Third Space Station Module to Launch Today

The rocket that will carry the long-delayed International Space Station's service module into orbit was prepared for fueling Tuesday as workers made last-minute checks to ensure a smooth launch.

The Zvezda ("Star") service module is scheduled for launch at 12:56 a.m. EDT on Wednesday (8:56 a.m. Moscow time/4:56 a.m. GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Russian engineers said they are confident a mysterious fuel pressure loss during the flight of a Proton rocket last week was a one-time event -- clearing the way for the launch of the "cornerstone" of the $60 billion International Space Station.

While the Proton rocket that will carry Zvezda had been considered perhaps the most reliable in the world, a series of problems last year has shattered that air of invincibility.

Russian Space Agency officials will hold a final "State Commission" to discuss launch readiness at the Baikonur Cosmodrome about 12 hours before launch.

The 42,000 pound Zvezda, based on the design of the core module of the 14-year-old space station Mir, will be the nerve center for the station during its first manned missions. It will keep the station in its desired orbit and provide living quarters for the vanguard crews.

Zvezda is scheduled to dock automatically with the space station -- orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 240 miles (384 km) -- on July 25 at 9:10 p.m. EDT (July 26, 5:10 a.m. Moscow time). Eight shuttle missions to transport and attach pieces of the station are slated during the next 12 months. Also on the launch calendar: five unmanned Russian freighter runs by Progress spacecraft and two manned Soyuz flights.

The first Soyuz flight, set for October 30, will carry the first station residents, known as the "Expedition One" crew. The crew will be commanded by NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd and rounded out with Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev.

The space station partners, which include the European nations, Japan and Canada in addition to the United Sates and Russia, are hoping it will be the start of a 15-year continuous multinational manned presence on the station.





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