When it comes right down to it, the long-awaited Russian service module dubbed "Zvezda," or "Star" by the Russians is a self-sufficient space station in and of itself.
An upgraded model of space station Mirs core laboratory, Zvezda is equipped with a central command post, as well as life support, electrical power, computer, communications and flight-control systems.
Considered a crucial station building block, the spacecraft also sports a propulsion system designed to keep the outpost aloft during five more years of construction and a subsequent decade of scientific research.
The engine system is key because a Russian space tug now doing that job is running low on fuel. High solar activity and a resulting increase in atmospheric drag, meanwhile, are causing the existing 17-story outpost to dip toward Earth a bit with each passing week.
"The thing has been descending Earthward, and thats a matter of some concern," said Pat Dasch, executive director of the National Space Society in Washington, D.C.
"So at this point in the construction of the International Space Station, adding the service module is a bit like putting the engine in the car and the gas in the gas tank."
Stretching 43 feet (13 meters) from end to end, Zvezda also features four docking ports, two of which will provide parking places for Soyuz space taxis and Progress space freighters. The others ultimately will become gateways to research labs the Russians plan to add to the station around 2004 or 2005.
-- Todd Halvorson, Cape Canaveral Bureau Chief
advertisement
