- Multipurpose Laboratory Module
The Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) ( _ru. Многофункциональный лабораторный модуль) will be a component of the
International Space Station funded by theRussian Federal Space Agency . It has replaced theDocking and Stowage Module in the original ISS plans.First plans for the MLM
In the 1990s, the Russian part of the ISS included several research modules that would be adjunct to
Zarya andZvezda . The structures to be launched changed in the early 2000s, however. In August 2004, it was decided that the MLM would be built from the modifiedKhrunichev -built Functional Cargo Block (FGB-2), whose construction has been halted at 70-percent complete since the late 1990s. The FGB-2 was originally made as a backup for the original launch of theZarya module, and as early as 1997 it was planned to be used as theUniversal Docking Module (UDM).Cite web|url=http://www.nasawatch.com/iss/02.26.97.iss.memo.html|title=02.26.97.iss.memo|accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=July 10|publisher=nasawatch.com|year=1997|]There was an alternate, rejected proposal for the MLM from
RKK Energia based on the cancelledCommercial Enterprise Module (which was jointly funded byRKK Energia andSPACEHAB ).Work on the MLM and launch date
At the end of 2005
ESA agreed with the Russians that theEuropean Robotic Arm will be launched together with MLM, mated on its surface for a later deployment in space.In 2004 the
Russian Federal Space Agency has said the MLM should be ready for launch in 2007 on a RussianProton rocket . However since then, the MLM project has been delayed further, first to 2008 and later to 2009. A November 2006 ESA bulletin mentions that RSA is negotiating with the ISS partners to push back the prospective launch date to the end of 2008. As of July 7, 2008 the Consolidated Launch Manifest shows that the module is now expected to launch December 2011.Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_manifest.html|title=Consolidated Launch Manifest|accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=July 08|publisher=nasa.gov|year=2008|]Usage
The MLM will be used for experiments, docking and cargo. It will also serve as a crew work and rest area. MLM will also be equipped with an attitude control system that can be used as a backup by the ISS. It will be docked onto the
Zvezda module nadir docking port. Outfitting equipment launched with theMini-Research Module 1 bySTS-132 in 2010 from NASA will also be used for the MLM, including internal hardware and an experiment airlock to be positioned on one of the side facing ports at the bottom of the module, as well as a spare elbow joint for the European Robotic Arm.Primary research module
The MLM will be Russia's primary research module as part of the ISS. Currently NASA's official plans still include a second research module in the size of the MLM. This module is however listed to be "under review", and may be cancelled, which would have the MLM be the only Russian research module.
It is proposed that the MLM include a small free-flying capsule that can be detached from the station for experiments outside of ISS's microgravity environment.Fact|date=June 2007
pecifications
*Length: 13 m
*Diameter: 4.11 m
*Mass: 20,300 kgReferences
External links
* [http://www.khrunichev.ru/khrunichev_eng/live/full_mks.asp?id=13190 Description of MLM (English)] [http://www.khrunichev.ru/khrunichev/live/full_mks.asp?id=13190 (Russian)] - From the Khrunichev site; has some photos of the incomplete FGB-2
* [http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/content/numbers/262/01.shtml Новости российского сегмента МКС] - Nov. 2004 article (in Russian) discussing the plans for MLM - Warning: set your browser encoding to "Windows Cyrillic" to read this page
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