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           A Journey to the International Space Station
A Day in the Life of the ISS

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It travels at a rate of 17,000 miles per hour, orbiting the Earth at an altitude of over 230 miles.  It is the largest object ever assembled in space and serves as a research laboratory and international human experiment.  It is the product of an international partnership and it's mission is to explore, discover and improve the quality of life on Earth and in Space.  It is the International Space Station and this ground-breaking mission is in the process of expanding the boundaries of life.

Sixteen of the world's nations including the United States, Canada, Japan,  Russia, Europe and Brazil have collaborated to construct the ISS.  
 

The ISS weighs a million pounds; it includes six laboratories and provides more space for research than any spacecraft ever constructed.  The ISS encloses more than 1,716 cubic yards of pressurized space, more than four times more than the 497 cubic yards of Mir, the Russian space station that was launched in February 1986.

The pressurized living and working space of the ISS is equivalent to about three average American homes.  In addition to serving as a research laboratory, the ISS is an international human experiment.  It serves as an advanced testbed for technology and human experiments, a research facility, and a platform for space research and development.  The ISS allows scientists to conduct long-term, complex experiments that are not possible on Earth.  Through the space-based exploration, the ISS will include commercial, scientific and engineering research.  Scientists hope to make progress in fundamental physics, gravitational biology and ecology, and Earth and space science.

The ISS supports a crew of seven.  The initial crew (Expedition One), consisting of three astronauts, was launched aboard a Russian Proton Rocket in October 2000.  In March 2001, STS-102 delivered the second resident crew. 



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    Facts
  • The lifetime of the station will be ten years
  • The station will travel around the earth at about 18,000 miles (29,000 kilometers) per hour.  It will complete one orbit every 90 minutes.
  • Astronauts will "visit" with their family and friends on two-way television sets.
  • More than 95 percent of the world's population will be able to see the station in the sky

Space Stations, Diane M. and Paul P. Sipiera, 1997, p.37

 
  Since November 1998, a number of ISS elements have been launched including:
  • November 1998 - the Zarya module was launched into orbit aboard a Russian Proton rocket.
  • December 1998 - STS-88 attached the Unity module and two pressurized mating adapters to Zarya
  • July 2000 - STS-92 attached the Z1 Truss, a third Pressurized Mating Adapter, Kuband Communications Systems, and the Control Mometn Gyros.
  • October 2000 - the initial three-person crew was launched aboard a Russian Proton Rocket
  • November 2000 - STS-97 attached the first set of U.S. solar arrays onto the Station, radiators, and the P6 Truss.
  • February 2001 - STS-98 attached the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module.
  • March 2001 - STS-201, delivered the second resident crew and attached Leonardo, the first Mulit-Purpose Logistic Module.
  • April 2001 - STS-100 launched Canada's Robot Arm
  • July 2001 - delivered the joint Airlock, enabling spacewalks without the Space Shuttle present.

The highest priority goals of the  ISS project includes permanent human presence in space, world-class research in space, and accommodation of international partner elements.

While space and earth research has taken huge exploratory strides using Skylab, the space shuttle, Mir and others, the ISS is breaking new ground.  Earlier shuttle experiments in space have been limited in time.  The ISS, however, will reside in space for over a decade.  Many of the aforementioned vehicles are still involved in the ISS project.  The Space Shuttle and Soyuz continue to visit the ISS to bring crew and supplies back and forth to earth.  Russian Programs spacecraft, Japanese H-ii Transfer Vehicle, and Europe's Autonomous Transfer Vehicle provide resupply and reboost.

Mir (meaning "peace")  has played an important role in the collaboration of the Russian and United States space programs.  In order to practice for the construction of the ISS, U.S. space shuttles had exchanged crews with those of Mir.  It was the beginning of this extraordinary partnership.

NASA's Website offers extraordinary up-to-the-minute information regarding the International Space Station:

The International Space Station provides 
a virtual classroom for students and teachers.