Zvezda

Zvezda (Russian: Звезда, meaning "star"), Salyut DOS-8, also known as the Zvezda Service Module, is a module of the International Space Station. It was the third module launched to the station, and provided all of the station's life support systems, some of which are supplemented in the US Orbital Segment, as well as living quarters for two crew members. It is the structural and functional center of the Russian Orbital Segment, which is the Russian part of the ISS. Crew assemble here to deal with emergencies on the station. Zvezda consists of the cylindrical "Work Compartment" where the crews work and live (and which makes up the bulk of the module's volume), the small spherical "Transfer Compartment" located at the front (with three docking ports), and at the aft end the cylindrical "Transfer Chamber" (with one docking port) which is surrounded by the unpressurized "Assembly Compartment" – this gives Zvezda four docking ports in total. The component weighs about 18,051 kg and has a length of 13.1 m. The solar panels extend 29.7 m.