In what would amount to an earthshaking fury of shuttle flights, NASA plans to ramp up its long-stalled International Space Station project over the coming year.

Assuming, that is, the long-delayed Russian living quarters for the station launches as scheduled July 12 and then safely docks at the outpost two weeks later.

If that turns out to be the case, the floodgates will open wide at NASAs Kennedy Space Center (KSC), homeport for the agencys $8 billion shuttle fleet.

"Were going to be busy, which is what were here for," said Dave King, NASAs director of shuttle launch operations at KSC. "Weve been waiting for things to break loose so we can go build the station, and were all excited about the potential for being able to go do that."

Heres a look at whats going up, and when, during the upcoming station construction blitz:

• Sept. 8: Shuttle Atlantis will fly on a mission to outfit the inside of the stations Russian living quarters for the first resident crew of the outpost. A spacewalk also will be performed to electrically connect the so-called service module dubbed "Zvezda," or "Star" by the Russians -- with the rest of the station.
• Sept. 28: NASAs Z-1 truss the metal framework upon which power-producing U.S. solar arrays initially will be mounted will be carried aloft by a crew aboard shuttle Discovery. A communications and television antenna also will launch on the flight along with a docking port that will provide a parking place for shuttles traveling to and from the outpost.
• Oct. 30: In training since 1996, the stations first resident crew finally will fly up to the outpost aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket and then open the station for business.
• Led by U.S. astronaut William Shepherd, the crew also includes Russian cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko. The trio will test fly the station and pitch in on critical construction jobs during a three-and-a-half-month stay at the station.
• Nov. 30: The stations first power-producing solar arrays will be ferried up to the outpost construction site by a joint U.S.-Canadian crew aboard shuttle Endeavour. Eventually, eight of the arrays each of which will unfold like an accordion and measure 112 feet (35 meters) in length will generate enough electricity to power 55 houses on Earth.
• Jan. 18, 2001: A can-shaped U.S. laboratory that will serve as the hub of science research at the station will be launched aboard shuttle Atlantis. The 28-foot (8.5 meter) aluminum module named "Destiny" - will house floor-to-ceiling experiment racks for research in biotechnology, fluid physics, combustion and life sciences.
• Feb. 15, 2001: Chock full of equipment and supplies for the U.S. lab, the first of three Italian-made space station "moving vans" will rocket up to the outpost aboard shuttle Discovery. Named after Italian inventor and artist Leonardo da Vinci, the cargo carrier will be berthed to the station with the shuttles 50-foot (15-meter) robot arm. Once unloaded, the so-called Multipurpose Logistics Module can be repacked with Earth-bound equipment and experiment samples for a return trip aboard the shuttle. A fresh station crew that includes Russian cosmonaut Yuri Usachev and two U.S. astronauts Susan Helms and James Voss will taxi up to the station aboard Discovery. Shepherd, Krikalev and Gidzenko will return to Earth aboard the shuttle.
• April 19, 2001: Raising a 480-ton station will require one of the most sophisticated construction cranes ever built, and the first parts of Canadas Space Station Remote Manipulator System will be carried up to the outpost aboard shuttle Endeavour. Considered critical to space station assembly, the robot arm is 56 feet (17 meters) long and will be capable of moving end-over-end to different work sites at the growing outpost. Also flying aboard Endeavour: The second station "moving van." Dubbed Rafaello after Italian artist Rafaello Sanzio, the cylindrical van will haul U.S. lab equipment and supplies to the station.
• May 17, 2001: An airlock from which station crews can stage spacewalks to build and maintain the outpost will be launched aboard shuttle Atlantis. Both American and Russian spacesuits will be stored in the unit, which is similar to the type of decompression chambers used by scuba divers.
• June 21, 2001: The third and final Italian "moving van" named Donatello after Italian sculptor Donato di Niccolo DI Betto Bardi, will truck up to the station aboard shuttle Discovery. Tucked into the 21-foot (6.4-meter) module which can carry up to 9.1 metric tons of cargo will be a host of U.S. stowage and experiment racks. The second resident crew Usachev, Helms and Voss will return to Earth aboard Discovery. Their replacements: U.S. astronaut Frank Culbertson and Russian cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Turin.
• Aug. 23, 2001: A pallet that will serve as a spare parts warehouse will be rocketed up to the outpost aboard shuttle Endeavour. Mounted on the outside of the station airlock, the warehouse will provide easy access to replacement parts for spacewalking astronauts and cosmonauts performing routine maintenance chores at the outpost.