Dec 9 1996
From The Space Library
NASA announced the completion, on time and on budget, of the first major component of the ISS. Russia's Khrunichev Industries and the Boeing Company had combined efforts to construct Functional Cargo Block (known by its Russian abbreviation FGB), a 20-ton (18,000-kilogram or 18-tonne) pressurized module. Members of the international space team planned to launch the spacecraft from Russia in November 1997. FGB formed the initial building block of the ISS, featuring computer equipment, thermal controls, fire detection tools, and navigational apparatus. Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and Boeing Defense and Space Group received US$190 million for developing and building the craft. According to the plan, the ISS team would add many other components to FGB.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
