ts volume. Each insert is equipped with a furnace to process materials. NASA and the European Space Agency will each supply two inserts, with the German Space Agency proving the fifth. The German furnace, unlike the others, will use a rotating magnetic field to control flow inside molten samples.
Japan's Kibo is unique in that part of the lab is "outside," to expose experiments to the environment of space. An airlock allows moving equipment in and out of the station without depressurizing the entire lab. Researchers will control a robotic arm with grippers and a camera to observe experiments exposed to space and move equipment.
A device called the Express pallet (Expedite the Processing of Experiments to Space Station) will hold up to six payloads or experiments that call for exposure to space. Built by the Brazilian Space Agency, the pallet can be located almost anywhere along the main truss, and will get its power and data handling from the ISS. Robots, such as the Canadian and European robotic arms, or spacewalks will be used to remove, replace, and service payloads.
A habitation module will connect to Node 2, which will be below, or Earthward of, Unity node. It will contain living quarters for seven crew members, eating and hygiene facilities, as well as medical and exercise equipment.
Keeping it in place
Completing the station will take more than 40 shuttle flights and a host of Progress launches. Future payloads are also scheduled for delivery on Japan's Hope spacecraft and the European Automated Transfer Vehicle. The Italian Space Agency is providing three multipurpose logistics modules named Leonardo, Rafaello, and Donatello after famed Italians, not Ninja Turtles. The modules fit inside the Shuttle bay and carry 9.1 tons of cargo packed in a pressurized environment. The modules also provide power, data, and cooling fluid to some cargo containers.
Due to the small but constant presence of atmosphere at ISS's orbiting altitude (217 to 285 miles) and the large size of the ISS, it will fall about 1 mile/wk once it is completed. To stay in orbit, a docked Progress rocket, Shuttle, or the Zarya module will fire its engines, increasing the ISS's orbital speed, and therefore, its orbital height.
Currently, Congress has approved five years of funding for ISS development and construction, about $24 billion, and a 10-yr operating budget of $13 billion. NASA expects the station to have a much longer life than the current 10-yr plan. After all, many ISS parts were originally designed for the all-American Freedom space station and a 30-yr life. NASA was instructed to use as many Freedom components and modules as they could. All station components are also designed for transport and assembly in space, so almost anything can be replaced.
ISS's extended life is not hard to accept when you consider that Pioneer 10, a mission launched 29 years ago and formally ended four years ago, is still functioning. Signals from Pioneer were detected last April when it was about 7.3 billion miles from the Earth traveling 27,830 mph. So it's likely the ISS will outlive its budget.
When the end finally comes, the ISS will be "decommissioned" by taking it apart into pieces sized to burn up on reentry and then sending them Earthward.