![]() components, Unity, a module that now connects the Russian and U.S. Two weeks later, astronauts aboard the space shuttle Endeavour delivered one of the major U.S. Named using the Russian word for “sunrise,” the Zarya module originally provided power, communications, and altitude control functions and is now primarily used for storage and propulsion. segment, which includes contributions from many countries.Ĭonstruction began in November 1998, when the first piece of the eventual ISS structure-the Russian Zarya Control Module-was autonomously delivered to orbit by a Proton rocket. These are divided among the station’s two larger segments: the Russian Orbital Segment, operated by Russia, and the U.S. The ISS was conceived as a series of linked, cylindrical modules that are solar powered and cooled by loops that radiate heat. By 1998, all five space agencies were on board with the project. partnered with Europe and Japan it then invited Russia into the enterprise in 1993 because that nation had the most extensive experience operating orbital space stations. In the mid-1980s, President Ronald Reagan directed NASA to build an international space station within a decade, declaring that it would “permit quantum leaps” in science research. Here’s how the ISS came to be and what scientists hope to learn from experiments conducted there. Hundreds of spacefarers have visited the ISS-primarily professional space travelers, although a handful of space tourists have also made the journey. Other onboard experiments are aimed at better understanding how the cosmos works, from the highest-energy particles that streak through our solar system to the faraway, extremely dense corpses of former stars.Ĭontinuously occupied by rotating crews since November 2000, the space station is the work of five space agencies: NASA, Russia’s Roscosmos, the European Space Agency, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency. ![]() Crucially, that means figuring out how the space environment affects biology–and human bodies, especially. Flying some 240 miles above Earth's surface at 17,500 miles an hour, the International Space Station (ISS) is a science laboratory dedicated to helping humans learn how to live in space.
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