Station Structure
The ISS follows Salyut and Almaz series, Cosmos 557, Skylab, and Mir as the 11th space station launched, as the Genesis prototypes were never intended to be manned. The ISS is a third generation modular space station.
Other examples of modular station projects include the Soviet/Russian Mir, Russian OPSEK, and Chinese space station. The first space station, Salyut 1, and other one-piece or 'monolithic' first generation space stations, such as Salyut 2,3,4,5, DOS 2, Kosmos 557, Almaz and NASA's Skylab stations were not designed for re-supply. Generally, each crew had to depart the station to free the only docking port for the next crew to arrive, Skylab had more than one docking port but was not designed for resupply. Salyut 6 and 7 had more than one docking port and were designed to be resupplied routinely during crewed operation. Modular stations can allow the mission to be changed over time and new modules can be added or removed from the existing structure, allowing greater flexibility.
Below is a diagram of major station components. The blue areas are pressurised sections accessible by the crew without using spacesuits. The station's unpressurised superstructure is indicated in red. Other unpressurised components are yellow. Note that the Unity node joins directly to the Destiny laboratory. For clarity, they are shown apart.
Russian docking port |
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Solar array |
Zvezda DOS-8 Service Module |
Solar array |
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Russian docking port |
Poisk(MRM-2) Airlock |
Pirs Airlock |
Russian docking port |
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Nauka lab to Replace Pirs |
European Robotic Arm |
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Solar array |
Zarya FGB (first module) |
Solar array |
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Leonardo cargo bay |
Rassvet (MRM-1) |
Russian docking port |
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PMA 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Quest Airlock |
Unity Node 1 |
Tranquility Node 3 |
PMA 3 docking port |
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ESP-2 | Cupola | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Solar array | Solar array | Heat Radiator |
Heat Radiator |
Solar array | Solar array | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ELC 2, AMS | Z1 truss | ELC 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
S5/6 Truss | S3/S4 Truss | S1 Truss | S0 Truss | P1 Truss | P3/P4 Truss | P5/6 Truss | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ELC 4, ESP 3 | ELC 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dextre | Canadarm2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Solar array | Solar array | Solar array | Solar array | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
External stowage |
Destiny Laboratory |
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Kibō logistics Cargo Bay |
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HTV/Dragon berth (docking port) |
HTV/Dragon berth (docking port) |
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Kibō Robotic Arm |
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External Payloads |
Columbus Laboratory |
Harmony (Node 2) |
Kibō Laboratory |
Kibō External Platform |
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PMA 2 docking port |
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Read more about this topic: International Space Station
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