Zarya Control Module
Date: |
November 20, 1998 |
Location: |
Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakstan)
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Flight: |
1A/R |
Vehicle: |
Russian Proton Rocket
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Designation:
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Functional Cargo Block (FGB)
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Rationale:
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It provides propulsive control capability and power through the early assembly
stages.
It provides fuel storage capability.
It provides a rendezvous and docking capability to the Service Module.
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The 42,600-pound pressurized Zarya control module, also known by the technical term
Functional Cargo Block and the Russian acronym FGB, was the first component launched
for the International Space Station and provides the station's initial propulsion
and power.
The Zarya module is 41.2 feet long and 13.5 feet wide at its widest point. It has an
operational lifetime of at least 15 years. Its solar arrays and six nickel-cadmium
batteries can provide an average of 3 kilowatts of electrical power. Using the
Russian Kurs system, the Zarya will perform an automated and remotely piloted
rendezvous and docking with the Service Module in orbit. Its docking port will
accommodate Russian Soyuz piloted spacecraft and unpiloted Progress resupply
spacecraft. Each of the two solar arrays is 35 feet long and 11 feet wide.
The module's 16 fuel tanks combined can hold more than 6 tons of propellant. The
attitude control system for the module includes 24 large steering jets and 12 small
steering jets. Two large engines are available for reboosting the spacecraft and
making major orbital changes.
The module is named Zarya ("Sunrise") because its launch signaled the dawn
of a new era of internatiional cooperation in space exploration.
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