International Space Station
The term 'space station' was coined in the 1920s. In the 1950s, Werner von Braun described his vision of such a structure in Collier’s magazine. In 1971, the Soviet’s Salyut 1 became the first space station, followed by Skylab and Mir. The first parts of the ISS were launched in 1998, and the first Expedition crew began living on the ISS in 2000.
When completed, the ISS will no doubt be the largest and most complex international scientific project in history and will represent a move of unprecedented scale of humans away from Earth. The ISS team includes the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia, Brazil, and the 11 ESA nations, all of which will draw upon great scientific and technological resources while constructing the ISS. Four times bigger than Mir, the ISS will “weigh” 472730 kg and have a 106.8 meter width and an 87 meter length. The finished product will sport six labs and an acre of solar panels. The ISS orbits at 402 kilometers above sea level with a 51.6º inclination, allowing easy crew and supply accessibility and coverage of 85% of Earth.
Some of the main goals of the ISS are to examine the effects of microgravity on health over long periods of time and to prepare astronauts for a Mars mission in the near future. To meet the second goal, the Destiny Lab and the Zvezda Service Module play host to greenhouses that grow plants in controlled environments. Some researchers believe the ISS itself could be used for Earth-to-Mars transportation.
From 1995 until 1998, astronauts and cosmonauts alike remained aboard Mir for long periods of time and docked it with the Space Shuttle nine times, gaining valuable knowledge in technology, international space operations, and scientific research. Beginning March 1996, seven astronauts continually occupied Mir for 28 months. By comparison the Shuttle achieve one year in orbit after 60 flights.
The International Space Station will establish an unprecedented state-of-the-art laboratory complex in orbit, more than four times the size of Mir and with almost 60 times its electrical power. Research in the station's six laboratories will hopefully lead to discoveries in medicine, materials and fundamental science that will benefit people all over the world. The station also will serve as an indispensable step in preparation for future human space exploration.
Studies of the gravitational effects on plants, animals and the function of living cells will be conducted aboard the station. A centrifuge – located in the Centrifuge Accommodation Module – will use centrifugal force to generate simulated gravity ranging from almost zero to twice that of Earth. This is meant to imitate Earth's gravity for comparison purposes, eliminate variables in experiments, and simulate Lunar and Martian gravity. These experiments will provide information useful for future space travels. Analyzing gravitational effects may lead to a better understanding of the body's systems and its ailments on Earth.
Experiments on ISS module exteriors study the space environment and how long-term exposure to space vacuum and debris affects materials. This research will provide future spacecraft designers and scientists with a better understanding of the nature of space and enhancement of spacecraft design. Some experiments will study the basic forces of nature (fundamental physics) by taking advantage of weightlessness to analyze weak forces difficult to examine when subject to Earth's gravity, which may help explain the development of our universe; investigations using lasers to cool atoms to near absolute zero may help us understand gravity itself.
Orbital observations of Earth study large-scale, long-term changes in the environment and increase understanding of the forests, oceans and mountains, meteoric impacts, hurricanes and typhoons, and volcanic effects. Observable human-induced changes to the Earth include the effects of air pollution and smog over cities. Deforestation and water pollution are visible from space and are captured in images providing global perspectives unavailable at ground level.
Orbital assembly of the ISS will begin a new hands-on work-in-space era involving more spacewalks than ever before and newer robotic generations. 850 hours of astronaut and cosmonaut spacewalks have been required over five years to maintain and assemble the ISS. The Space Shuttle and two kinds of Russian launch vehicles will launch a total of 45 assembly missions (of these, 36 will be Shuttle flights). In addition, resupply missions and Soyuz crew-return spacecraft change-outs of have been launched regularly. In 2006, the final year of assembly, the ISS will be revealed in its complete glory.
Author: Grant Wallensky