ISS

1952
Von Braun's Early Wheel Space Station Concept

This artist concept by Chelsey Bonestell depicted Dr. Wernher von Braun's early space station concept a 250-foot-wide wheel that would rotate to provide artificial gravity. Von Braun was the first center director at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama

November 1998 

The largest spacecraft ever built, the ISS is also the world's most expensive single object, costing upwards of 100 billion dollars, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The dimensions of the completed ISS research facility will be approximately 356 feet (109 meters) by 240 feet (73 meters), or slightly larger than a football field. When completed, the ISS will weigh around 450 tons (408,000 kg), or 450 times the weight of an average car.

The ISS is so large that it is visible to the naked eye from the ground. It may be easiest to see after the sun has set, but its fading rays are still able to reach the space station's reflective surface. It circles the Earth every 90 minutes, traveling at 4.8 miles (7.7 km) per second, flying in one of the lowest orbits possible at approximately 242 miles (390 km) above Earth.

Within the ISS is a laboratory in which scientists conduct daily experiments, including studies on the effects of long-term space exposure on the human body. Plants are grown in the greenhouses of the station's laboratory to study their development in low gravity settings. There is also a gym, a sleep station and a robotic workstation.

The ISS gets its energy by converting sunlight into electricity using solar arrays, and relies on rechargeable nickel-hydrogen batteries during the 35 minutes of each orbit that the station is eclipsed by the Earth.

Heralded as the greatest international project of all time by the European Space Agency, the ISS is a cooperative program between the United States, Europe, Russia, Canada, and Japan



2011
Last pressurised module was fitted in 2011, and the station is expected to operate until 2028

August 2018 

Aug. 22, 2018: International Space Station Configuration. Three spaceships are docked at the space station including the Progress 70 resupply ship and the Soyuz MS-08 and MS-09 crew ships.

September 4, 2018

MOSCOW: Russia launched checks Tuesday after its space chief said an air leak on the International Space Station last week could have been caused by deliberate sabotage.

The International Space Station is one of the few areas of Russia-US cooperation that remains unaffected by the souring of diplomatic ties

Space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin said the hole detected Thursday in a Russian space craft docked at the orbiting station was caused by a drill and could have been done deliberately, either back on Earth or in space.

Astronauts used tape to seal the leak after it caused a small loss of pressure that was not life-threatening.

"There were several attempts at drilling," Rogozin said late Monday in televised comments.

He added that the drill appeared to have been held by a "wavering hand."

"What is this: a production defect or some premeditated actions?" he asked.

"We are checking the Earth version. But there is another version that we do not rule out: deliberate interference in space."

A commission will seek to identify the culprit by name, Rogozin said, calling this a "matter of honour" for Russia's Energiya space manufacturing company that made the Soyuz.

Previously Rogozin had said the hole in the side of the Soyuz ship used to ferry astronauts was most likely caused from outside by a tiny meteorite.

"We have already ruled out the meteorite version," Rogozin said late Monday.

The hole is in a section of the Soyuz ship that will not be used to carry astronauts back to Earth.

Energiya will check all its Soyuz and Progress cargo craft for possible defects, both at its production site outside Moscow and those awaiting launch at Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, RIA Novosti state news agency reported Tuesday, citing a source in the space industry.

The ISS is one of the few areas of Russia-US cooperation that remains unaffected by the slump in relations between the countries and Washington's sanctions.

Currently on the ISS are two cosmonauts from Russia and three NASA astronauts as well as one German astronaut from the European Space Agency.