Kibo

Kibo
	Kibō configuration
Space station:	International space station
Start date:	March 11, 2008
	Adjacent modules

Kibō ( Japanese きぼう "hope", originally Japanese Experiment Module , JEM ) is a module of the International Space Station (ISS) and the contribution of the Japanese space agency JAXA to the ISS.

construction

Kibō is the largest single module of the ISS and the first manned space project in Japan. It can accommodate up to four astronauts and offers the possibility of carrying out experiments on 23 racks , 14 of which are planned in the first phase of use. Research will focus on space medicine, biology and materials research.

Later, the space module was to be supplied with experiments and racks , which were brought to the station with the autonomous Japanese HTV space freighter.

The Logistics Module (ELM-PS) experiment was started as the first component on March 11, 2008 and docked with the ISS as part of the STS-123 shuttle mission . ELM-PS was temporarily attached to the top ( zenith ) of the Harmony module . The Kibō main assembly Pressurized Module (PM) and the robotic arm (RMS) were brought to the ISS on May 31, 2008 with the STS-124 mission and docked there on June 3, 2008. The lock was opened on June 4th and at 21:09 UTC A. Hoshide and K. Nyberg were the first to float into the module, which was still empty at that time due to weight reasons.

In July 2009, the STS-127 mission was the last component to transport the external platform for experiments (EF) and the external storage facility (ELM-ES) to the ISS.

The entire unit consists of five parts:

The Pressurized Module (PM) under pressure. It is the central module in which the astronauts conduct experiments. Its length is 11.2 m with a diameter of 4.4 m and a mass of 15.9 t. At the front of the cylindrical module there is a small air lock through which z. B. Experiments from the Exposed Facility (EF) can be salvaged.
The so-called Experiment Logistics Module - Pressurized Section (ELM-PS), which is also under pressure. This module is mainly used as storage space. It could have been decoupled from the PM and brought back to Earth on the space shuttle and sent up with new material. ELM-PS is 3.9 m long and 4.4 m in diameter. The empty weight is 4.2 t.
A platform for experiments. The Exposed Facility (EF) is 5.60 meters long, 5 meters wide, 4 meters high and is attached outside the PM. It is 5.1 m wide, 6.0 m long and has a mass of 4 t. Individual experiment containers can be attached around the platform.
The external warehouse - Experiment Logistics Module - Exposed Section (ELM-ES) is attached outside the EF. It is 4.9 m wide and 4.2 m long. The pressureless loading plate of the HTV can be emptied to ELM-ES with the robot arms. After its first use to transport experiments at STS-127, the ELM-ES was taken back from the shuttle to Earth and is not a permanent component in orbit.
The robotic arm of the Kibō module. The JEMRMS (Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System) consists of a main arm that is 9.9 m long and can move masses of up to seven tons, as well as a smaller arm (Small Fine Arm) that can be docked if necessary . This little additional arm can do very precise work.

The Int-Ball camera drone has been tested in Kibō since mid-2017 . It is intended to relieve the astronauts of photography work and, in cooperation with ground staff, improve the implementation of experiments.

Experiments at the Exposed Facility (EF)

The following experiment containers are currently located at a total of twelve plug-in locations (Exposed Facility Unit = EFU1 to EFU12):

EFU1: MAXI (Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image) - by STS-127 transports
EFU3: SMILES (Superconducting submillimeter wave Limb-emission Sounder) - from HTV-1 transported
EFU6: HREP consisting of HICO (Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean) and RAIDS (Remote Atmospheric and Ionospheric Detection System) - from HTV-1 transported
EFU7: ICS-EF (Inter-orbit Communication System) - by STS-127 transports
By - SEDA-AP (Space Environment Data Acquisition Equipment-Attached Payload): EFU9 STS-127 transports

as well as for the robot arm: