Humanities Greatest Achievement

An overview of the International Space Station

Apart from all the chaos that humanity has experienced, November 20, 2020, marked the anniversary of one of the biggest achievements in human history. There has been continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station for 2 whole decades!

The International space station (ISS) is the most complex structure ever built in space. It orbits nearly 400 Kilometers above the Earth, and circles around it once every 90 minutes, which is 16 times per day! The five international partners behind the ISS include the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia, and Europe. With all that said, what is the purpose of a giant metal structure in space?

For starters, the ISS allows crew members to conduct research and perform experiments that cannot be completed anywhere else. This research’s ultimate goal is to enable long term exploration of space and provide benefits to people on Earth. It is a place where we can learn to work “off” the planet. It shows us the long-term effects of weightlessness on the human body which is important if we want to colonize Mars. The research also leads to many spinoff technologies discussed in a previous article. See *If we have problems here on Earth, why explore outer space.” Scientists undertake research in Biology and human biology, Meteorology, Physics, and Astronomy.

Apart from research, the ISS also acts as an observatory to monitor conditions on Earth and in space.

How was the ISS made?

As an answer to the Soviet space station Mir, NASA launched a modular space station project in the early 1980s. Soon enough, the Japanese and European space agencies became involved with the project. In 1993, US Vice President Al Gore and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin agreed to begin constructing a joint space station. This then became the starting point of the International Space Station when the Japanese, European, and Canadian Space agencies partnered with the US-Russian project.

What are the components of the ISS?

• The ISS central modules: pressurized habitats where the crew lives
• Solar arrays: track the sun through each orbit, used to power the ISS electrically
• Docking ports: allow different types of spacecraft (Space Shuttle, Russian Soyuz, capsules, resupply crafts) to dock on the ISS
• Canadarm and Canadarm 2: Canadian built robotic arms that help repair and grow the ISS

Although it has been running for a long time, the ISS is not complete. There will always be new docking stations and old equipment will be discarded. The ISS is designed to do that.