JAXA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Q. Why was the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module launched on the Space Shuttle?

Space Shuttle Endeavour carrying Kibo’s Exposed Facility and ELM Exposed Section (courtesy: NASA)

Space Shuttle Discovery launching in May 2008, with Kibo’s Pressurized Module on board (courtesy: NASA)

One of original objectives of the Space Shuttle was to build a permanent space station at low earth orbit. Later, when Japan began planning its contribution to the ISS program in 1985, it was naturally assumed that its elements would be launched on the Space Shuttle’s cargo bay. That decision dictated the module’s size and weight to fit into its cargo bay.

Q. Did the Kibo assembly mission go as planned?

No, because there were two Space Shuttle accidents. The first was the Challenger accident in 1986. It took nearly three years for shuttle flights to resume, and NASA never went back to its earlier plans to have ten or more flights a year. The second was the 2003 Columbia accident. When I was appointed to the director of JAXA Houston office in 2001, the plan was to launch Kibo in 2005 or 2006, but the accident caused a long delay. Although the shuttle flight returned to flight in 2005, it took time to solve problems such as the insulation foam loss off the external fuel tank. As it turned out, construction of the ISS couldn’t resume until September 2006. That was a three-and-a-half-year delay.
So the three Kibo assembly flights took place in 2008-09, three years behind schedule. That was the earliest possible dates after the Columbia accident. NASA had proposed that we delay the assembly even further and wait until all four of the space station’s solar panels were installed. Since Kibo is the largest laboratory on the ISS, and consumes a lot of electricity, they were concerned that starting it up before the space station had full power would cause power shortage.
But because we didn’t want any more delays, we persistently negotiated for an earlier launch date, and we ended up getting Kibo’s Pressurized Module launched before the last solar panel. We managed to solve the power issues on the ISS, got the Pressurized Module running, and conducted the first experiments without a hitch. Those negotiations were tough.

Q. How far had development work on Kibo proceeded when the Columbia accident occurred?

The Space Station Processing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center, where tests were conducted to make sure the Pressurized Module would properly connect to the ISS

In February 2003, when the Columbia accident happened, we had already finished Kibo’s Pressurized Module in Japan, and were about to ship it to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Judging from the information at that time, it was foreseeable that the Space Shuttle wouldn’t fly again for another two years or so. Therefore, we considered an option of delaying the shipment. However, we had a plan to run interface tests at the Kennedy Space Center to make sure Kibo would properly connect to its adjacent module. Plus, it was more economical to store it at the Kennedy Space Center. So we shipped it that April as originally scheduled.
That was a difficult decision under such uncertain situation, but to the United States it was a positive sign that Japan wasn’t going to give up on the ISS, and that we really wanted shuttle flights to resume. This encouraged NASA to get the Space Shuttle flying again. I also think it turned out better because sending the Pressurized Module to the U.S. early allowed us to run thorough tests and make sure it would connect properly.

Q. How did you feel watching the Kibo assembly missions?

Astronaut Takao Doi (left): the first person to enter the ELM-PS (courtesy: NASA)

On the first Kibo assembly mission in March 2008, we launched the Experiment Logistics Module-Pressured Section (ELM-PS). Astronaut Takao Doi flew with it to attach it on ISS and to reconfigure it for flight. On the second mission, three months later, we launched the Pressurized Module and robotic arm. Akihiko Hoshide flew on this mission. Then, on the third mission, in July 2009, we launched the Exposed Facility and ELM Exposed Section, which was installed by Koichi Wakata. I was incredibly happy when Wakata, who had been selected as the first astronaut to work on assembling the ISS, finally completed the work on Kibo and brought this phase of the project to its conclusion.
Earlier, it was so emotional for us when the hatch to Kibo’s ELM-PS was first opened on orbit. It was a historic moment when, after 20 long years, one of our citizens entered into Japan’s first manned space facility. Head of NASA’s flight director office arranged for me to witness the moment from the ISS mission control room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Everyone around me started clapping when Takao Doi inside Kibo sent a message down to Earth. It was such a grand feeling. I can still remember that scene clearly in my mind.

Q. What sorts of difficulties were there faced on the way to completing Kibo?

NASA press conference soon after the Pressurized Module was attached to the ISS (courtesy: NASA)

It took three flights to assemble Kibo, and in all three cases I was attending daily ISS management meetings in Houston while the shuttle was in orbit. Naturally there were flaws in the initial configurations of equipment set by NASA, Europe and Japan, so we determined in advance procedures to deal with various off-nominal cases. International cooperation on this was difficult.
It’s now been two years since we completed Kibo, and it has been operating smoothly, with no significant problems. All the initial flaws have now been fixed, but here’s an example of one problem that came up.
Soon after we attached the Pressurized Module, there was a problem with starting up its cooling system. When electricity feeds into the equipment, it emits heat, and we use water as a coolant. Pipes that circulate the coolant connect to the heat exchangers in Node 2 via jumper hoses, transferring heat to outside the station. Right after the jumper hoses were connected, we saw signs that air bubbles had gotten into coolant water and that the jumper should had not been filled with water. So JAXA engineering team investigate, based on ground-test data, and worked out a countermeasure in which we would momentarily increase the speed of the coolant circulation pump to remove the bubbles as quickly as possible. That worked – the problem was quickly solved. Our ground tests had modeled a variety of situations, and those efforts actually paid off this time.
We were also able to prevent some problems from occurring on Kibo in the first place. For example, during an earlier mission to assemble the European experiment module, the European control computer failed to communicate with NASA’s. It was fixed with modifications to the software, but this was a problem that could have happened when booting Kibo’s communications equipment too. The three organizations – Japan, the U.S. and Europe – shared information so that this problem wouldn’t happen on Kibo.
This sort of mission progress is reported daily at televised NASA press conferences, and when there was something about Japan then I would also attend. I appeared at dozens of press conferences over the course of the three assembly missions. Since people in Japan were also watching, I should make JAXA’s presence there. I was always nervous about taking questions of the American media specialized in space activities. One of the senior reporters who regularly attended told me after we completed Kibo assembly, “Japan has done well. Congratulations.” I remember that when I heard that, I felt pleased and rewarded for all the preparation we had done.