International+Space+Station

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The International space station is gigantic, one of the biggest space products ever. It serves as a home for people in space, such as astronauts and cosmonauts. It's one of the brightest objects in space, and it's fully made by astronauts. It circles around earth at a height of 220 miles above ground, and it travels 17,500 miles per hour! The station is about the size of a five-bedroom house! On Earth, the space station would weigh a million pounds! People have been in space, living on the space station, ever since the first crew arrived. Scientist in space are studying what happens to the body without gravity. This orbit is providing scientist and astronauts information we wouldn't have discovered without the International Space Station. The first stage of the building of the station was called the Shuttle-Mir Programm. It required 2 ongoing years of stay from astronauts in space. Because of this, we know more about technology, international space operations, and scientific research. Scientist spent 32 months up in the station to do research. In contrast, the U.S. space shuttles took more than 12 years and 60 months to get the station into orbit. The assembly of the space station in orbit began a new age ofwork in space, including more spacewalks than ever before and maybe even a new generation of space robots. Both the Russians and the U.S. had to have 850 gruesome hours of spacewalks over a course of 5 years to maintain and put together the station. A space shuttle and two more types of Russian launch automobiles launched 45 assembly assignments. Out of these, 36 were Shuttle flights. Resupply crews were launched daily. The first people to live on the International Space Station was lead by U.S.astronaut Bill Shepherd and including Russian cosomonauts Yuri Gidzenko as Soyuz Commander and Sergei Krikalev as Flight Engineer. This flight was launched in early 2000 on a Russian spacecraft.

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**Topic: Research Focus**
 * International Space Station**
 * History and facts about the space station**

**Notes**


 * What Is It?**

====The International Space Station is a large spacecraft in orbit around our Earth. The ISS was designated a National Lab in 2005. It serves as a home where astronauts and cosmonauts live. It’s also a science lab, in space! Several nations worked together to build and use the station. The space station is one of the brightest objects in space. It’s made fully of parts assembled by astronauts. It orbits around earth at an altitude of 220 miles. It travels 17,500 mph, which means it orbits earth once every 90 minutes. The space station is being used to figure out how to live and work in space. This will let humans go farther and farther into space. The first piece of the station was launched into space in 1998. More pieces were added over the next 2 years before it was ready for people to live there. The first crew arrived in October 2000. People have lived on the space station ever since. More pieces have been added over time. NASA and its partners from around the world completed construction of the space station in 2011.====

The space station is very big. The space station is the size of a five-bedroom house or two jetliners. It is able to support a crew of six people, plus visitors. On Earth, the space station would weigh almost a million pounds! Measured from the edges of its solar arrays, the station covers the area of a football field including the end zones. It includes laboratory modules from the United States, Russia,Japan and Europe. More than four times as large as the Russian Mir space station, the completed International Space Station has the mass of about 1,040,000 pounds. It measures 356 feet across and 290 feet long, with almost an acre of solar panels to provide electrical power to six state-of-the-art laboratories. The space station has made it possible for people to have an ongoing presence in space. Human beings have been living in space every day since the first crew arrived. The space station's laboratories allow crew members to do research that could not be done anywhere else. This scientific research benefits people on Earth. Space research is even used in everyday life. The results are products called "spinoffs." Scientists also study what happens to the body when people live in microgravity for a long time. NASA and its partners have learned how to keep a spacecraft working well. All of these lessons will be important for future space exploration. NASA currently is working on a plan to explore other worlds. The space station is one of the first steps. NASA will use lessons learned on the space station to prepare for human missions that reach farther into space than ever before. The orbit provides excellent Earth observations with coverage of 85 percent of the globe and over flight of 95 percent of the population.
 * How Big Is the Space Station?**
 * Why Is the Space Station Important?**
 * International Contributions**

The international partners-Canada, Japan, the European Space Agency, and Russia- contributed the following key elements to the International Space Station:

·Canada provided a 55-foot-long robotic arm to be used for assembly and maintenance tasks on the Space Station.

· The European Space Agency built a pressurized laboratory to be launched on the Space Shuttle and logistics transport vehicles to be launched on the Ariane 5 launch vehicle.

·Japan built a laboratory with an attached exposed exterior platform for experiments as well as logistics transport vehicles.

·Russia provided two research modules; an early living quarters called the Service Module with its own life support and habitation systems; a science power platform of solar arrays that can supply about 20 kilowatts of electrical power; logistics transport vehicles; and Soyuz spacecraft for crew return and transfer.

In addition, Brazil and Italy contributed some equipment to the station through agreements with the United States.


 * ISS Phase One: The Shuttle-Mir Program**

The first phase of the International Space Station, the Shuttle-Mir Program, began in 1995 and involved more than two years of continuous stays by astronauts aboard the Russian Mir Space Station and nine Shuttle-Mir docking missions. Knowledge was gained in technology, international space operations and scientific research.

Seven U.S.astronauts spent a killing total of 32 months aboard Mir with 28 months of continuous occupancy since March 1996. By contrast, it took the U.S. Space Shuttle fleet more than a dozen years and 60 flights to achieve an accumulated one year in orbit. Many of the research programs planned for the International Space Station benefit from longer stay times in space. The U.S.science program aboard the Mir was a pathfinder for more daring experiments planned for the new station.

For less than two percent of the total cost of the International Space Station program, NASA gained knowledge and experience through Shuttle-Mir that could not be achieved any other way. That included valuable experience in international crew training activities; the operation of an international space program; and the challenges of long duration spaceflight for astronauts and ground controllers. Dealing with the real-time challenges experienced during Shuttle-Mir missions also has resulted in an unprecedented cooperation and trust between the U.S.and Russian space programs, and that cooperation and trust has enhanced the development of the International Space Station.


 * Research on the International Space Station**

The International Space Station established an unprecedented state-of-the-art laboratory complex in orbit, more than four times the size and with almost 60 times the electrical power for experiments — critical for research capability — of Russia's Mir. Research in the station's six laboratories leading to discoveries in medicine, materials and fundamental science that will benefit people all over the world. Through its research and technology, the station also serves as an indispensable step in preparation for future human space exploration.


 * Assembly in Orbit**

A few years ago, most of the components required for the first seven Space Shuttle missions to assemble the International Space Station arrived at the Kennedy Space Center. The first and primary fully Russian contribution to the station, the Service Module, is scheduled to be shipped fromMoscowto the Kazakstan launch site in February 1999.

Orbital assembly of the International Space Station began a new era of hands-on work in space, involving more spacewalks than ever before and a new generation of space robotics. About 850 clock hours of spacewalks, both U.S.and Russian, are required over five years to maintain and assemble the station. The Space Shuttle and two types of Russian launch vehicles will launch 45 assembly missions. Of these, 36 will be Space Shuttle flights. In addition, resupply missions and changeouts of Soyuz crew return spacecraft is launched regularly.

The first crew to live aboard the International Space Station, commanded by U.S.astronaut Bill Shepherd and including Russian cosomonauts Yuri Gidzenko as Soyuz Commander and Sergei Krikalev as Flight Engineer, was launched in early 2000 on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

In addition to the laboratories where astronauts conduct science research, the space station has many other parts. It also provided living areas for crew members. Stretching out to the sides of the space station are the solar arrays. These arrays collect energy from the sun to provide electrical power. The arrays are connected to the station. Robotic arms are mounted outside the space station. The robot arms were used to help build the space station. Those arms also can move astronauts around when they go on spacewalks outside. Other arms operate science experiments. Astronauts can go on spacewalks through airlocks that open to the outside. Docking ports allow other spacecraft to connect to the space station. New crews and visitors arrive through the ports. Astronauts fly to the space station on the Russian Soyuz. Robotic spacecraft use the docking ports to deliver supplies.


 * Facts:**


 * The U.S. solar array surface area is 38,400 square feet, which is large enough to cover eight basketball courts The solar array surface area could cover the U.S. Senate Chamber three times over.


 * The final pair of solar arrays were delivered in March 2009 and brought the total surface area of solar areas to almost an acre.


 * The solar array wingspan is longer than that of a Boeing 777 200/300 model, which is 212 ft.


 * ISS now has more livable room than a conventional five-bedroom house.


 * Ongoing Construction**

The station has been under construction since November of 1998. In that year the first piece of its structure, the Zarya Control Module, was launched into orbit with a Russian Proton rocket. In 2008, the two-billion-dollar science lab Columbus was added to the station, increasing the structure to eight rooms.

The floating facility's design features a series of cylinder modules attached to a larger truss of a dozen segments. The Zarya Module is mainly used for storage and external fuel tanks, while the Zvezda Service Module houses the crew's living quarters and the station's many life-supporting systems. The space station is powered by solar panels and cooled by loops that radiate heat away from the modules. The station's Destiny laboratory functions as a unique floating facility for tests of materials, technologies, and much more. The Columbus lab was designed to house experiments in life sciences, fluid physics, and other fields.

Docking ports allow the station to be visited by a growing variety of spacecraft, and the Quest Airlock enables access for the frequent **spacewalks** essential to the facility's continuing construction.

Canadarm2 is another important feature of the space station. This Canadian-built apparatus is a large, remote-controlled space arm that functions as a crane and can be utilized for a wide variety of tasks.

The International Space Station may be completed by the end of this decade. When construction is finished, six crew members will be able to live and work in a space larger than a typical five-bedroom house.