS will provide an unprecedented opportunity to conduct scientific research in the weightlessness of space. The ISS will provide a number of modern laboratories for health, environmental and astrophysical experiments.
It will also offer four windows through which intensive Earth observations can be conducted over long periods. It should provide scientists with the opportunity to learn more about the weather, the complexities of the Earth's atmosphere and the impact of climate change at ground level.
