15 years of the ISS window on Earth
It has been 15 years since the ultimate selfie booth, the Cupola, was attached to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Cupola, delivered with the Tranquility Module (AKA Node 3), was carried to orbit as a payload on STS-130, flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour. The mission lasted nearly 14 days and began with a launch on February 8, 2010.
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti enjoys a beverage in the ISS Cupola
Liftoff was delayed from February 7 due to unfavorable weather, and the Shuttle was docked on the mission’s third day. The Cupola was attached on February 15, 2010.
The Cupola project had troubled beginnings, having been started by NASA and Boeing but later axed due to budget cuts. The European Space Agency (ESA) took it over in 1998 as part of a barter agreement with NASA, and it was designed, developed, and integrated by Alenia Spazio.
While a relatively small module by ISS standards, the Cupola can hold two (or more, at a squeeze) crew members and the robotic workstation used to control the Canadarm2. It has a diameter of approximately 2 meters and a height of 1.5 meters.
It also has seven windows – an 80 cm “rooftop” circular window and six trapezoidal side windows, all equipped with shutters to protect them from contamination and collisions with orbital debris or micrometeorites.
Those shutters are essential. The fused-silica and borosilicate-glass windows have been known to suffer impacts. In 2016, ESA published an image of a 7 mm circular chip gouged out of one of the windows by some debris, with the photographer, Tim Peake, commenting: “I am often asked if the International Space Station is hit by space debris. Yes – this is the chip in one of our Cupola windows, glad it is quadruple glazed!”
Though the unit is ostensibly designed to observe activities outside the station, such as the approach of vehicles and spacewalks, it also provides spectacular views of Earth. Astronauts have been known to use the module for some impressive selfies.
The Cupola was one of the last major US contributions added to the ISS; the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011. Although SpaceX sent a Crew Dragon into orbit in 2021, equipped with a large domed cupola of its own, the module attached to the ISS remains a technical and inspirational tour de force, even 15 years after it was first attached. ®
