The
International Space Station (
ISS) is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite in
low Earth orbit. It is a modular structure whose first component was launched in 1998.
Now the largest artificial body in orbit, it can often be seen at the appropriate time with the
naked eye from Earth.
The ISS consists of pressurised modules, external trusses,
solar arrays and other components. ISS components have been launched by American
Space Shuttles as well as Russian
Proton and
Soyuz rockets.
In 1984 the ESA was invited to participate in Space Station Freedom.
In 1993, after the USSR ended, the United States and Russia merged
Mir-2 and
Freedom together.
The ISS serves as a
microgravity and
space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in
biology,
human biology,
physics,
astronomy,
meteorology and
other fields. The station is suited for the testing of spacecraft systems and equipment required for missions to the Moon and Mars.
Since the arrival of
Expedition 1 on 2 November 2000, the station has been continuously occupied for 13 years and
97 days, the longest continuous human presence in space. (In 2010, the
station surpassed the previous record of almost 10 years (or 3,634 days)
held by
Mir.) The station is serviced by a variety of visiting spacecraft:
Soyuz,
Progress, the
Automated Transfer Vehicle, the
H-II Transfer Vehicle,
Dragon, and
Cygnus. It has been visited by astronauts and cosmonauts from
15 different nations.
After the U.S. Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, Soyuz rockets
became the only provider of transport for astronauts at the
International Space Station.
The
ISS programme is a joint project among five participating space agencies:
NASA,
Roskosmos,
JAXA,
ESA, and
CSA.
The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements.
The station is divided into two sections, the
Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) and the
United States Orbital Segment (USOS), which is shared by many nations. The ISS
maintains an orbit with an altitude
of between 330 km (205 mi) and 435 km (270 mi) by means of reboost
manoeuvres using the engines of the Zvezda module or visiting
spacecraft. It completes 15.410 orbits per day.
The ISS is funded until 2024, and may operate until 2028.
The
Russian Federal Space Agency, Roskosmos (RKA) has proposed using the ISS to
commission modules for a new space station, called
OPSEK,
before the remainder of the ISS is deorbited. ISS is the ninth space
station to be inhabited by crews, following the Soviet and later Russian
Salyut,
Almaz, and
Mir stations, and
Skylab from the US.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My wife Bianca KropKaiser bought the Revell-model of the ISS 13 years ago and her dad began to assemble it. Afer a short time he stopped the assembly and the ISS-model has been stored unfinished.
When she moved to my flat she took it with her and she resmumed work. Finally the ISS is finished.
Enjoy the pictures :
