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The International Space Station (ISS) is an internationally developed research facility currently being assembled in Low Earth Orbit. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998 and is scheduled to be completed by 2011, with operations continuing until at least 2015. The station can be seen from the Earth with the naked eye, and, as of 2009, is the largest artificial satellite in Earth orbit, with a mass larger than that of any previous space station. The ISS serves as a long-term research laboratory in space, with experiments in fields including biology, human biology, physics, astronomy and meteorology being carried out daily in the station's microgravity environment. The station also provides a safe testing location for efficient, reliable spacecraft systems that will be required for long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars. The ISS and its experiments are operated by long-duration Expedition crews, with the station being continuously staffed since the first resident crew, Expedition 1, arrived on 2 November 2000. This has provided an uninterrupted human presence in space for the last 9 years and 53 days. As of 1 December 2009), the crew of Expedition 22 is aboard. The ISS represents a synthesis of several space station projects including the American Freedom, the Soviet/Russian Mir-2, the European Columbus and the Japanese Kibō. Budget issues led to the separate projects being merged into a single multi-national space station. The ISS project began in 1994 with the Shuttle-Mir programme, and the first module of the station, Zarya, was launched in 1998 by Russia. Assembly has been ongoing, with a complex of pressurised modules, external trusses and other components being launched by American Space Shuttles, Russian Proton rockets and Russian Soyuz rockets. As of November 2009, the station consists of eleven pressurised modules and an extensive Integrated Truss Structure (ITS). Power is provided by sixteen large solar arrays mounted on the external truss, in addition to four smaller arrays on Russian modules. The station is maintained at an orbit between 278 km (173 mi) and 460 km (286 mi) altitude, and travels at an average speed of 27,724 kilometres (17,227 mi) per hour, completing 15.7 orbits per day. The ISS is operated as a joint project between the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the European Space Agency (ESA). Ownership and utilisation of the space station is set out via several intergovernmental treaties and agreements, with the Russian Federation retaining full ownership of its own modules, and the rest of the station being allocated between the other international partners. The cost of the station project has been estimated by ESA as €100 billion over a course of 30 years, although cost estimates vary between 35 billion dollars and 160 billion dollars, making the ISS the most expensive object ever constructed. This large cost has meant that the ISS programme has been the target of various criticisms over its financing, research capabilities and technical design. The various sections of the station are controlled by several mission control centres on the ground, including MCC-H, TsUP, Col-CC, ATV-CC, JEM-CC, HTV-CC and MSS-CC. The station is serviced by a wide variety of manned and unmanned spacecraft, including the Soyuz spacecraft, Progress spacecraft, Space Shuttle, Automated Transfer Vehicle, and H-II Transfer Vehicle, and has been visited by astronauts and cosmonauts from 15 different nations. From Wikipedia under the
GNU Free Documentation License what advantage is there to doing laboratory experiments on the international space station rather than doing..? Q. what advantage is there to doing laboratory experiments on the international space station rather than doing the same experiments on earth? Asked by yayaya - Fri Mar 27 01:41:51 2009 - - 3 Answers - 0 Comments A. Microgravity allows near perfect crystal formation and through Einstein's Equivalence Principle, we are able to conduct complex research that might otherwise be influenced by gravity. Microgravity provides an opportunity for experimentation in a whole new quiescent environment: * no thermally-induced convection * no sedimentation/stratificat ion * no hydrostatic pressure * reduced contact with vessel walls Answered by Atom - Fri Mar 27 02:01:15 2009 How much does it cost to live in the international space station?/? Q. how much does it cost for astronauts to live, cost of food and resources to survive, in the international space station? Asked by xclntman007 - Mon Nov 12 21:49:58 2007 - - 2 Answers - 0 Comments A. In 2005 it cost $1.8 billion but that includes some money on developing new flight hardware and shuttle launches. (see link). Some of the costs are due to the ongoing construction. Once the ISS is complete there will be fewer shuttle flight and fewer EVAs which would lower the costs some. Hope this helps. Answered by cantspell0 - Tue Nov 13 07:11:32 2007 Does the International space station have an optical telescope onboard?
Q. Does the International space station have an optical telescope onboard Asked by kelly b - Mon Oct 1 11:18:25 2007 - - 7 Answers - 0 Comments A. Probably, though I am not sure. You do know they also have the Hubble satellite telescope, which would probably be better than anything on the station anyway. Geoff--I never said the Hubble was on the ISS. I said the Hubble was better than anything on the station. Answered by wayfaroutthere - Mon Oct 1 11:23:19 2007 From Yahoo Answer Search: "International Space Station" From Wikiquote under the GNU Free Documentation License.
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 news.google.com Statesville Record & Landmark Today at SciWorks, he spoke to about 75 people, including Miraglia, about his July voyage to the international space station aboard the space shuttle ... and more » news.google.com al.com NASA has about five minutes to get a shuttle off the ground because of the complicated flight procedures needed to catch up with the space station and dock ... NASA moves up date for Ares IX test flight Florida Today Human space flight: in praise of (a modified) Option 4B The Space Review NASA may push Ares I as demonstration project instead TMCnet Space Ref (press release) - The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com - Spaceflight Now all 77 news articles » news.google.com Kuensel, Buhutan's National Newspaper Commander Rick Sturckow led the STS-128 mission to the international space station aboard space shuttle Discovery with Kevin Ford serving as pilot. ... From Google News Search: "International Space Station"  instablogs.com 70px x 90px | 4.80kB [source page] Irani New Delhi on Jun 27 2006 4 15 am GMT Food and equipments have reached the International Space Station successfully According to the Russian space agency an unmanned Russian Progress M 57 cargo vessel that was carrying  www1.whdh.com 338px x 640px | 52.10kB [source page] Astronauts wrap up space station work Related Links  tuvps.co.uk 260px x 300px | 24.30kB [source page] Back to News Jan 4 2007 5 37PM Launch footage of a new design of spacecraft has been released which the developer hopes could provide the basis for a future space hotel Space company Blue Origin established by Amazon From Yahoo Image Search: "International Space Station"  popsci.com Stuart Fox hu, 19 Nov 2009 18:46:23 GM Astronauts who endure long stays on the . International Space Station. already perform a myriad of exercises to ward off the deterioration, but the current regimen simply can't fight the effects of months in weightlessness. ...  trak.in DPA ue, 24 Nov 2009 04:19:41 GM Washington, Nov 24 (DPA) Two astronauts from the . space. shuttle Atlantis ended the mission's third and last spacewalk after successfully installing an oxygen tank on the outside of the . International Space Station. (ISS). ...  parabolicarc.com Doug Messier Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:27:21 GM An important step to promoting further . international. cooperation in . space. is continuing U.S. participation on the . International Space Station. until at least 2020. U.S. involvement is currently in danger of ending in 2015. ... From Google Blog Search: "International Space Station" |
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