NASA is celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the worldwide Space Station with a special site and a few dedications. While the continued study of environments beyond Earth’s confines is important, ISS has helped society to achieve perhaps a greater accomplishment.
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The worldwide Space Station was built in collaboration by 16 countries – the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia, Brazil, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Drinking water is essential for human survival no matter if you’re up in space or in your cosy apartment.
Travelling at an altitude of about 250 miles (400 kilometres) and a speed of about 17,500 mph, the space station circles the Earth once every 90 minutes. From left to right: Commander Bill Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko, Sergei Krikalev. Since then, the ISS has hosted more than 220 people (including seven Canadians) from more than a dozen countries. Children now entering high school have never lived in a world where people have not lived and worked in space.
Their Soyuz capsule made contact with the aft docking port of the station’s Zvezda Service Module at 3:21 a.m. CST while the two spacecraft were flying over the central portion of Kazakhstan. Visiting cargo ships carry supplies, research equipment, and fresh food for crew members aboard the ISS.
A lot can happen in 15 years, including a few spectacular highs and dismal lows. 15 years of constant support from Mission Control Houston.
“It would be fantastic to have researchers of all different flavors and many different people be able to go to the space station and do their research”, he said. An on-orbit press conference was held that was live on NASA TV from the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Most of the partners nations have also agreed to the extension.
During the course of the station’s lifetime, NASA has struggled with how to promote it. The ISS does many things, but there is no killer app to single-handedly justify its enormous cost.
The worldwide Space Station has been extended to 2024, but it’s unclear if anything can replace the venerable craft.
Any trip to Mars would likely last years, raising the issue of harmful radiation, but also how to nourish astronauts for long periods and how to maintain healthy crew psychology. The ISS does offer a unique platform, but despite a few promising research, Earth-based labs with multi-billion-dollar budgets could unquestionably make more significant advances in various scientific fields. Kelly and Kornienko are spending almost a year in space.
But what’s been happening on the ISS all these years?
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This December 2, 2000, photograph shows the configuration of the space station at the start of Expedition 1 including the Zarya Control Module, Unity Node, Zvezda Service Module and Z1-Truss.
