Space Travel News  
Nations Around The World Mark 10th Anniversary Of ISS

One hundred sixty seven individuals representing 14 countries have visited the complex. Crews have eaten some 19,000 meals aboard the station since the first crew took up residence in 2000.
by Staff Writers
Houston TX (SPX) Nov 18, 2008
Nations around the world will join together to mark a milestone in space exploration this week, celebrating the 10th birthday of a unique research laboratory, the International Space Station.

Now the largest spacecraft ever built, the orbital assembly of the space station began with the launch from Kazakhstan of its first bus-sized component, Zarya, on Nov. 20, 1998. The launch began an international construction project of unprecedented complexity and sophistication.

The station is a venture of international cooperation among NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, and 11 members of the European Space Agency, or ESA: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

More than 100,000 people in space agencies and contractor facilities in 37 U.S. states and throughout the world are involved in this endeavor.

"The station's capability and sheer size today are truly amazing," said International Space Station Program Manager Mike Suffredini.

"The tremendous technological achievement in orbit is matched only by the cooperation and perseverance of its partners on the ground. We have overcome differences in language, geography and engineering philosophies to succeed."

Only a few weeks after the U.S.-funded, Russian-built, Zarya module was launched from Kazakhstan, the space shuttle carried aloft the Unity connector module in December 1998. Constructed on opposite sides of Earth, Unity and Zarya met for the first time in space and were joined to begin the orbital station's assembly and a decade of peaceful cooperation.

Ten years later, the station's mass has expanded to more than 627,000 pounds, and its interior volume is more than 25,000 cubic feet, comparable to the size of a five-bedroom house. Since Zarya's launch as the early command, control and power module, there have been 29 additional construction flights to the station: 27 aboard the space shuttle and two additional Russian launches.

One hundred sixty seven individuals representing 14 countries have visited the complex. Crews have eaten some 19,000 meals aboard the station since the first crew took up residence in 2000.

Through the course of 114 spacewalks and unmatched robotic construction in space, the station's truss structure has grown to 291 feet long so far. Its solar arrays now span to 28,800 square feet, large enough to cover six basketball courts.

The International Space Station hosts 19 research facilities, including nine sponsored by NASA, eight by ESA and two by JAXA. Cooperation among international teams of humans and robots is expected to become a mainstay of space exploration throughout our solar system.

The 2005 NASA Authorization Act recognized the U.S. orbital segment as the first national laboratory beyond Earth, opening it for additional research by other government agencies, academia and the private sector.

"With the International Space Station, we have learned so many things -- and we're going to take that knowledge and apply it to flying to the moon and Mars," said Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke, now aboard the station. "Everything we're learning so close to home, only 240 miles away from the planet, we can apply to the moon 240,000 miles away."

related report
Russian ISS spacecraft Producer Energia Gets $106 Million Loan
Russia's Energia space corporation has received a long-awaited loan worth 2.9 billion rubles ($106 million) from state-run savings bank Sberbank for spacecraft construction, the company said on Monday.

The two-year loan will enable the company to continue producing the Progress cargo ships and Soyuz manned spacecraft used for missions to the International Space Station (ISS).

"The deal was closed on November 14, 2008," Energia said.

Energia President Vitaly Lopota earlier said the government had delayed the loan for several months over a liquidity shortage.

He also said the funds for new spacecraft were allocated from the state budget and would be spent during the first year of construction, while two or three years were needed for a project to effectively produce and modernize Soyuz and Progress ships.

Energia is one of Russia's leading aerospace companies and an experienced developer and producer of aerospace hardware. The company has a good record of achievements, including the Soviet Union's first satellites, the Vostok manned spacecraft, and the Mir orbiting space station.

Energia is also the main contractor for the ISS's Russian segment.

Source: RIA Novosti

Related Links
International Space Station
Station at NASA
Station and More at Roscosmos
S.P. Korolev RSC Energia
Watch NASA TV via Space.TV
Space Station News at Space-Travel.Com



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Scientists Optimize New ISS Water System
Houghton MI (SPX) Nov 18, 2008
Two hundred and fifty miles above the Earth puts you a long way from the nearest kitchen tap. And at $10,000 a pint, the cost of shipping fresh water aboard the space shuttle is, well, astronomical.







  • NASA's New Ares Rocket Engine Passes Review
  • NASA to test Orion launch abort system
  • First Rocket Parts Of NASA's New Launch System Arrive In Florida
  • More design flaws found in Ares I rocket

  • Proton Rocket With Canadian Satellite To Be Launched December 10
  • Sea Launch Prepares For Launch Of SICRAL 1B
  • ILS Proton Successfully Launches ASTRA 1M Satellite
  • Ariane 5 Is Readied For Arianespace's Initial Mission Of 2009

  • NASA Adds Seven To ISS In Flawless Launch And Docking
  • Weather good for Friday shuttle launch: NASA
  • Endeavour Blasts Into Orbit In Procedure Perfect Launch
  • Shuttle Endeavour set for 'home improvement' mission

  • Nations Around The World Mark 10th Anniversary Of ISS
  • Scientists Optimize New ISS Water System
  • After Endeavour-ISS link-up, astronauts prepare for spacewalk
  • Shuttle crew to outfit living quarters on space station

  • Kazakhstan To Fund ISS Flight For Homegrown Astronaut
  • Space Researchers Developing Tool To Help Disoriented Pilots
  • Kazakh Astronaut To Fly To ISS, Russian Hopeful Grounded
  • Volan Escape System To Rescue Space Crews

  • China Puts Two Satellites Into Orbit
  • The Chinese Space Industry Set For Take Off
  • Souped-Up Rockets For Shenzhou
  • China Successfully Launches Research Satellites

  • Honda unveils leg assist machine for elderly
  • Germany's CESAR Crowned King Of Rovers In ESA's Robotics Challenge
  • Cliffbot Goes Climbing
  • VIPeR Robot Demonstrates Exceptional Agility

  • Gamma-Ray Evidence Suggests Ancient Mars Had Oceans
  • Carbonate Conundrum
  • Planetary Society Steps Beyond Moon For Roadmap To Space
  • Mars Rover Team Sets Low-Power Plan For Spirit

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement