Interim Control Module: Difference between revisions

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[[Image:ISS Interim Control Module.jpg|thumb|right|300px|ISS Interim Control Module]]

The '''Interim Control Module''' ('''ICM''') is a [[NASA]]-constructed module designed to serve as a temporary "tug" for the [[International Space Station]] in case the [[Zvezda (ISS module)|Zvezda]] service module was destroyed or not launched for an extended period of time.<ref name="HarlandCatchpole2002">{{cite book|last1=Harland|first1=David M.|last2=Catchpole|first2=John|title=Creating the International Space Station|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zvLUZT8PuGgC&pg=PA367|series=Springer-Praxis books in astronomy and space sciences|date=6 February 2002|publisher=Springer-Verlag|___location=Berlin|isbn=978-1-85233-202-0|page=367}}</ref>

==History==
It was derived from a formerly- classified Titan Launch Dispenser used to distribute reconnaissance satellites to different orbits.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/library/news/1997/7-97r.htm |title=NRL Revamping Control Module for NASA Space Station |publisher=[[Naval Research Laboratory|NRL]] |date= June 1997 |access-date=17 May 2015}}</ref> It would have been able to prolong the lifespan of the [[Zarya (ISS module)|Zarya]] module by providing equivalent propulsion capabilities to the Service Module, although not any of the other life support capabilities.

{{quote|text=In 1997 NASA requested that the [[Naval Research Laboratory]] study the feasibility of adapting an existing, heritage spaceflight system to provide low-cost, contingency propulsion operations for the International Space Station (ISS).

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After the successful launch of Zvezda, ICM was placed in a caretaker status at NRL's Payload Processing Facility in Washington, D.C. Should it become necessary to complete and launch ICM, it was estimated that it would take between two and two-and-a-half years to do so.<ref name="Handberg2003">{{cite book|last=Handberg|first=Roger|title=Reinventing NASA: Human Space Flight, Bureaucracy, and Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=plzgglHCV10C&pg=PA116|year=2003|publisher=Praeger|___location=Westport, CT|isbn=978-0-275-97002-4|page=116}}</ref>

Since the ICM was mothballed, a variety of new uses for it have been proposed. Most seriously, it was proposed for use as part of a robotic servicing mission for the [[Hubble Space Telescope]],<ref>{{cite news|url=httphttps://articleswww.baltimoresun.com/2004-/05-/01/news/0405010142_1_missionrobots-to-hubblethe-hubblerescue-spacefor-telescopethe-service-theailing-hubble/2|title=Robots to the rescue for the ailing Hubble?|last=Roylance|first=Frank D.|work=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|date=1 May 2004}}</ref> before the final Shuttle [[STS-125|servicing mission]] was approved. The ICM has also been suggested as an integral part of a new telescope based on [[2012 National Reconnaissance Office space telescope donation to NASA|unused spy satellite hardware]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2012/11/19/moore-1_Princeton_2.pdf|title=Princeton Astrophysics Community Meeting|last=Moore|first=Michael|date=4 September 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306232043/http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2012/11/19/moore-1_Princeton_2.pdf|archive-date=6 March 2016}}</ref> and even for use in its original role in the event of removal of the [[Russian Orbital Segment]] of the ISS.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marco-caceres/when-keeping-the-space-st_b_5326275.html|title=When Keeping the Space Station Open Suddenly Became a Cause Célèbre|last=Cáceres|first=Marco|work=[[The Huffington Post]]|date=14 May 2014}}</ref>

== References ==