Zarya "dawn" in Russian, also known as the Functional Cargo Block or FGB, was the first module of the International Space Station to be launched. The FGB provided electrical power, storage, propulsion, and guidance to the ISS during the initial stage of assembly. (Now, Zarya is primarily used for storage). The Zarya is a descendant of the TKS spacecraft designed for the Russian Salyut program.
Zarya is owned, and was paid for, by the United States space agency NASA. It was built from December 1994 to January 1998 in Russia at the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center (KhSC) in Moscow. The module was included as part of NASA's plan for the International Space Station (ISS) instead of Lockheed's "Bus-1" option because it was significantly cheaper (US$220 million vs. $450 million). As part of the contract Khrunichev constructed much of an identical module (referred to as "FGB-2") for contingency purposes. FGB-2 has been proposed for a variety of projects; (it is now slated to be used to construct the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module).
Zarya weighs 19,300 kilograms (43,000 lb), is 12.55 meters (41.2 ft) long and 4.1 meters (13 ft) wide at its widest point.
The module has three docking ports, one on each end, and one on the side.
Specifications
Length: 12.56 m (41.2 ft)
Diameter: 4.11 m (13.5 ft)
Solar array length: 10.67 m (35.0 ft)
Solar array width: 3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Mass: 19,323 kg (42,600 lb)
Source:
http://i.usatoday.net/tech/graphics/iss_timeline/flash.htm
(Produced by NASA, so copyright free)
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