Interim Control Module: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:58, 17 May 2015

Revision as of 22:15, 2 November 2016

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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=httphttps://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> 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 |accessdate=17 May 2015}}</ref> It would have been able to prolong the lifespan of the [[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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ICM was to launch on board the [[Space Shuttle]], deploy from the Shuttle's cargo bay, and mate with the ISS at the Russian Control Module (called Zarya). Once on orbit ICM would provide sufficient fuel for one to three years of operation.|sign=NRL Spacecraft Engineering Department|source=<ref>{{cite web |url=http://code8200.nrl.navy.mil/icm.html |title=ICM - Interim Control Module |publisher=[[Naval Research Laboratory|NRL]] |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021090451/http://code8200.nrl.navy.mil/icm.html |archivedate=21 October 2009}}</ref>}}

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 is 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=httphttps://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=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2004-05-01/news/0405010142_1_mission-to-hubble-hubble-space-telescope-service-the-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=http://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}}</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>