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Meet the International Docking Adapter
by Staff Writers
Houston TX (SPX) Oct 06, 2015


Engineers in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, recently tested the mechanisms that will connect future commercial crew spacecraft with the second International Docking Adapter. IDA-2, as it's called, will be taken to the space station on a future cargo resupply mission. It will be one of two connection points for commercial crew spacecraft visiting the orbiting laboratory. The systems and targets for IDA-2 are set to be put through extensive tests with both Boeing's CST-100 and SpaceX's Crew Dragon before the adapter is loaded for launch. Image courtesy NASA/Charles Babir. For a larger version of this image please go here.

Two International Docking Adapters (IDA) will be the physical connecting point for spacecraft, but for NASA it will be a metaphorical gateway to a future in which crews go to the station aboard America's first new, human-rated spacecraft since the space shuttle.

The adapters are built to the International Docking System Standard, which features built-in systems for automated docking and uniform measurements. That means any destination or any spacecraft can use the adapters in the future - from the new commercial spacecraft to other international spacecraft yet to be designed.

The adapters also include fittings so power and data can be transferred from the station to the visiting spacecraft. The work by private companies to take on low-Earth orbit missions is expected to free up NASA's resources for future missions into deep space with astronauts in the Orion crew capsule launching on the Space Launch System Rocket to prepare for future journeys to Mars.

Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft will dock at the adapters in the near future when bringing astronauts to the station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

An IDA will be placed on each of the station's two open Pressurized Mating Adapters (PMA), both of which will be connected to Harmony module. When each IDA arrives, the station's robotic arm would remove it from Dragon's trunk and move it to about 30 cm (1 ft) from the front of the PMA. Astronauts during an extravehicular activity would then attach tethers to the IDA and manually connect it to the PMA. The first spacewalks to prepare the station for the addition of the new adapters took place in early 2015.

It took international and national teams working together to construct the IDAs. Built by Boeing, parts from companies in 25 states were assembled to make the adapters, which measure about 42-inches tall and about 63-inches wide each. The Russian company RSC-Energia made the primary structures of the IDAs. Docking targets, laser retro-reflectors and related systems are arrayed around the outer perimeters to give them an outer diameter of about 94 inches.

The systems and targets for the IDA are much more sophisticated than previous docking systems and include lasers and sensors that allow the station and spacecraft to talk to each other digitally to share distance cues and enable automatic alignment and connection.


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Related Links
International Docking System Standard
Station at NASA
Station and More at Roscosmos
S.P. Korolev RSC Energia
Watch NASA TV via Space.TV
Space Station News at Space-Travel.Com






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NASA extends Boeing contract for International Space Station
Houston (UPI) Sep 30, 2015
NASA has decided to keep Boeing as the International Space Station's prime contractor through September 30, 2020, Boeing announced on Tuesday. The contract is valued at $1.18 billion, and includes engineering support services, resources, and personal. Boeing will also be tasked with determining how to extend the life of the station's primary structural hardware past 2020, through the en ... read more


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