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The design of the Nodes, Cupola and Pressurized Mating Adapters (PMAs) has progressed to the point that detailed design is well underway and flight hardware has been fabricated for Node 1. Node 1, PMA 1 and PMA 2 are the first elements of the International Space Station Alpha (ISSA) United States On-Orbit Segment (USOS) launched. The Nodes serve as pressurized passageways between the other elements of ISSA as well as providing pressurized volume for accommodation of subsystem equipment, avionics wiring and fluid utility lines. The Cupola provides external viewing and accommodates a workstation to control the ISSA Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS). PMAs provide a pressurized connection between the USOS and the Russian Segment as well as the Shuttle. This paper details the current state of the design of these elements.

This paper is a continuation in the series of papers that have been presented annualy that trace the evolution of the Node. Since last year's paper (921252) the design of the Node outfitting has matured significantly. Many interference and packaging problems were identified and resolved. This paper will concentrate on the first Node to be launched, Node 2. It will briefly discuss the build-up of Space Station Freedom (SSF), and the launch manifest for the Nodes.

This paper discusses the outfitting of the Resource Nodes for Space Station Freedom. The current overall configuration and internal outfitting is described along with the major features of the Resource Node internal architecture, distributed system packaging, crew accommodations, utility distribution, and the Centrifuge Facility. The current design approach meets the program requirements for crew accommodations, on-orbit maintainability, and growth of the re-structured Space Station Freedom over its projected 30 year life.

This paper discusses the outfitting of the Resource Nodes for Space Station Freedom. The driving functional and design requirements are discussed briefly in relation to the current overall configuration and internal outfitting. The major features of the Resource Node internal architecture, distributed system packaging, crew accommodations, utility distribution, and the Centrifuge Facility are described. This current design approach meets the program requirements for crew accommodations, on-orbit maintainability, and growth of the re-structured Space Station Freedom over its projected 30 year life. This paper updates a similar paper presented in 1988, and as such, the reader may find it useful to refer to SAE Technical Paper #881120.

Following the realization that adequate Space Station Freedom (see figure 1) viewing could not be achieved without breaking the plane of the modules, a conceptual design phase for the development of a cupola progressed from the idea of a small, bubble-type canopy to a much larger, two crewmember cupola. The evolving cupola conceptual designs were each evaluated against the requirements for providing a large field-of-view, a complete proximity control workstation with flexible and relocatable restraints, and sufficient volume for two, 95th percentile crewmembers to operate while still maintaining reasonable weight and size restrictions. As the SS Freedom program Preliminary Design Review draws closer, the cupola development phase shifts towards evaluation of viewing and operational capability.

Proximity operations aboard Space Station Freedom involve a number of complex operations including: piloting of unmanned space vehicles in the vicinity of the Space Station; docking and berthing of unmanned space vehicles; control of the mobile transporter; Space Station RMS and the FTS; and monitoring of extravehicular activities. Display hardware is required aboard the Space Station to provide information to the crew. This information takes the form of full color text and graphics as well as full motion, full color video. Other display requirements include: readability in high ambient light conditions; low power, weight and size; and ability to adjust the angle and distance from the crew. A number of display technologies exist to meet these requirements. CRTs are the standard in display technology; however, they may not be able to meet the sunlight readability requirements and they consume considerable weight, volume and power.

This paper discusses designs for outfitting NASA Space Station Resource Nodes. It briefly summarizes the evolution of Resource Nodes to their current configuration and discusses functional and design requirements driving their overall configuration and internal outfitting. Significant features of Resource Node internal architecture, distributed system packaging, crew accommodations, and utility distribution are described. This approach to Resource Node outfitting meets current requirements for crew operations, on-orbit maintainability, and growth for the projected 30 year life of the Space Station.