Nasa astronauts have attached a Russian docking and research module onto the International Space Station, bringing the $100 billion complex to near completion.
$ u0 b* }& d" D) a8 B6 [# q The compartment, known as Rassvet - Russian for "dawn" - was delivered aboard the shuttle Atlantis, which is making the third-to-last flight of the shuttle programme.% j. n3 Q; E7 I$ }' }1 E
& n3 o4 G2 r, Q7 R) X4 U Russia plans to launch its prime research laboratory in 2012, which will complete the $100 billion orbital outpost, a project of 16 nations that has been under construction 220 miles above Earth since 1998.
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Nasa has two shuttle missions remaining. Discovery is due to fly in September with a final load of spare parts and a storage pod that will be left at the station.% P+ o; D( V# a- A- i
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Endeavour, on Nasa's 134th shuttle flight, will mark the programme's finale with the delivery of the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer particle detector. The physics experiment will be mounted outside the station.% N7 Q0 A% t* e9 X; r
* a% E5 j( ?) P/ K& I4 s! g( I With Rassvet, the station now has 13 rooms, including two core Russian modules (Zarya and Zvezda) and three major laboratories. |
发表于 2012-8-14 23:21:39
