The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

Island One
See O’Neill-type space colony.
ISO (Infrared Space Observatory)
ESA (European Space Agency) 0.6-m-diameter spaceborne
infrared telescope. With instrumentation that
included a camera, an imaging photopolarimeter, and
two spectrometers, ISO was designed to make observations
at wavelengths of 2.5 to 200 microns. Among its
most important discoveries is that a large fraction of
young stars are surrounded by disks of gas and dust out
of which planetary systems might form. ISO operated
between November 1995 and May 1998.
Launch
Date: November 17, 1995
Vehicle: Ariane 44P
Orbit: 1,110 × 70,054 km × 5°
Size: 5.3 × 3.6 ×2.8 m
Mass at launch: 2,400 kg
Israel in space
Israel’s space interests are managed by the Israeli Space
Agency (ISA), which is based in Tel Aviv and was established
in 1983 as part of the Israel Defense Forces. ISA
pursues space programs jointly with Israel Aircraft Industries
(IAI), the Interdisciplinary Center for Technological
Analysis and Forecasting of Tel Aviv University, and the
National Committee for Space Research of the Israel
Academy of Sciences and Humanities. IAI produces the
Shavit launch vehicle, which was used to place Israel’s
first satellite, Ofeq-1, in low Earth orbit on September
19, 1988. Several other Ofeq launches from the Palmachim
military base—not all successful—have taken
place since, the most recent in 2002. Israel also takes part
ISIS Missions
ITOS (Improved TIROS Operating System) 211
Spacecraft Launch Date Orbit Mass (kg)
ISIS 1 Jan. 30, 1969 574 × 3,470 km × 88.4° 241
ISIS 2 Apr. 1, 1971 1,353 × 1,423 km × 88.2° 264
ISS Missions
in international space missions, and the first Israeli astronaut,
Ilan Ramon, was scheduled to fly aboard the Space
Shuttle on mission STS-107 in the second half of 2002.
ISS (Ionospheric Sounding Satellite)
A pair of Japanese satellites, launched by NASDA
(National Space Development Agency) and also known
by their national name Ume (“plum”), that collected data
on the ionosphere to aid in short-wave radio communication.
Their instruments included an ionospheric sounder,
a radio noise receiver, plasma measuring equipment, and
an ion mass spectrometer. (See table, “ISS Missions.”)
Launch
Vehicle: N-1
Site: Tanegashima
Size: 3.9 × 0.8 m
ITM Wave Imaging
A cluster of satellites equipped with high-resolution visible
and infrared sensors to image atmospheric waves that
link the troposphere and upper atmosphere and redistribute
energy within the ionosphere-thermospheremesosphere
(ITM) system. The observations of such a
system would improve understanding of the generation
and loss mechanisms of ITM waves, their interactions,
and their role in energy transport within the upper
atmosphere. The ITM Wave Imaging mission remains in
the early concept definition phase, but it has been identified
in NASA’s Office of Space Science Strategic Plan as
a potential mission beyond 2007.
ITOS (Improved TIROS Operating System)
A series of American weather satellites, launched between
1970 and 1976, that followed on from the TIROS series.
Spacecraft Launch Date Orbit Mass (kg)
ISS 1 Feb. 26, 1976 988 × 1,003 km × 69.7° 139
ISS 2 Feb. 16, 1978 973 × 1,216 km × 69.4° 140