October 14, 2000: The Z1 Truss

Z1 truss
The first truss piece, the Z1 truss, launched aboard STS-92 in October 2000 was used as a temporary mounting position for the P6 truss (sent up later) and solar array until its relocation to the end of the P5 truss during STS-120.

Though not a part of the main truss, the Z1 truss was the first permanent lattice-work structure for the ISS, very much like a girder, setting the stage for the future addition of the station's major trusses or backbones.

It contains the control moment gyroscope (CMG) assemblies, electrical wiring, communications equipment, and two plasma contactors designed to neutralize the static electrical charge of the space station.

It is unpressurized (with the exception of a small vestibule, but features two Common Berthing Mechanism docking ports for easy connecting and data communications. One port (nadir) is used to connect the Z1 truss to the zenith port of Unity. The other port (forward) was used to temporarily berth PMA-2 during the placing of the Destiny lab onto the Unity node during STS-98.

In October 2007, the P6 was moved to its permanent position next to P5, and the Z1 truss is now used solely to house the CMGs, communications equipment and the plasma contactors.

ISS History: July 11, 2000 - Zvezda Arrives

Zvezda (Russian: for "star"), DOS-8, also known as the Zvezda Service Module, is a component of the International Space Station (ISS). It was the third module launched to the station, and provides some of the station's life support systems, as well as living quarters for two crew members. It is the structural and functional center of the Russian portion of the station - the Russian Orbital Segment.


The module was manufactured by S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia. Zvezda was launched on a Proton rocket on July 12, 2000 and docked with the Zarya module on July 26. The rocket used for the launch was one of the first to carry advertising; it was emblazoned with the logo of the fast food chain Pizza Hut, for which the company is reported to have paid more than US$1 million.



Links from Space News:
Pizza Hut Puts Pie in the Sky with Rocket Logo

December 4, 1998: Unity Arrives at ISS

The Unity connecting module was the first U.S.-built component of the International Space Station. It is cylindrical in shape, with six berthing locations (forward, aft, port, starboard, zenith, and nadir) facilitating connections to other modules. Unity measures 4.57 metres (15.0 ft) in diameter, is 5.47 metres (17.9 ft) long, and was built for NASA by The Boeing Company in a manufacturing facility at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Sometimes referred to as Node 1, Unity is the first of three such connecting modules that will be part of the completed station.

Unity was carried into orbit as the primary cargo of the Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-88, the first Space Shuttle mission dedicated to assembly of the station. On December 6, 1998, the STS-88 crew mated the aft berthing port of Unity with the forward hatch of the already orbiting Zarya module. (Zarya was a mixed Russian-US funded and Russian-built component launched earlier aboard a Russian Proton rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.) This was the first connection made between two station modules.

Source: NASA and USA Todayhttp://i.usatoday.net/tech/graphics/iss_timeline/flash.htm

Nov 20, 1998: ISS - Zarya Put Into Orbit

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)