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By Terral Gordin (Copyright Terral Gordin 2003)
The ISS, as you know, takes a considerable portion of the NASA manned spaceflight budget, and most people think it does nothing to assist in NASA's goals of exploring the Solar System. What those people usually don't know, however, is that the ISS is fully expandable. It could easily become anything we need it to be.
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The space station was built with additions in mind. I have included a small diagram showing all of the (visible) docking ports and modules with airlocks for adding on more modules. Obviously, it isn't a photo but a fairly accurate 3D model of the way the station should look when complete. Most of the unused airlocks are on the Russian Core section of the station, but that hardly matters. All they really need is one empty port and a Node type module to attach to it. This could give it hundreds of uses, if the right things were attached. Needless to say, it would have to be in a higher orbit, but that happens every flight anyway. |
ISS ADDon Port illustration. Might recognize the ISS as the "Project ALPHA" mod for Orbiter...
Click to see larger version. |
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Let's say we were planning another excursion to the Moon. Instead of launching a gigantic Saturn rocket, we could launch a smaller one, capable of getting up to the station's orbit, where it could, say, take on passengers and fuel. If we were to build the station up beyond its planned size, and turn into something more helpful to the space agency's (less) immediate goals of returning to the Moon, it would probably justify the station's enormous price tag. Think of it: A Delta rocket is nowhere near as expensive as a Saturn, and you could (with the help of a modified ISS) send it to the Moon all the same.
The (russian) Mir Space Station was never intended to reach the size it did. I believe originally it was only supposed to last five to ten years. It ended up almost reaching twenty. Now, surely NASA won't want to throw the ISS away after only ten years, and will think of ways to not only keep it aloft, but also new uses for the station. I believe the Mir was by no means supposed to reach the age and size it did, and the ISS will probably follow suit, outliving its expected time and probably the Mir as well. A reasonable guess would be twenty-five to thirty years in orbit.
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Another Orbital Space Plane (OSP) design... |
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It would be difficult, but not impossible, to add on to the station and change it into a construction or refueling base. This would be good for future Mars and Moon missions, as well as possibly large unmanned probes. With the assistance of a station the size of the ISS, we could probably get a manned Jupiter mission! (A la 2001 {Just kidding])
With the advent of China's space program, it could be the fuel for another Space Race. China actually plans to surpass us and visit the Moon by 2010. Of course, it is likely that they will have an accident, similar to the American Apollo 1 Fire or the Soyuz reentry incident, but that is no reason to wait. We should be there on the Moon, waiting for them. And a modified ISS could help do just that.
In all likelihood, a manned Mars Mission would be an international endeavor, including such nations as the countries of the ESA, Russia, the US, Japan, Israel... The list goes on and on. One country that probably wouldn’t be aboard is China. They would, more than likely, try a Mission on their own, or with smaller allies (where they'll find htem i don't know). Having the ISS already in orbit as a base would give all nations a needed advantage, getting our mission off the ground first. It might even spark a second Cold War. Wouldn’t it be nice, though, to have a Space Race without a Cold War attached? Well, if that's the way it has to be, that's the way it has to be. Anything to get the public interested in spaceflight again, I guess we'll have to deal with it.
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