Weight-wise, the station tips the scales at 925,335 pounds (419,725 kilograms). The ISS also contains multiple sets of broad, rectangular solar panels with 240-foot (73-meter) wingspans. At 357 feet (108.8 meters) in length, the aforementioned truss is almost as long as an American football field. Īs home offices go, the ISS is pretty darn big. During this time, the ISS has been manned continuously - as of this writing, 66 astronaut expeditions have successfully reached the station.Įxpedition 67 began upon the departure of Soyuz MS-19 on March 30, 2022, with NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn taking over as ISS commander. Since then, many spacecraft have delivered parts of the ISS into orbit and its assembly has progressed. The crew spent four months and 17 days aboard the ISS, activating systems and conducting experiments. A three-member crew, the ISS's first, was launched from Russia Oct. Spacecraft such as the Soyuz spacecraft and Progress supply ship dock with the ISS to transport astronauts and supplies to and from Earth.Īssembly of the ISS began in November 1998 when a Russian proton rocket placed the first module, the Functional Cargo Block (Zarya), in orbit.External Research and Payload Accommodations provide multiple mounting locations along the outside of the ISS for experiments that can't be conducted within the facility.Onboard, there's a set of robotic arms that haul cargo and experiment packages. The Mobile Base System is a traveling work platform that runs along the truss structure rails.It also contains the Mobile Base System's rail lines. This is an anchoring point for solar panels - and for the radiators that help control the station's temperature. The Integrated Truss Structure is a long, linear girder framework above the pressurized modules.Docking portslet various space vehiclesattach themselves to the ISS.Nodes are small modules that link the bigger ones together, allowing astronauts to traverse the station and move equipment around.Pressurized modules such as the Zarya, Zvezda, Destiny, Columbus and Harmony provide breathable, warm environments for living quarters, equipment rooms and laboratories where the crews live and work.First, we'll start with its parts and assembly. In this article, we'll look at the parts of the ISS, how it maintains a permanent environment for humans in space, how it's powered, what it's like to live and work on the ISS, and how, exactly, we'll use the ISS. So far, this stellar project has cost participating nations more than $100 billion - and NASA spends $3 to $4 billion on it per year. The ISS will continue to receive funding until at least 2030, as announced by the Biden administration Dec. As of April 2022, a grand total of 248 spacewalks have been conducted at the station. The ISS contains a vast array of interconnected airlocks, docking ports and pressurized modules. Its assembly in orbit began in 1998 - and it's been continuously occupied by astronauts since 2000. NASA took the lead in coordinating the ISS's construction, and today the ISS serves as an orbiting laboratory for experiments in life, physical, earth and materials sciences. The list of participating countries would grow during the 1990s as Russia and Brazil joined the project, although Brazil would eventually cut ties with the ISS in 2007. joined forces with Canada, Japan and the European Space Agency (a program then co-managed by the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden and West Germany) to make this station a reality. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan proposed a permanently inhabited, government- and industry-supported space station be built by the United States in cooperation with several other countries. Sounds like something unreal out of a science fiction novel, right? For the crews of the International Space Station (ISS), it's a reality. Mountains, lakes and oceans pass by in a beautiful stream of rapidly changing scenery as you orbit the Earth every 90 minutes. Imagine you wake up in the morning, look out your window and see the vast blue horizon of Earth and the blackness of space. The International Space Station (seen here in 2018) has been continuously occupied by astronauts since 2000.
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